Beware! PrimegainFX 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.
PrimegainFX is yet another offshore broker, investing with which is not safe or worthwhile in any capacity. Here is why:
PrimegainFX regulation and safety of funds
PrimegainFX is not a licensed broker – and what’s worse, it lies about it, as you can see from the following section of the company’s website:
Let’s address these claims one by one – first off, is PrimegainFX licensed by the CySEC? Well, no – among the many rules for brokers that the leading EU regulator has companies abide, they need to keep leverage amounts within 1:30, as more is simply too risky for retail traders – and here is PrimegainFX, offering a leverage of 1:500. The CySEC offers an unparalleled degree of protection for its traders – policies like Negative Balance protection and much more make Cyprus a preferred destination for traders from all over the world. This is why brokers like PrimegainFX lie about being licensed there. But PrimegainFX also lies about holding a Labuan license – and the Labuan Financial Services Authority has an online register where such claims are easily proven or disproven:
As you can see, the broker does not appear in the LFSA database. So this leaves us with one last claim – that the broker is registered on the Marshalls. And this one we actually believe – the offshore country’s FX market is not regulated in any capacity. This means that PrimegainFX is ultimately operating without any oversight – avoid the broker!
PrimegainFX trading software
PrimegainFX provides access to a web-based platform and a stock distribution of Metatrader 5 – the latter is the world’s leading trading platform, with powerful automated trading features and a simple interface. However, as we said, it is the stock distribution of the platform and PrimegainFX does not even have a server on it – so any trading done on there will not reflect on the broker in any capacity. Here is what the platform looks like:
And here is the web-based platform – it is noticeably more limited than MT5 – but it is the only platform PrimegainFX really offers:
The spreads PrimegainFX has are within the accepted 1 pip for major FX pairs – but, as we touched upon earlier, the leverage the broker provides is audacious – and, in fact, most regulatory bodies have deemed 1:500 to be too much for retail traders, so if you see a broker out there offering such amount, odds are, you are dealing with a scam.
PrimegainFX deposit and withdrawal methods and fees
PrimegainFX accepts deposits via wire transfers, cryptocurrencies and Neteller – and while the latter has some kind of chargeback policy, crypto payments are irreversible by design, and the same can be said about wire transfers.
And considering that we know nothing about PrimegainFX’s withdrawal policy and fees, since the broker has not provided us with its Terms of Service, a chargeback might be the only way you can actually get your money back from it.
How does the scam work?
Unfortunately, it would seem that PrimegainFX is nothing but a scam – and we believe it to be following what is a rather wide-spread template for such schemes. The scam starts when someone follows an ad that the scammers had placed on social media – these ads always promise some kind of lucrative investment opportunity.
Once the victim lands on the website, they are prompted to leave a phone number in the account creation process. This is crucial for the scammers, who then start calling their victim ceaselessly, demanding deposits. Should they get any money, they will keep demanding more and more until their victim realizes they are being scammed and either demands a withdrawal or stops pouring money with the scammers. At this point, the criminals simply stop contacting them and disappear.
What to do when scammed?
If you have been scammed by PrimegainFX, or another similar scheme, do not despair! Instead, check out these steps you can take to limit further losses:
First off, you need to remember what documents you provided PrimegainFX with – IDs, credit cards, and so on will need to be renewed, because otherwise the scammers will use them for illicit goals. Also, you need to remove all sorts of desktop-sharing software the fraudsters had you install – they often use TeamViewer to snoop around people’s PCs without consent.
Once your privacy has been restored, you need to think about getting a refund – to do that, contact your bank and explain your situation. They will tell you what options you have available in full detail. However, make sure you avoid any recovery agency that contacts you and pledges its services at the cost of an upfront payment – this is simply another scam.
Finally, consider sharing your experience in the comment section below – the only way to combat the scam is by raising the general awareness of it!
