Beware! PrimaryFxMarkets is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
PrimaryFxMarkets is presented as a Cyprus forex, CFD and asset management broker offering a variety of trading accounts, as well as asset management accounts with assured returns and exquisite trading conditions. And they claim to be properly regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
Unfortunately that is not true. PrimaryFxMarkets is a scam website, which illegally uses corporate and license details of a legit company with the sole intention to lure gullible investors. If you are considering whether to invest your funds with PrimaryFxMarkets be sure to read the following review.
PrimaryFxMarkets regulation & safety of funds
We should acknowledge that PrimaryFxMarkets have gone to some lengths to persuade potential clients that they are a legit and regulated broker. PrimaryFxMarkets claims to be owned and operated by FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD, a Cypriot company licensed and authorized by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with a license number 317/17.
And while FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD is truly registered and regulated by CySEC, PrimaryFxMarkets has nothing to do with it. PrimaryFxMarkets is a fine example of a scam, known as a “clone website scam”. They use corporate and license details of a legit and regulated business in a deliberate attempt scam investors.
In this case PrimaryFxMarkets uses the name of FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD, as well as its license number and address. The problem is that FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD has a different domain address – while PrimaryFxMarkets uses primaryfxmarkets.com, the genuine domain address of FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD is fp-am.com.
And how do we know that fp-am.com is the genuine website of FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD? Here is a screenshot of the FP Asset Management Cyprus LTD license, where you can see that their true domain address is fp-am.com.
Also, on the screenshots below you may compare the contact phone number provided on primaryfxmarkets.com and fp-am.com. As you can see they are different.
Our best advise in such cases is always to double check any information a broker might present you, especially information linked to its license status, by comparing all data, including the domain name address and the phone numbers in the registers of the relevant regulatory authority – in this case the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, which along with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is one of the three leading regulators in the forex industry.
PrimaryFxMarkets deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
On its home page PrimaryFxMarket displays the logos of various cards and e-wallets like Neteller, Skrill, VISA and MasterCard, but in reality, when we proceeded with our registration and attempted to make a payment, it turned out that they accept payments only with bitcoins thorough a third party payment provider called WireCapital. This is typical for scam brokers. Scammers prefer crypto payments for two simple reasons – crypto payments are more or less anonymous, and unlike payments with cards like VISA or MasterCard and major e-wallets like Neteller, Skrill and PayPal, they are completely irreversible.
That is why our general advice, when dealing with online brokers, is to stick with more conventional payment methods, preferably your VISA and MasterCard or your Neteller, Skrill or PayPal account, with which you will have the option to file for a charge back if you realize you have been scammed.
Otherwise PrimaryFxMarket requires a minimum deposit of at least 500 EUR, which is more than twice higher than the usual amount required by most brokers.
Also, be aware that PrimaryFxMarkets suggests that you download AnyDesk – a remote desktop application, which if you install and share the installation details, will give scammers complete access to your PC and will allow them to use your personal banking details, including credit card number and online banking password to steal money directly from your bank account or credit card.
How does the scam work?
You may not have heard of Crypto Engine and Crypto Master Bot, but these are examples of what we call robo scam websites – online traps designed to attract potential investors with promises of spectacular returns with no risk at all. At first you will be asked simply to leave your e-mail and phone. Then, if you do that, you will be promptly redirected to the website of one of the numerous offshore scam brokers, where you will be invited to deposit about 250 USD. That is how it will all begin.
And then you will start receiving call after call by your so called senior account manager, who under various pretexts will be trying to convince you to make yet another deposit.
And everything will seem to go smoothly until the day you decide to withdraw some of your funds. Then it will suddenly turn out that you can not withdraw anything, because you have not met your minimum trade volume requirement. Probably you will be hearing for the first time about such a requirement, but there it is, linked to your trading bonus, you have so gladly accepted. Whatever the excuse, you can be sure that scammers will not allow you to withdraw a single dollar.
What to do if scammed?
Among the few option you have if you realize you are a victim of a scam is to file for a charge back with your bank in case you have paid with VISA or MasterCard. And you can do the same if you have paid with one of the popular e-wallets like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill. If you have paid with crypto coins, however, most probably you will not be able to recover your money.
And as we discussed above, in some cases scammers might try to steal money directly form your bank account. That may happen if for some reason you have told them your credit card number and security passwords, or if they have convinced you to install a remote desktop application like Team Viewer or AnyDesk. If that is the case block your credit card immediately, delete the remote desktop application and change your online banking password.
And do not accept any services by the so called recovery agencies. It is more than doubtful that they will help you recover any of your funds, if you have not succeeded to do so with a charge back request. A recovery agency will only make you pay some fees in advance, basically scamming you a second time.
