RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
IGMFX is a relatively new broker on the market, and it certainly has to go an extra mile to catch up with the leading companies in the industry. It’s a licensed entity, but their business model is definitely not beneficial for the traders. Find out everything you need to know about this Forex broker in the full IGMFX review.
IGMFX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
IGMFX is a CySEC (Cyprus) regulated Forex broker with a license number 309/16 that’s obtained back in 2016. It’s a legit company that complies with the rules and regulation that apply in the EU. The above-mentioned include minimum capital requirements of 730 000 EUR, segregation of the clients’ accounts, personnel qualifications standards to meet, daily trading reports to submit and so on. The regulated brokers also have to provide Negative Balance Protection of the clients’ accounts, meaning that if the sum in the account fell below zero, the broker has to bring it back to positive free of charge. There is also a predefined stop-out level of 50% from the available balance and other customer protection measures that we will discuss later in this review.
Your funds might be considered safe if you deposit with IGMFX because it’s licensed, authorised and regulated Forex broker that can guarantee the security of the traders’ funds.
IGMFX is part of the Investor Compensation Fund that operates under CySEC supervision which protects the deposits made by the clients of up to 20 000 EUR per person. Each EU member state is compelled to operate similar insurance funds, which are seen to be the last resort for the traders, in case a Forex broker faces difficulties to meet its financial obligations. The UK also inaugurated such a fund called Financial Services Compensation Scheme which protects the funds of the clients of up to 85 000 GBP per person.
But we do not recommend trading with IGMFX, and we are going to show you why in the paragraphs to come. Have a look at their license here.
IGMFX TRADING SOFTWARE
IGMFX offers MetaTrader4 accounts to its customers; MetaTrader5 is not available for trading. It’s the right choice for the brokers because MT is the most popular Forex platform in the world that’s highly acclaimed by the traders for its stability. It also features sophisticated trading tools such as Expert Advisors, Algo Trading, Complex Indicators and even its own marketplace.
IGMFX provides all of the Metatrader distributions available- Desktop, Web and Mobile. We accessed the web-based platform and opened a demo account. The EUR/USD spread we came across was not less than 2 pips, occasionally jumping to 3 pips. It’s a big difference if compared to the industry standards- 1 pip and below, and that makes IGMFX a broker that’s costly to trade with. The lower spreads improve the profit potential, so we do not recommend IGMFX for the vast spread alone.
The maximum leverage possible is 1:30, which is the highest level the regulated brokers are allowed to offer to their customers. The leverage is a financial tool that enables the traders to multiply the size of their positions, but it comes at a cost because the risks increase proportionally. Precisely the risks involved made EU, UK and Australia (from the spring of 2021) launch a product intervention on the markets imposing a leverage cap- 1:30 as a customer protection measure. Canada and the US agreed on 1:50.
IGMFX DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The minimum initial deposit with IGMFX is $250 or the equivalent, which is two times higher than the industry standards- $100 on average. But it’s in line with the offshore brokers’ requirements.
The funding methods available are Credit/Debit cards, Wire Transfers, Skrill, Neteller, Sofort, Klarna and Neosurf. What’s disturbing though it the fact that you can make a deposit without an Identity Proof which is undoubtedly a cause for concern and another argument to avoid IGMFX!
The minimum withdrawal amounts are as follows- $10 for bank cards and $100 for Wire Transfers. But the fees that apply are similar to the ones that the offshore brokers usually require. Each account will be subject to a Monthly Maintenance Fee of $10, which is totally unfair a clause, especially if we consider the fact that IGMFX is a licensed broker! The bank card withdrawals will be charged with 3.5% of the sum, while a fixed commission of $30 applies for Wire Transfers! In comparison, most of the regulated brokers will not charge a dime to fulfil a withdrawal request!
The dormant account policy is even worse. An account becomes dormant after only 2 months of inactivity and will be subject to $80 monthly inactivity fee, which is a shame! The rest of the regulated Forex brokers will allow at least 6 months to pass and will charge no more than 5 to 10 dollars per month. Some brokers don’t even collect inactivity fees!
It comes to show that IGMFX makes money by plundering the traders’ accounts and it’s a business model that’s typical for scam and offshore Forex brokers. We do not recommend trading with IGMFX because the traders will lose their money paying the fees that the broker require. Have a look at the pictures below.
No bonuses offered and that’s to be expected because the European regulators prohibited the trading incentives disallowing the brokers to launch such campaigns. It’s a customer protection measure because the bonuses are not free money but a leverage tool that further increases the risk and benefit the brokers, not the traders.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
The scammers mask themselves as offshore brokers– that’s the usual scenario. 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 dodgy enterprises and scam Forex brokers. Regulation means customer protection and safety, and financial authorities such as CySEC or FCA will make it impossible for a scam Forex broker to conduct illicit activities and harm the traders under their supervision. That’s why you should always trade with regulated brokers!
The promises of the scammers are big, but they never deliver what they pledged. The legal documents of the scam brokers are filled to the brim with unfair clauses and requirements that practically eat up the traders’ balance- unbearable fees, unjust trading volume requirements, monthly administrative fees and so on, the list is endless. They will delay the withdrawal requests as much as possible so that the account gets hit by the costs. Eventually, the balance in the account will shrink so much that the scammers will not have to send any money back to the traders and it looks perfectly fine according to the Terms and Conditions that apply.
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 very important 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!
T. J
DO NOT INVEST WITH IGMFX
Hi, I recently got scammed by them. They will give you an account manager who will make you trust and believe them but their ultimate goal is to extort money out of you whether you are in a win or a loss. Everything in the article above is true, your account manager will make you feel like he is there to help you in which you may be making a profit but did you know that they charge you for holding your trades open overnight? There do all this scamming in legal ways but ultimately it’s a scam. You will also get phone calls from people who will know that you in a scam but will try to double scam you into making you think you can get your money back. Eventually, IGMFX will try to get your account blocked. PLEASE TAKE OUT ALL THE MONEY THAT YOU HAVE NOW THROUGH WITHDRAWAL. If you have been scammed by them, go to your bank and explain how you got scammed, they may be able to do something called a ‘charge back’ You should also note that all the money that this company has taken from you is in and oversees bank account where someone may call you and say to do a reverse transaction, but don’t do anything yet. Please go to your bank and explain everything, do not delete any emails as this will be used as evidence.
F. PLANTINGA
After opening an account on Binance 2 brokers contacted me. Both of them told their fairytales, for in order to get my deposit back I had to pay several times 5000 euros. No money was funded back until now, after 3 weeks of asking.
The first man’s name is James Morgan. He phones from London, Oxford and sometimes Rotterdam. He works often with Alpsmarkets.com.
The second man’s name is Jeff Johnson, together with Brian Selby. The letter is registered in the brokercheck.com website, but anyone can use that name, I guess. They are using a phone number in the UK for WhatsApp contact, which is: +44 7918 201826, named: Blockchain.
They all use the same trick: you must pay first in order to get your money, which you probably will never get back.
So my terrible mistake is hopefully a good warning for others with this information…..