Beware! OctaviotradeFX 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.
OctaviotradeFX wants to show you the right path to success, at least, this is what this company claims to be doing on its website. However, trading with this broker will be a huge mistake that will expose your funds to risk. Here are the facts.
OctaviotradeFX Regulation and safety of funds
From the interface of OctviotradeFX, it is visible that the address of the company is in the Marshall Islands which is an offshore zone for forex trade. Furthermore, there is no official finance regulator for forex brokers and practically anyone can register a company there without even having to set foot in this jurisdiction. This is sufficient proof that OcataviotradeFX is not reliable to trade with as it is not registered and is not licensed.
There are several well-established jurisdictions around the world where forex brokers are strictly regulated by the local financial authorities and all precautions are taken to guarantee the safety of clients’ funds. For example, US-licensed brokers must be well-capitalised to be allowed to operate and they must invest no less than $20 million as operational capital which serves many purposes – to keep scammers out and to provide protection to clients in the case when the broker goes bankrupt.
In the EU and the UK, licensed brokers are required to invest 730,000 EUR as initial capital which amount may seem not so impressive as their US counterparts. However, in these two jurisdictions, the protection of clients funds is organised a bit differently from the US and licensed brokers must participate and deduct funds towards a local compensation fund or scheme from which in case of bankruptcy clients can be compensated up to a certain amount. In the EU, the amount of compensation can reach up to 20,000 EUR per clients but only if the broker is regulated by a local financial services authority and deducts funds towards a local investor compensation fund. In the UK, the amount of compensation is much higher, 85,000 GBP per clients if the broker is regulated by FCA and participates in the local Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
I all of the above-mentioned jurisdictions, licensed brokers must keep their clients’ funds segregated from their own, provide protection against negative balance and report transactions on a regular basis for the sake of transparency.
OctaviotradeFX Trading software
OctaviotradeFX trades in indices, commodities, stocks and oil. The trading software offered to the clients consists of the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.
We tried to open a live account with this broker and although the registration of the account was successful, we did not get the login details for the platform. What is shown in the image below is the unactivated MT4 which still gives a good idea about the properties of the platform. On the left-hand side are visible the trading products given with their bid/ask price. Beneath is the navigator for the accounts, indicators, the expert advisors and the scripts. In the top horizontal bar, you can see the auto trading option which is one of the advantages that this platform offers to the traders as well as the button for the charts which are one of the key features of the platform as they contain many charts, time frames and colours to choose from. In the middle of the screen, you see displayed 4 charts of 4 different forex pairs but in fact, the number of charts may vary as per the trader’s needs. The bottom horizontal bar is for the app market, another great advantage of this platform that makes it choice number one for the majority of brokers despite the fact that it was launched 15 years ago. MT4 is also equipped with a code base with customs scripts, VPS and trading signals that can be obtained for a subscription fee.
The section regarding the different account types which is shown in the last image shows us that the spread is floating and no parameters are given. What you need to know is that spread below 1.5 pips which is the industry average, is good for traders as the cost of transactions won’t be too high and they will be able to achieve sustainable profit. Also, from the same image, we can see that the leverage is 1:50 which is the same as the capped leverage in the US but is higher than the leverage in the EU and the UK which is capped at 1:30. Such leverage won’t present an enormous risk for the traders in case of unsuccessful transactions.
Nevertheless, we want to caution you that this broker is non-legit and non-regulated, so trading with it won’t be safe for your hard-earned money.
OctaviotradeFX Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
As you can see from the image below, OctviotradeFX offers 4 trading accounts which include Mini, Standard, Gold and VIP account. The minimum initial deposit for the Mini account is $500. This may not look like a huge amount, however, some licensed brokers would ask for as little as $1-5.
To feed their accounts, traders have a choice to make payments via credit card, bank wire, Euteller and Sofort. To make a deposit via credit card, the minimum amount is 250 EUR/GBP whereas, via wire transfer, it is 3,000 EUR/GBP.
The information about the minimum withdrawal amount is controversial as it says in one of the clauses that it is 3,000 EUR/GBP via wire transfer and then in another clause, it says that there are no requirements regarding a minimum or a maximum withdrawable amount. Such controversy may create problems for the clients if they want to withdraw funds.
Another thing that does not bode well for the clients is that this broker offers bonuses. However, the conditions under which such bonuses can be withdrawn if the client accepts them are not given on the company’s website. You should know that when bonuses are offered, which are funds belonging to the broker not the trader, they are subject to some usually hard to fulfil conditions. Accepting bonuses without clear knowledge of what these conditions are may create a mee with your funds and obstruct your withdrawal options. Anyway, we want to inform you that licensed brokers do not offer bonuses or other incentives and this is a way to differentiate them from the non-legit ones.
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 a 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 a chargeback if you have made your deposit via credit card. Fortunately, VISA and MasterCard give you 540 days within which to apply for a 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.
