Beware! Crypterium-primefx 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.
Crypterium-primefx tries to pass itself off as a broker serving millions of traders worldwide. However, closer inspection quickly reveals that it is no broker at all. It’s a completely anonymous scam website designed to capitalize on the excitement surrounding cryptocurrencies and the general public’s poor knowledge of financial markets. You should not trust your money to Crypterium-primefx.
CRYPTERIUM-PRIMEFX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
While some effort has been made to make the Crypterium-primefx website look legitimate, this impression is quickly being dispelled.
The first revealing clue is that nowhere is the name of the legal entity behind the Crypterium-primefx mentioned. In addition, all links to Terms and Conditions and other legal documentation are in fact empty. Whoever is behind this website has tried to remain anonymous. That’s not just suspicious, it’s illegal for a broker who has to manage other people’s money.
The website lists an address in the United States. Meanwhile, the “regulation” section states that Crypterium-primefx is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Such inconsistencies are a dead giveaway that these are fraudsters. That Crypterium-primefx does not list a company name or registration number indicates that it does not have any license. A search of the website’s name in the records of regulators in the US and Australia predictably yielded no results.
If you have decided to invest money in cryptocurrencies or other financial instruments, you should avoid such anonymous websites full of false and misleading information at all costs. You should only trust legitimate brokers who are indeed licensed and supervised by regulatory bodies such as Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in US or 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.
In the EU and the UK, brokers must also participate in guarantee schemes that cover a certain amount of the trader’s investment if the broker becomes insolvent. These guarantees amount to up to 20 000 EUR in the 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.
CRYPTERIUM-PRIMEFX TRADING SOFTWARE
On the Crypterium-primefx website, one can see the claim that it offers one of the most widely used software in the industry, MetaTrader 5 (MT5). But nowhere on the website are there links to download the software, nor does the Crypterium-primefx provide credentials to log into the MT5 platform after registration.
In the client area, instead of a real trading platform, one can only see simple charts with current prices of selected assets, taken from the free TradingView website:
This is the laziest possible imitation of a trading platform. The Crypterium-primefx is clearly a scam aimed at people who have no idea of the financial markets and do not know what to expect from a trading software.
It is advisable to contact one of the many legitimate brokers that offer MT5 or the still very popular MT4. These platforms have established themselves as leaders because they offer a wide range of features, including a wide variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.
CRYPTERIUM-PRIMEFX TRADING CONDITIONS
The Crypterium-primefx website mentions four types of trading accounts. The only specific information in the account descriptions is the minimum deposit, which is 500 USD for a Basic account. Legitimate brokers offer not only clearer and more detailed information about trading conditions, but also more suitable offers for novice traders. Many of them offer micro accounts with a minimum deposit of only 100 USD or even less.
On the website one can also see the claim that Crypterium-primefx offers a spread “as low as” 0.2 pips for forex trading. But since Crypterium-primefx doesn’t even have a real trading platform, these values mean nothing.
Crypterium-primefx also claims to offer “generous leverage up to 1:500”. This in itself indicates that Crypterium-primefx could not be a truly licensed broker operating in Australia or the United States.
High leverage creates the opportunity for more significant profit, but correspondingly increases the risk of sudden and excessive losses. All leading regulators therefore restrict leverage for retail traders. The ASIC, like EU regulators, currently limits leverage to 1:30 for trading in major currency pairs and even lower levels for more volatile assets. In the US, the maximum limit is slightly higher at 1:50.
CRYPTERIUM-PRIMEFX DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The logos of popular payment methods such as Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Skrill and Neteller can be seen on the main page of the website. The FAQ section also mentions bank transfer. After registering an account, however, it becomes clear that Crypterium-primefx only accepts cryptocurrencies:
Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds. While there are some legitimate brokers that accept Bitcoin, they do so alongside other transparent payment methods.
Crypterium-primefx claims that there are no fees for depositing with either credit/debit card or wire transfer. But this means nothing, as the Crypterium-primefx does not actually offer these payment methods. For cryptocurrencies, there is mention of a “standard network fee” of 0.0005 BTC, which at the time of writing this review equates to about 25 USD.
Since the Crypterium-primefx does not have publicly available Terms and Conditions, it is unclear if there are other fees and withdrawal requirements.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Many people are looking for ways to make money passively, but do not have the necessary knowledge to invest in the financial markets themselves. This makes them a target for the many online scammers posing as brokers. If you come across some of them and give them your contacts, you will be contacted by skilled scam artists who will assure you that they can take on the incomprehensible aspects of investing for you. You will only be required to invest and take profits.
But when you try to collect even just a fraction of your money, it will turn out to be impossible. Your supposed profits will suddenly evaporate, or you’ll find that you have to meet impossible traded volume requirements first. Fraudsters often insert huge withdrawal fees into client agreements amounting to 10%, 20% or even more. You won’t be able to hold scammers accountable because they hide behind fake names and shell-companies offshore. Scammers also typically use non-refundable payment methods.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
First of all, you should be very careful not to fall straight into the clutches of other scammers. Another common scam is to promise money recoveries from fake brokers for an upfront fee.
If you used a credit or debit card for the transactions, you can charge a chargeback. Visa and MasterCard have a long period in which they allow such requests – 540 days. But keep in mind that fraudsters can dispute if you have provided them with a copy of your ID and proof of address. It would also be helpful if you alerted the authorities in your country and other people online to the activities of the scammers.
Michael Bravo Arrieta
I’m from the Philippines. I invested only P1,000 because the person I talked to said that I’ll receive P10,000. After my “investment” shoot up to P15,000, I had to pay P1,500 commission fees. Then my investment ballooned to P85,000, then P200,000 but had paid an another P13,500. Finally, my investment “hit” P415,000 but I couldn’t get my profits and paid almost P50,000 all in all. It’s really f$#@&-+g scam!