Beware! AmymaxTrade 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.
The interface of AmymaxTrade looks impressive with the 5 winning awards that are displayed on the screen which may inspire confidence with potential clients that they will be able to join the 200,000 traders who have made money trading with this broker. Sounds good, right? However, before you entrust your precious money to this company you better make sure that it will be safe. Here are the facts.
AmymaxTrade Regulation and safety of funds
From the Contact Us section, we see that the address of the company’s headquarters is in the US. However, in the Terms and Conditions document, we see that clearing and billing services are done by TLC Consulting Ltd with an address in the Marshall Islands. US brokers are regulated by the National Futures Association (NFA) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). We searched the register of NFA but the name of the broker was not in it. This is sufficient proof that this broker non-registered and non-legit, therefore, trading with it will expose your precious money at risk.
US brokers are strictly regulated and they must meet stringent requirements in order to get their license. First of all, they must be well-capitalised which means that they must invest the impressive amount of $20 million in the form of initial capital. Also, they are subjected to the so-called ‘first in, first out’ rule which means that traders are not allowed to go long and short on the same pair at the same time and hedging is not allowed. In addition to that, US brokers must meet certain reporting requirements and provide their clients with access to certain transaction execution data. Where leverage is concerned, US brokers cannot offer leverage higher than 1:50 for forex currencies which is one of the measures for protecting clients’ funds.
AmymaxTrade Trading software
When dealing with a dodgy broker, it is not advisable to provide any personal or financial information. This is the reason why we chose not to register a trading account. However, by the looks of it and the information regarding the trading software which is provided on this broker website, clients are offered a web trader to execute their transactions.
We noticed that the leverage for forex currencies offered by AmymaxTrade is very high – 1:500. This is another proof that this broker is not legit. As we mentioned in the above section, the leverage for forex currencies in the US is capped at 1:50. This is one of the measures for guaranteeing the safety of clients’ funds. Trading with high leverage may seem like it increases the potential for making a big win. However, reality and wishful thinking are quite opposite since 70% of traders lose in transactions. It also means that the scope of financial loss will be amplified by the high leverage.
We also want to advise you that a web trader is a rather cheap trading software with limited functionalities which is not to traders benefit. In contrast, legit and reliable brokers usually offer trading software of good quality which in around 80% of the cases consists of providing either the MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 trading platforms. This is quite understandable as both platforms are equipped with an excellent package of trading tools and instruments which give traders certain advantages. For example, MT 4 and MT 5 have an auto trading option, trading signals, a code base with customs scripts, VPS, an app market, a financial calendar, etc. The amazing charing options that contain a variety of charts, time frames, colours, and even the option of creating customised templates are one of the key features for these platforms. In addition, the array of technical analysis indicators, such as Fibonacci retracement, Bollinger Bands, moving averages, etc., help traders predict the future direction of exchange rates and make a profit.
We strongly recommend finding a legit and reliable broker that offers either platform.
AmymaxTrade Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
AmymaxTrade clients can benefit from 5 trading accounts – Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The initial deposit for the Basic account is $250. The other accounts start at $1,000, $2,500, $10,000 and $25,000 respectively.
To feed their accounts, clients can choose between payments made via credit card, Neteller, BPay, or bank wire.
There is no information on what the minimum withdrawal amount is. However, this broker charges some hefty fees that clients should be aware of. For example, there is a clearance fee which is 0.5% from every trade, both winning and losing with a maximum of $1,000.
In addition to that, all withdrawals are charged a service fee of 3.5%. However, the maximum withdrawal fee is capped at $3,500. In our opinion, the withdrawal fee may result in a big chunk of money being taken from the client’s account.
If a trading account stays inactive for a period of 2 months, the broker will charge a dormant fee of 200 EUR/USD/GBP. If you compare with legit brokers, you will find out that they usually have a more extended grace period of 6 months or 1 year.
To top it all, the company will charge its clients a maintenance fee that encompasses all services and features available to the client and which represents 0.5% of the account balance. Again, charging a percentage fee rather than a fix fee is not beneficial to the clients.
How does scam work?
Actually, it’s quite simple and people often fall into the trap of experienced scammers. We bet you have seen those attractive ads on the Internet promising big and quick profits over a short period of time. Just provide your personal information, and voila! The scam brokers are waiting for you and you will be inundated with phone calls promising easy profit. Tempting, right? You think ‘ok, I can spend $200-300 and see what profit it brings me’. Congratulations, you just provided a fat commission for your scammers that will be distributed down the food chain. Now you have ‘graduated’ to be handed over to a senior ‘broker’, a smooth talker who will try to convince you that there is no more perfect time like now to invest more money. After all, you want to make more profit, right? However, something starts to feel off and now you start asking yourself questions and all you want is to withdraw your money and get out fast.
Unfortunately, it is too late! Someone has pulled the cheese and you are trapped because scammers don’t give up easily. Scammers will do anything in order to delay you so that you miss the deadline for a chargeback.
What to do if scammed?
Our advice is to immediately file for a chargeback if you have been lucky enough to make your deposit via credit card. VISA and MasterCard allow for 540 days chargeback period, so you still have a chance to get your money back.
Things don’t look so good if your currency of choice has been Bitcoin or bank wire. In that case, you may have to wave your money goodbye.
There are some other things that you can do in case of being scammed – cancel your credit card if you have given your CVV code to the scammers. Also, erase any software from your computer that gives scammers access to your private data.
Be warned, as well, that some so-called ‘recovery agents’ may approach you promising to recover your funds for a fee. It could be another form of scam where scammers prey on your misfortune. Should you choose to use one, you must make sure that you are dealing with a genuine and legitimate agency by checking their credential and company’s information and transparency.
