Beware! Athelneyfx 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.

 

Athelneyfx presents itself as a licensed forex broker operating in one of the world’s leading financial centers. However, these bold claims do not stand up to even minimal scrutiny, and it is easy to uncover that this is yet another fraudulent scheme.

At the time of writing this review, the Athelneyfx website lacks basic functionality, primarily the ability to create an account. However, the information on the website is enough to conclude without a doubt that this is not a legitimate, regulated broker, but rather, these are typical scammers that should be avoided. It is possible that the project has not yet been completed or has been abandoned, as is frequently the case with scam sites.

ATHELNEYFX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS

The website states that the company behind it is Athelney Limited, which is presented as “UK investment firm, with registration number 07002831”. The text of the Terms and Conditions even states that “the UK courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any claim or dispute” between the company and customers.

However, this is an outright lie that can easily be exposed. Brokers operating in the UK must be licensed and supervised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Such brokers must meet strict requirements for transparency and financial stability, and of course must be on the regulator’s register. However, a broker with the name Athelney Limited cannot be found there:

 

The website lists an address in a London suburb and only an email for contact. There is also a Russian version of the website, which lists a contact number with a Moscow area code. This probably indicates where the fraudsters are actually based.

It is quite obvious that the Athelneyfx are scammers who should not be trusted. If you want to try your abilities and luck in the world of forex trading, it is highly advisable to do so through legitimate brokers operating in one of the established financial centres in the UK, EU, USA or Australia. There, the activities of brokers are controlled by powerful regulatory bodies such as Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC).

Clients of these brokers receive protections such as negative balance protection and segregation of the client’s funds from the broker’s funds, as well as guarantee for their funds in case the broker goes bankrupt. These guarantees amount to up to EUR 20,000 EU and 85,000 GBP in the UK. However, the likelihood of such a bankruptcy is low because regulators also have significant net capital requirements that companies must maintain – EUR 730 000 in UK and Cyprus, AUD 1000 000 in Australia and at least 20 million USD in the United States.

ATHELNEYFX TRADING SOFTWARE

Athelneyfx claims to offer a “unique user platform”, with “enhanced functionality and sophisticated features that will be very helpful for traders of all levels”. But there is no link to this platform on the website, and the page to create a new account gave an time out error. Because of this, we could not confirm whether Athelneyfx has a trading platform at all.

Legitimate brokers offer clients a wide selection of quality trading software. Typically, this includes the industry’s most popular platforms, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). These platforms provide a variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.

ATHELNEYFX TRADING CONDITIONS

Athelneyfx claims to offer five account types – Basic, Standard, Business, Premium and VIP. However, the only specific information about the features is the minimum deposit, which is USD 250 for a Basic account. For a Standard account, the deposit jumps to USD 5,000, and for VIP it is USD 250,000. Legitimate brokers usually offer a micro account option with a minimum deposit of around USD 100.

There is no information about the most important trading conditions – the spread and leverage offered. As there is no functioning trading platform and client portal, we were unable to verify whether this information is available there.

Athelneyfx also offers bonuses to its customers. This also indicates that it could not be a legitimate broker operating in the UK. The FCA prohibits brokerage firms from using bonuses and promotions to attract clients.

Athelneyfx have set a frequently used scam trap in their terms of use. In order to withdraw funds from an account that has been credited with a trading bonus, the trader will be required to execute a minimum trading volume of 30 times the bonus amount plus the deposit. Such high traded volume requirements make it virtually impossible for the customer to withdraw their supposed profits and even their deposit.

ATHELNEYFX DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES

The logos of online payment platforms such as BPay, POLi, GiroPay and Sofort can be seen on the Athelneyfx’s website. However, due to our inability to register an account, we were unable to verify if these services were indeed available. However, the likelihood is small as scammers usually prefer less known and shady platforms.

 

 

According to the Terms of use, the minimum withdrawal amount is USD 100, and the minimum deposit is USD 250 USD. There is also an unspecified inactivity fee and “incomplete verification” fee.

HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK

The online space is full of ads promising easy money. They sound too good to be true, because they are not – they are outright scams. Many of these fraudsters pose as brokers and take advantage of the general public’s ignorance of the capital markets.

If you give your contact details to one of the flashy sites promising to make you rich, you will be contacted by experienced scammers who will start convincing you to “invest” in their scheme. Initially they will ask for a small amount, say USD 250 or USD 500. If you agree, they will begin to persuade you to give them larger sums.

However, your money will never be truly invested in the market, and you will not be able to receive either the supposed profits or the money from your deposit. Your attempts to withdraw your money will be blocked by deliberately confusing clauses in the terms and conditions. Some of the most commonly used traps are extremely high minimum trading volume requirements or withdrawal fees equal to 10%, 20% or more of your funds.

WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED

It is very important not to rush into trusting people on the internet who offer to magically refund your money for a fee. These are also scammers, and they may even be the same ones who scammed you in the first place.

If you have made the transfers using credit or debit card, you can claim a chargeback. Visa and MasterCard allow this to be done within 540 days. However, such a request may not be approved if you have given the fraudsters documents such as a copy of an ID and proof of address. This will allow them to claim that the transaction is legitimate and approved by both parties. Wire and cryptocurrency transfers unfortunately are not refundable.

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