Beware! Euronovafxasset is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
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The Italian regulator, the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (CONSOB) has issued a warning against Euronovafxasset, stating that they are performing unlicensed services on Italy’s territory.
The Commissione is a respected regulator, as Italy is a major hub of Forex trade. So it condemning Euronovafxasset is a huge red flag for us, and it makes it almost certain that all the bold promises they put forth on their website about quick profits are not possible.
Besides, there are plenty of things that seem to be off about the broker which we will discuss in this review. Let us however start with this – to verify your account you must send them a picture of the front of your credit card that you will be using to deposit, as per this:
This is completely unreasonable – there is rarely a need to verify you are in possession of the card, and when there is the last four digits on the front and the card holder’s name are more than enough. Legitimate companies never require more information, and with the amount you have presented Euronovafxasset they only have to guess your CVV to use the card at their discretion.
Euronovafxasset regulation and safety of funds
The company is unlicensed, as we clearly established, but where does it operate from? This is completely unclear, as there simply is no way to contact them of our own initiative – there is no phone number anywhere on the site, and the broker’s address is suspiciously missing as well.
The Forex trade is a very risky process and most traders experience losses in their careers. To minimize these losses it is advisable to only invest with regulated brokers, who cover the many requirements regulators have put forth for this exact reason. For example, under the regulation of the CONSOB a broker is required to be able to clear a minimum capital requirement of 730 000 euro, as well as participate in a guarantee fund which recovers up to 20 000 euro in the case of broker bankruptcy to each affected trader. Transparency is also a crucial aspect of regulated brokers and such companies are required to undergo constant supervision and send back daily reports on closed and ongoing positions. Don’t get us wrong, there are certainly advantages in trading with unlicensed brokers – for example the leverages they offer are much higher that what the CONSOB allows – but if you are just starting out your Forex journey, or even if you are an experienced trader, you should seriously consider if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Euronovafxasset trading software
The broker claims to be providing access to a web-based platform as well as a downloadable one. The first part of the statement is true, but the second is not. There are no links to such a thing anywhere on the site. So we can judge only the platform we were able to see for ourselves, which looks like this:
When deciding the strengths and weaknesses of a platform the comparison to Metatrader 5 comes up inevitably – the program and its predecessor, Metatrader 4 have been the industry standard since 2005 when the latter was released. This is for several reasons, but mainly the fact that the platforms manage to combine both convenience and many advanced features without making a compromise with either. The best example for this is their automated trading – the platform actually allows for “expert advisers” – community developed bots – to trade completely autonomously based on their programming. These sophisticated bots are readily available to the retail trader on the marketplace the platform hosts.
Another example that must be mentioned are the hundreds of indicators available to the trader.
But how does Euronovafxasset’s web-based counterpart perform compared to MT4 and MT5?
The screenshot above was taken from it, and some things are immediately obvious – first off, there are no charting tools beyond changing the time-frame and the chart type. Predictably, there is no automatic trading options, nor indicators.
The spreads are rather wide for such a commonly traded currency pair like EURUSD, sitting at 1.5.
Creating a demo account is a feature that the broker actually delivers on and is relatively simple, so if Euronovafxasset is good for something at all it’s that.
Euronovafxasset deposit/withdrawal methods and fees
The only way you can deposit money with Euronovafxasset is through bitcoin. This is rather suspicious, and seems to have been done so the trader has no chargeback option available to them. What is criminal is how high the minimum deposit is
Sitting at $250, it is fifty times the amount that some reputable brokers require – for example you can open a standard tier account with XM for the low price of $5.
Withdrawals are subject to two suspicious clauses.
Firstly, there is a significant delay in completing withdrawal requests – with correctly filled documents the process takes 3-5 business days, and the company is unable to guarantee your request being approved even within that amount of time.
The process to file such request is really archaic as well, you are to print out a form and fill it. This can either be seen as an arbitrary and pointless rule, or as a deliberate attempt to waste time and combat withdrawal requests. We think it is the latter.
Additionally, there is the matter of the bonuses, or as the website defines them – Non-deposited funds. These funds cannot be withdrawn without the consent of the company as per the following clause:
What is more worrying is that any profits made on base of these funds cannot be withdrawn either – while in theory that sounds reasonable, in practice there simply is no way to know if your profits are derived from the bonus or your deposits. As a whole, the bonus policy is quite vague and there is no clause present that allows you to opt out of them in any way. This is par for the course for illegitimate brokers, of course. Their aim is to be able to deny your profits with such provisions in the Terms of service.
How does the scam work?
This broker is, unfortunately, up to no good. The world of Forex trade is full of such bad faith actors and lots of people fall for their scheme. So how does it work? And what are they after?
The first stage is when a future victim stumbles upon an ad online that promises them quick and easy profits. If they decide to follow up on that promise, they are lead to a website, similar to Euronovafxasset’s own. There they usually make an account and submit their phone number and email address.
The next step entails the victim getting contacted relentlessly by the scammers on the phone. They are patient and quite capable of selling the scam, so it is no wonder so many people cave into their demands. The demands are all the same mind you – for you to deposit money with them. They do not care about making any trades whatsoever and are only after your deposited capital.
What to do when scammed?
Usually the first thing you should do if you have been the victim of a scam is to file a chargeback on your transactions, however, as previously discussed, this is not possible in the case of Euronovafxasset, who only take payments in Bitcoin.
Next, you should definitely change any credit cards the scammers have had access to – that way you will avoid furthering your losses. You must also secure the privacy of your PC by removing any desktop sharing software the scammers had you install, as they will quite often use TeamViewer or AnyDesk to snoop around without your knowledge.
Finally, the last stage of the scheme often involves passing your information to another scammer, who will call you and present themselves as a representative of a “recovery agency”. Whatever they promise you – the restoration of your losses in part or in full – they have not the slightest desire to fulfill. They will demand a fee for their services in advance and if you provide that fee they will go the way of the dodo.
