Beware! IUmarkets 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.
IUmarkets is yet another shady broker that is not worth your time or money – here is why:
IUmarkets regulation and safety of funds
IUmarkets claims to be licensed by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission – the VFSC. Here is the broker providing us with its registration number:
Of course, such claims are easily verified with the database of the VFSC – so we looked up that number:
IUmarkets is not licensed as it claims – and that is not surprising whatsoever. But it also means that the broker cannot cover the rather lax Vanuatuan standards – the regulator only requires licensees to hold over $50 000 to their name. This means that stricter protections like the ones traders with British brokers enjoy – access to guarantee funds and a Negative Balance protection policy, are completely off the table with IUmarkets!
IUmarkets trading software
IUmarkets provides access to a desktop trading platform, seen below:
It is quite lacking when compared to industry standard Metatrader 5 – it lacks MT5’s sophisticated automated trading, for example. IUmarkets also provides access to a web-based platform that is even worse – its interface is quite cluttered and it has even less features somehow. Here is what it looks like:
The trading conditions themselves are nothing to write home about either – the spreads on both platforms are moving wildly above the acceptable 1 pip difference for FX majors like the EURUSD. The leverage IUmarkets provides access to is too high too – sitting at 1:500, when most legitimate brokers are restricted to offering amounts of no more than 1:30 to retail traders. Whenever you see a high leverage in the wild, odds are you are dealing with an offshore broker, a scam, or both!
IUmarkets deposit and withdrawal methods and fees
IUmarkets accepts deposits via credit cards, Skrill and Bitcoin – the latter are ineligible for a chargeback, and we fear that this means you will not be able to get your money out of IUmarkets’ hands if you have deposited using crypto – the broker has the following restrictive policy:
It states that accounts credited with a bonus need to achieve a turnover of 30 times before they can withdraw any of their funds. Of course, such a high requirement is practically impossible for anyone to achieve – even seasoned traders would have quite the difficulty reaching it. This is the exact kind of abuse that led to the provision of bonuses to clients being largely outlawed by most regulatory bodies out there!
There is also the issue of the withdrawal fees that IUmarkets charges – outlined in the screenshot below:
As you can see, IUmarkets’ website was rather broken on this page – so we are not sure what fees are tied to what withdrawal method – but we do know that there are legitimate brokers out there that waive withdrawal fees altogether as a sign of good faith. Of course, as this section has showed, good faith is in short supply with IUmarkets!
How does the scam work?
IUmarkets is undeniably running a scam – here is how the scheme the broker follows unfolds:
First off, someone stumbles upon the website the broker is running – and on it, are prompted to make an account. Should they do so, they are required to leave a phone number. Once the scammers have this, they will start calling around the clock to demand deposits – more and more is required until their victim either runs out of money or realizes what’s going on – at which point, the scammers cut them off and move on to fresh targets!
What to do when scammed?
If you recognize the situation described above, you might have been the victim of a scam. Here is what you need to undertake to limit further losses:
First off, reissue whatever credit cards and forms of ID the scammers had access to – and get rid of whatever desktop sharing software they had you install on your PC!
Secondly, contact your bank and see if you can file a chargeback on your payment- but if that is not possible, do not trust any recovery agency that might contact you and demand an upfront payment for its services – these are all scams!
Finally, do not hesitate to leave a comment below with your thoughts on IUmarkets – in doing so, you will be helping us raise awareness of the scam, which is an excellent way to combat it!
