Beware! PandoraFXco is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
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PandoraFXco is an incredibly enigmatic broker – it omits a lot of crucial information on its website. The default language of the site is Chinese, and the English translation is pretty poor – so we could have a case of information getting lost in translation, but by accident or purposefully keeping silent about it, there is simply no way for anyone to understand what the broker’s trading conditions and terms are just from looking at its website. That would not be so bad if the broker could open accounts where that vital information is available – but any attempt to make an account with PandoraFXco led to the following page:
It seems that, at the time of writing, getting an account with the broker is completely impossible. This does mean that we were unable to learn much about it, since the website it runs is so cryptic. Still, we feel more than confident in stating PandoraFXco should be avoided at all cost – there are severe issues regarding the company’s regulation, that we have exposed in the section below:
PandoraFXco regulation and safety of funds
PandoraFXco is not a regulated broker. In fact, there is not a single mention of regulation on its website. Of course, that is an incredibly important aspect of a broker’s service – especially since the markets are quite overrun with scammers these days. And even if an unlicensed broker is not actively trying to steal your money by running a scam, there is no telling that the company is qualified to hold it whatsoever – most unlicensed brokers go under in a couple of weeks due to the incredible volatility of the markets and take your money with them.
To address these two issues, regulatory bodies around the world have created various regulation – for example, companies in the UK are required to participate in guarantee funds that pay out up to 85 000 pounds per affected client if the company goes under. Furthermore, scams are weeded out from the markets with a simple requirement – brokers have to report on a daily basis on open and closed trades, which makes price fixing and other such manipulation impossible.
There are a lot more beneficial UK policies that we could mention, but the bottom line is that if you wish to trade safely, you can only do so with licensed brokers! So, if you are interested in ones in Britain, you might want to check this list of our top-rated UK brokers out!
PandoraFXco trading software
PandoraFXco provides access to a desktop distribution of industry standard trading platform Metatrader 5 – the platform is revered for its powerful automated trading features and user-friendly interface. Still, this is not an endorsement of the broker – there are much better, licensed companies out there that have the same software. Here is what the platform looks like:
The trading conditions on it are nothing to write home about either – the spreads on FX majors like the GBPUSD are well over 1 pip, and the broker has a leverage of up to 1:1000 available for its demo accounts – we do not know if the same is true about its real accounts, but such high leverage has been banned by most regulatory bodies who have seen it as too risky for the retail trader to engage with!
PandoraFXco deposit and withdrawal methods and fees
PandoraFXco does not mention what deposit methods it accepts, and does not have its Terms and Conditions available on its website – therefore, we are not certain what the withdrawal procedure is either. If you have deposited with PandoraFXco, however, we suggest you file a chargeback, given how shady the broker is!
How does the scam work?
It seems inevitable that PandoraFXco should be declared a scam – here is the scheme the broker runs:
First off, someone stumbles upon the website the scammers run – on it, they are prompted to make an account, and leave their phone number in the process. This is crucial to the scammers, who will then start calling around the clock to demand more and more deposits until their victim is either bled dry or realizes what’s going on. At that point, the scammers simply cut them off and move on to new targets!
What to do when scammed?
Take the following steps to limit further losses:
Get whatever credit cards and forms of ID the scammers had access to reissued – and also remove any remote control software they had you install on your PC!
Contact your bank and ask if a chargeback is available on your deposit with PandoraFXco – and if not, do not trust recovery agencies that demand an upfront payment for their services – they are simply running another scam!
Finally, do not hesitate to leave a comment below with your thoughts on PandoraFXco – the best way to combat the scam is to raise awareness of it!