Beware! AffluentTrade 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.
AffluentTrade is best avoided – here is why:
AffluentTrade regulation and safety of funds
AffluentTrade would have you believe it to be a UK broker, with the address seen below available on its website.
That is not the case, however – the company lacks a license from the UK regulatory body – the FCA. Therefore, the address is either fake or does not correspond to AffluentTrade’s whereabouts. We know for a fact that the company is not present within the FCA register without needing to look into it – AffluentTrade contradicts no less than three FCA policies. First off, it grants access to crypto assets, which were banned in the UK citing their incredible volatility and propensity for scams. Secondly, the broker offers a leverage of up to 1:200, which is also banned in the UK, with a restriction on the amount available to retail traders to no more than 1:30. Finally, the broker has bonuses available – another thing the FCA has banned. We will examine them in more detail, but for now we should say that all of this is undeniable proof the broker is not authorized by the FCA.
This is bad for two reasons – it means that AffluentTrade is up to no good, as no broker operating in good faith would lie about its regulation. It also means that the company cannot provide you with the protections that clients of FCA-licensed brokers enjoy – things like access to a Negative Balance Policy, guarantee funds and so on. If you wish to trade profitably, you need to trade safely – and the best way to do so is by sticking with licensed companies – here are some from the UK!
AffluentTrade trading software
AffluentTrade provides access to a web-based trading platform that we found to be rather lacking in comparison to industry standard Metatrader 5 – notably, no automated trading features are available on the web platform seen below:
The trading conditions on it are also nothing to write home about – the spreads on it are acceptable, under 1 pip on FX majors like the EURUSD, but the leverage is too much. High-leverage trading has been seen as too risky by not only the FCA, but most regulators nowadays. In fact, most brokers that offer access to such amounts are not licensed and are simply looking for a way to attract more clients – be extremely careful when you see them out there, as nine times our of ten you would be dealing with an offshore broker or a scam!
AffluentTrade deposit and withdrawal methods and fees
AffluentTrade accepts deposits via credit cards alone – and that is rather beneficial, since they allow a 540 day chargeback timeframe. A chargeback might be the only way you have of getting your money back, as AffluentTrade has also adopted the following bonus policy:
It states that all accounts credited with a bonus that have not achieved a turnover of 25 times that bonus amount plus the deposit will be unable to execute withdrawals until they do so. Of course, that amount is not possible for anyone to reach – and that makes withdrawals practically impossible.
How does the scam work?
AffluentTrade is definitely running a scam, and following the model described below:
Someone stumbles upon the scammers’ website and is prompted to make an account, leaving their phone number in the process. If the scammers get that, they will start calling around the clock for deposits. More and more will be taken out of the victim until they either realize what’s going on or run out of money – at which point the scammer cut them off and move on to new targets.
What to do when scammed?
If you have been scammed, it is imperative you take the following steps to avoid further losses:
Reissue whatever credit cards and forms of ID the scammers had access to – and remove any remote control software they had you install on your PC.
Contact your bank and see if a chargeback is possible – but do not trust recovery agencies that demand an upfront payment for their services, as they are simply another scam!
Finally, do not hesitate to leave a comment with your thoughts on AffluentTrade in the section below. Doing so will help us raise awareness of the scam, which is the best way to combat it!
