Beware! EliteCryptoMerchants 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.
EliteCryptoMerchants is yet another shady broker. Companies like it are a dime a dozen – and EliteCryptoMerchants does not manage to provide us with even a single reason why trading with it would be worthwhile. The broker has serious issues when it comes to its regulation, its Terms and Conditions and much more – but before we examine them in any depth, we need to mention the fact that the company could not verify our account – we submitted all our information and were told to wait for a confirmation email that never came. This means our account is stuck in the following state indefinitely:
While that does mean we could not experience everything EliteCryptoMerchants has to offer, we are quite certain the broker not being able to make accounts at present is a blessing in disguise – here is why:
EliteCryptoMerchants regulation and safety of funds
EliteCryptoMerchants claims to be licensed by the CSSF – the regulatory body of the Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg – here is the broker making the claim:
This is false, of course – EliteCryptoMerchants advertises leverage amounts of up to 1:500 available to everyone, while the CSSF has banned the provision of amounts over 1:30 to the retail trader. The broker not being licensed is quite the shame, since, as a part of the EU, Luxembourg has one of the safest Forex markets.
This is due to pan-European policies like the access to a Negative Balance protection of traders and the access to guarantee funds that pay out up to 20 000 euro in the case of a broker going under. If you wish to access these protections, your best bet would be trading with a company that actually holds an EU license, and is not just saying it does to appear more legitimate!
EliteCryptoMerchants trading software
As we could not make an account with EliteCryptoMerchants, we cannot gauge what software it provides or compare it to industry standard Metatrader 5 – but we have found most of these offshore brokers’ platforms to lack vital MT5 features, usually automated trading.
Therefore, the platform EliteCryptoMerchants offers cannot be said to provide a compelling reason to deposit with the broker. EliteCryptoMerchants’ trading conditions also fail to do so – the high leverage we mentioned is incredibly risky to retail traders, and most brokers that offer it to them are unlicensed. So be careful when you see a high-leverage broker in the wild!
EliteCryptoMerchants deposit and withdrawal methods and fees
As we could not make an account with EliteCryptoMerchants we have no idea what deposit methods it actually accepts – but if you have managed to deposit, you might want to get acquainted with your available chargeback options, as EliteCryptoMerchants has the following to say on its fees:
The charges are never described in more detail, and we worry this means withdrawals with EliteCryptoMerchants are going to be expensive and difficult!
How does the scam work?
EliteCryptoMerchants is definitely running a scam – and what’s more, it is doing so by following what is a very played out scam pattern – here is how the scheme unfolds:
First off, someone stumbles upon the website EliteCryptoMerchants runs – and on it, they are prompted to make an account, leaving their phone number in the process. Once the scammers have that, they will start calling around the clock to demand deposits – more and more money will be taken from the victim, until they are bled dry or realize what’s going on, at which point the scammers will simply cut them off and move on to new targets.
What to do when scammed?
If you have been scammed, you need to take the following steps to make sure you do not suffer further losses:
First off, restore your privacy by reissuing whatever forms of ID and credit cards the scammers had access to. That is to be done ASAP – also remove any desktop sharing software they had you install.
Secondly, contact your bank and explain what happened. If there is an available chargeback option, they will walk you through it. However, if a recovery agency reaches out to you and promises to restore your losses at the cost of an upfront payment, know that to be a lie – such ”agencies” are simply another scam!
Finally, do not hesitate to leave a comment below and tell us of your experience – doing so will help raise awareness of the scam which is the best way to combat its spread.
