Beware! DOLCE500 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.
There is nothing in the interface of DOLCE500’s website to make it unforgettable or stand out. Apparently, it is one of the many run-of-the-mill brokers where the primary goal is not esthetics but trade, trade, trade. We look at some key features for this broker in order to advise our readers whether it is safe to trade with this broker or not.
DOLCE500 Regulation and safety of funds
From the company’s website, we learn that the owner of DOLCE 500 is Trinot LTD with an address in Seychelles. As per the requirements of the Financial Services Authority that is the regulatory body for forex trade in Seychelles, forex brokers must provide a share capital of no less than $50,000. However, this capital can be used for the day to day business activities of the broker and does not need to stay in the bank. In addition to that, traders’ accounts are not kept separately. Why are we telling you all this? Because even if a forex broker is registered in Seychelles, it does not mean that it is safe to trade with it. In case of bankruptcy or if the broker decides to shut down the website, there no measures set in place to protect traders’ funds.
Only a few well-established jurisdictions around the world can provide protection against scammers and a guarantee for the safety of traders’ funds. We are talking mainly about the EU and the UK. In these jurisdictions in order to satisfy the requirements for being licensed, forex brokers must have an initial capital of no less than 730,000 EUR and traders’ accounts must be segregated and kept with tier 1 bank establishments. These are measures to prevent scammers from sneaking in. In addition to that, forex brokers must contribute to local compensation funds or schemes from which in case of bankruptcy the traders will get compensated. If you are a forex trader with a broker regulated by CySec, then you will be compensated up to 20,000 EUR if your broker declares bankruptcy. If you choose to trade with the broker regulated by FCA and the company becomes insolvent, then you will be compensated up to 85,000 GBP. You won’t find better conditions than these!
DOLCE500 Trading software
Apparently, DOLCE500 hasn’t made a big effort to provide its traders with a good quality trading platform. Its traders get a web trader that is simple enough to use but offers too little to its clients. In the image below, you can see what the platform look like. On the left you have the menu with some trading options. In the middle of the screen, you see the chart of one of the major currencies pairs, EUR/USD showing the fluctuation in price in a given time frame. On the right, you can see trading information about this currency pair, i.e., minimum amount, leverage, swap time, etc., along with the bid/ask price. At the bottom of the screen, you can see the menu for the currency pairs with their bid/ask price. Looking at the EUR/USD, we must consider 2 things – the spread and leverage which will tell us a lot about this broker and how safe it is to trade with it. First, from the bid/ask price we calculate the spread to be 3 pips. This is way higher than the industry average which is normally 1 – 1.5 pips. The implications of a high spread for your funds are that it will increase the cost of your transactions and in the long run, you won’t be able to make a sustainable profit. Another thing that worries us is the high leverage which is 1:200. It may look good, it may look tempting but it can become a big pitfall for your money. Why? Because high leverage means 2 things – a big win or a big loss. Chances are for the latter because as per the statistics, around 70% of traders experience financial loss in transactions.
It is a lot safer to select a licensed broker that offers low leverage. Please keep in mind that in the EU there is a cap on leverage and it cannot exceed 1:30. In the US, leverage for forex trade is kept below 1:50. These are measures to protect traders from engaging in risky transactions and losing their hard-earned money. You’ll be well-advised to avoid brokers like DOLCE500 that offer such high leverage if you do not want to see your funds sinking in a hole.
As we mentioned, the platform offered by this broker is a rather basic one. Most of the licensed forex brokers offer far more superior platforms, such as MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. They come well equipped with excellent trading tools and instruments that facilitate forex trade. In addition to a demo account, auto trading option and VPS, these platforms also offer an app market, trading signals, a financial calendar, code base with scripts, etc. It’s also worth exploring the numerous charting options that are simply out of this world and that contain analytical indicators that help traders predict the directions of the exchange rates and make a profit. Our recommendation is when you look for a licensed broker, to select one that is offering one of these platforms which will enhance your trading experience.
DOLCE500 Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
We looked at the account information and found out that DOLCE offers 3 account types – Bronze, Silver and Gold. The minimum initial account for the Bronze account is $250. For the other accounts, deposits start at $5,000 and $50,000 respectively. Deposit payment methods consist only of credit card and Bitcoin.
Withdrawal methods include credit card and bank wire and processing the withdrawal requests can take up to 5 business days.
Unfortunately, there is no enough information on the company’s website regarding fees, dormant accounts and other information that can affect your funds.
How does scam work?
A lot of people get scammed in different scammers’ schemes not because they are naive but because scammers are masters of persuasion and manipulation. It all starts with unsolicited telephone calls or a flashy ad on the Internet or social media. Sometimes people give up to temptation and invest money in shady schemes made to look legit and attractive and always promising quick and easy money fall. Once you deposit money into any of these schemes, you reach a point of no return! Your money is gone down the scammers’ food chain and you’ll have a lot of trouble recovering it. Scammers will do anything in their power to delay you, so you miss the opportunity to file for chargeback. They will ask you for this and that document and will find hundreds of reasons not to let you retrieve your money. The trick with offering bonuses in forex trading is one of those as your funds are mixed with the bonus money and it takes a lot of hassle to fulfil the broker’s requirements before you are able to withdraw any funds.
What to do if scammed?
Speed does it! You need to act very quickly if you want to recover your money. Immediately apply for chargeback if you have made your deposit via credit card. Fortunately, VISA and MasterCard give you 540 days within which to apply for chargeback.
If you have paid via wire transfer or Bitcoin, chances of retrieving your fund are grim. Anyway, we want to warn you that some of the so-called recovery agents may approach you and offer to retrieve your funds. For a fee, of course! Be cautious when dealing with them as it may be another form of scam! Always check if the recovery agency is legitimate and visible to the public!
Another thing we advise you to do is to immediately cancel any credit cards if the scammers have your CVV code. Also, make sure to erase any programs on your computer that give scammers access to your personal data on your PC.
