RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.
RoboMarkets is a well-established investment broker, headquartered in Cyprus and serving clients in the European Union and the European Economic Area. This investment intermediary offers a wide range of services suitable for both experienced traders and beginners, including many educational materials, risk explanations and free demo accounts.
Depending on the account type, customers have access to a variety of trading and technical options, including 7 asset types – Forex, Stocks, Indices, ETFs, Soft Commodities, Energies, Metals and more than 12,000 trade instruments.
In addition to English, the broker’s website is available in a total of 18 European and Asian languages. The company also provides multilingual 24/7 support for its European customers via phone, live chat and email. According to its website, the broker manages over 200,000 trading accounts and has been honoured for his work by numerous specialist outlets
ROBOMARKETS REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
RoboMarkets is registered in Cyprus under license No. 191/13, which is confirmed by checking the register of Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. Its activities are regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and therefore are in accordance with the rules and regulations of the European Union. This means that clients can expect some degree of security for their money outside the natural risk of the markets, including negative balance protection and segregation of the client’s funds from the Company’s funds. RoboMarkets is a member of the Investment Compensation Fund of Cyprus and provides for a guarantee of up to EUR 20,000 of clients investment in case the broker goes bankrupt. EU regulations also require that brokerages to be well-capitalized and maintain a net capital of at least EUR 730 000.
Current EU regulations also limit the level of leverage that brokers can operate with to 1:30 for major currency pairs and less for more volatile assets, which also serves to reduce risk, but the potential profit decreases accordingly. However, the broker does not clarify what kind of leverage it offers to its clients – this is determined individually through a knowledge test that is filled in when registering an account. Presumably, this means that for inexperienced traders stricter limits can be set.
At the same time, on its website the company promises leverage “up to 1:300” (and even 1:500 once you log in to the “members area”) for clients that are deemed “professional”. There is a very important catch – professional clients not only have to meet certain experience and capital conditions, but also have to give up the guarantee of funds by the Investor Compensation Fund enjoyed by retail traders.
ROBOMARKETS TRADING SOFTWARE
RoboMarkets offers a wide choice to its customers when it comes to the software to use for trading. It primarily works with the most popular platforms in the industry – MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and its newest incarnation MetaTrader 5 (MT5). In addition, a simplified, but still very functional web platform is also available, as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS.
Here’s what their web platform looks like:
RoboMarkets also offers a social trading service – copying the trades of a trader of your choice – through its own platform CopyFX.
ROBOMARKETS DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The choice of deposit and withdrawal methods is also wide. RoboMarkets accepts bank transfers and Visa and MasterCard transfers. Depending on the country, other transfer services such as FAST bank transfer, iDEAL, Rapid Transfer, Sofort and Trustly are available The most popular electronic payment systems are also accepted – PayPal, WebMoney, Skrill, Fasapay and Neteller.
The minimum first deposit is 100 EUR/USD/GBP for all 5 types of trading accounts, offered by RoboMarkets – Prime, ECN, Pro, ProCent and R StocksTrader.
Clients can maintain wallets in six currencies (USD, EUR, CNY, CHF, GBP, CZK) as well as gold. This diversity also sets this broker apart from most firms in the sector. Wallet deposits can be made in USD, EUR, CHF, GBP, and gold. If the currency of the deposited funds differs from the currency of the transit account, the funds will be converted according to the Company’s internal exchange rates.
This broker allows you to invest up to EUR 2,000 or equivalent in other currencies without identity verification, but only bank and card transfers are allowed in this situation, and most importantly – you can’t withdraw any money without verification.
RoboMarkets offers floating spreads from 1.3 points for Pro and ProCent accounts, from 0.1 for R StocksTrader and from 0 for Prime and ECN accounts. This looks good, but the average spread data, provided by the broker, show that in practice, for most assets, clients should expect higher, and correspondingly less profitable, levels:
It should also be borne in mind that the broker’s standard commission for currency trading for a volume of 1 million USD is 20 USD, аlthough it can be reduced or increased depending on the type of account and assets traded.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Unfortunately, for every licensed broker like RoboMarkets, there are dozens if not hundreds of offshore registered and unregulated firms whose sole purpose is to scam gullible people. They recruit through attractive online ads, promising easy money for minimal effort. Once you contact them, you fall into the hands of experienced scam artists, who confidently charm
you until they con you out of real money in exchange for empty promises. Any attempts to recoup your initial deposit or additional investment will be blocked by confusing explanations and the catches written into the terms and conditions of the contract, such as hefty additional taxes and fees, amounting to 10% or 20% of your funds.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
The best chance to get at least some of your money back is to contact the bank or card company where the payment was made and ask for cashback. But there is no guarantee that your application will be approved, especially if you have provided your personal details to the scammers like a copy of ID or proof of address. It is important not to pay attention to offers from online companies to return your money in exchange for an upfront payment, because it is almost certain that they are also scammers.
