Beware! Adv-Investment.com 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.
Adv-Investment.com is one of those Forex brokers that will pour out tons of lies and information discrepancies to cover that it’s an illegal entity. To start with, it’s a broker that doesn’t reveal any significant piece of information that can undoubtedly prove it’s a legit company. They claim that the Estonian laws but nothing else links them to Estonia. A fine example of their dishonest approach is the claim to offer Metatrader4 to its clients. Instead, the downloaded platform is Metatrader5, which is actually dysfunctional and the traders are left only with an unreliable web-based software! Find out all of the warning signs in the full Adv-Investment.com review.
Adv-Investment.com REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
Adv-Investment.com is an anonymous broker that’s not known to hold any license to operate as a Forex broker. They claim that the governing laws of Estonia apply to the conduct of their business, but such a statement can’t prove they are duly authorised to operate as a broker. To obtain such a license, a company has to meet specific rules and requirements that are relevant for the entire EU, which Estonia is part of. The rules will be discussed shortly. We tried to find something in the register of the Estonian regulator, but the research was fruitless.
Your funds are not safe if you deposit with Adv-Investment.com, because it’s an unlicensed, unauthorised and unregulated anonymous broker that’s not legitimate.
We advise that you should trade with the legit EU (mostly CySEC regulated) or the UK (FCA regulated) Forex brokers because these domains provide the safest environment for the funds of the traders. Furthermore, most of the leading brokers in the world hold EU or UK license, which will positively help you with the choice. Customer protection is a top priority in Europe. For that purpose, a variety of stringent rules and regulations were imposed by the financial authorities that the Forex brokers have to comply with. These standards include a minimum capital requirement of 730 000 EUR, segregation of the clients’ accounts, negative balance protection (the trader cannot lose more than the sum deposited) and predefined stop-out levels, to name a few.
Most importantly, however, the traders’ funds are guaranteed by the deposit insurance funds that were inaugurated to further contribute to the health of the system. Under CySEC (Cyprus) regulation, the clients can claim up to 20 000 EUR in compensation, while under FCA (Britain) the clients can claim up to 85 000 GBP per client. If you trade with an anonymous or offshore broker, you are entitled to nothing, but troubles and issues.
Adv-Investment.com TRADING SOFTWARE
From now on we’ll expose all of the deceptions and the information discrepancies. Adv-Investment.com reassure that they offer Metatrader4 to its clients, but it’s not true. The platform one download upon pressing the link is MT5, and on top of that, it’s dysfunctional. As a result, the traders have to use a platform that’s untrustworthy, lacking most of the trading tools, but above all, we suspect it might be prone to price manipulation! Have a look at their platform at the end of this section.
The EUR/USD spread is 3 pips, which is much higher than the industry standards- 1 pip and below. The spread is a fundamental trading element, forming part or all of the trading costs for the traders. The lowers spreads make trading more affordable and improve the profit potential.
The leverage level, well, that’s another story. On three different places on their website, Adv-Investment.com talks about three different possible leverage levels, the highest being 1:300, mentioned in their T&Cs document. The truth, however, is that the account opened comes with a ratio unknown for the traders and unable to adjust! Warning! Hidden leverage levels!
The leverage is the other fundamental component in trading, which allows the traders to multiply the size of their positions, but it’s dangerous for the traders. Precisely the risks involved made the EU and UK prohibit leverage ratios higher than 1:30 as a customer protection measure. Australia will follow the European example in the spring of 2021. Canada and the US agreed on a leverage cap of 1:50. We recommend that the traders should stop looking for increased levels such as 1:500 because they will most probably either lose their money on the market or become a victim of a scam.
It’s best if the traders go for MetaTrader4 and MetaTrader5 Forex brokers because MT is the most powerful Forex retail trading platform in the world and also free to use. It features sophisticated trading tools such as Expert Advisors, Algo trading, Complex indicators, Strategy tester and even a marketplace where the traders can find third-party-developed trading solutions to implement in their strategy.
Adv-Investment.com DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The minimum deposit is said to be $100, but in reality, it’s $250, and Adv-Investment.com will not let you deposit less! It’s yet another information discrepancy and a scam sign we have to note!
But it’s not the end of the lies. The funding methods available are fishy e-wallets and Credit/Debit card direct payment. Adv-Investment.com claims to offer Skrill as a payment method on the footer of their website, but it’s not actually available. We recommend that the traders should never transfer money using payment systems they are not familiar with! You can see which the funding methods are at the bottom of this section.
The minimum withdrawal is $100 for Credit/Debit cards and $250 for Wire Transfers, which is an unfair clause whatsoever. The fees that apply make Adv-Investment.com a costly broker to trade with- $25 plus $10 processing fee for bank card withdrawal and $50 fee for Wire Transfer withdrawals! Most of the legit brokers will allow the traders to pull out as much as they want, usually for free. The withdrawal request processing time is the next enigma though- the information they give vary from 2-5 days to 15 days!
The information about the dormant account policy is the same story- information discrepancies all along. An account will become dormant either after 3 months or 6 months of inactivity, depending on the page you are reading and will be subject to a deduction of 10% each month. It’s a massacre if compared with the regulated brokers’ requirements- a monthly inactivity fee of 5 to 10 dollars at most.
There are bonuses available but the additional trading conditions that bound freeze the account of the traders, making it impossible to withdraw. A minimum trading volume of 30 times the bonus plus the deposit should be executed by the trader to become eligible for withdrawal. Or 25 times, depending on the page on their website you’ve come across! You should know that the bonuses are not free money but a leverage tool that further increase the risks and benefits the brokers, not the traders.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
A group of scammers usually operates many different scam brokers, scam websites and call centres. Sometimes they will simply rely on the quantity; they will publish tens or hundreds of websites and will wait for traders and investors with little or no experience to bite. Nowadays, it’s very cheap to create one, and it looks like a profitable strategy, as they carry on doing it.
The scam itself is a criminal activity, so the scammers strive to remain anonymous. Mostly, the scammers are hiding behind offshore companies and brokers while trying to stay anonymous and difficult to trace. There is no or very light FX regulation in jurisdictions such as the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Marshall Islands or St. Vincent and the Grenadines, making them some of the most popular destinations for shady and illegitimate enterprises. Regulation means customer protection and safety, financial authorities such as CySEC or FCA will make it impossible for a scam Forex broker to conduct illicit activities and harm the traders.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
No one is immune to scam, and anyone can fall into the trap. Scammers are always looking for new and different ways to scam consumers. What you need to do first, in case you got scammed, is to protect yourself from further risks. Contact your bank and explain to them your situation, they will give you necessary instructions to follow and will help you, if possible, recover your money.
Report what happened to you, file a complaint, contact the financial regulator, contact other government institutions related to trading and investing. Seek help actively!
It’s essential not to rush blindly trying to recover your funds because many scam recovery agencies and individuals are stalking, aiming to double scam the victims. These will most likely ask for an advanced payment, but will do nothing to help you recover your losses!
Share online your experience; it’s important to protect others, as well. Be responsible!
