Beware! DCACriptofinance 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.
DCACriptofinance wants very much to convince us that it is an “established and reliable broker”. The problem is that it doesn’t do it by establishing itself as a broker that can be relied upon. Instead, this website is illegally using the name of a legitimate company to deceive that it is its representative. You should not trust DCACriptofinance because you will end up scammed.
DCACRIPTOFINANCE REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
DCACriptofinance claims that the website is owned and operated by D.C.A. Finance B.V., a company based in the Netherlands and authorised by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
A check of the BaFin and Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) databases shows that there is indeed a company with this name authorised to provide certain types of financial services in both countries as well as in Belgium. But there are multiple problems. The first is that this company is involved in the trading of agricultural commodities. The second is that there is no evidence that the DCACriptofinance website has anything to do with it. The domain name through which the D.C.A. Finance B.V. offers its services is a different one – www.dca.nl.
DCACriptofinance also claims to have offices in Italy and the United Kingdom. However, D.C.A. Finance B.V. is not listed among the brokers authorised by the relevant national regulators – CONSOB and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
It should be noted that the website is not available in German or Dutch. The website itself is only in Italian, but the registration form and customer portal in English. Such inconsistencies are typical of fraudulent schemes. And the fact that this is a fraud is confirmed by the lack of any kind of legal documentation. When you register an account you have to declare your agreement to the “Terms and Conditions” without knowing what their contents are.
If you have decided to invest in the financial markets, you should be very careful not to fall into the clutches of the many fake brokers lurking online. When choosing a broker through which to invest in the financial markets, you should not only make sure that all the information required by law is available, but also that this information is true. Always check that the company is indeed on the records of the specified regulator and that the domain used is among those officially approved for the particular broker.
It is advisable to trust only brokers that you can be sure are licensed by reputable regulatory body, for example Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). There are many advantages to working with such brokers because they must comply with all the requirements of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ЕSМА). They must maintain a minimum net capital of at least EUR 730 000, which guarantees that the company is financially stable and has a serious long-term approach.
Whenever clients deposit money in their trading accounts, it is kept segregated from the broker’s operating funds in separate bank accounts. Thus the clients’ money remains shielded in case of mishaps like a broker’s bankruptcy. All brokers licensed in Cyprus are members of the Investor Compensation Fund, which may cover a maximum of EUR 20,000 per person in the event of broker insolvency. Cypriot forex brokers are required to report their clients’ transactions on a regular basis. This requirement is designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity and transparency.
DCACRIPTOFINANCE TRADING SOFTWARE
Further evidence that DCACriptofinance is not a genuine broker is that it lacks proper trading software. After registration we get access to a weak imitation trading platform. The graphic of the supposed platform is taken for free from the TradingView website and is not functionally linked to the cumbersome and limited trading menu.
Legitimate brokers offer clients a wide selection of trading software, including desktop, mobile apps and web-based platforms. The most widely used platforms in the industry are MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). These platforms have established themselves as industry standard because they offer a wide range of features, including a variety of options for customization, multiple account usage, designing and implementing custom scripts for automated trading and backtesting trade strategies.
DCACRIPTOFINANCE TRADING CONDITIONS
DCACriptofinance claims to offer three types of tradeable Accounts – Bronze. Silver and Gold. The minimum deposit is 500 EUR. In comparison, many legitimate brokers allow you to start trading with considerably lower amounts, often below 100 USD or EUR.
The only other specific information in the account descriptions is the leverage, ranging between 1:100 and 1:500. This is another clear indication that DCACriptofinance is not a legitimate broker operating in any EU country. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and accordingly all EU regulators limit leverage to 1:30 for major currency pairs, 1:20 for non-major pairs, gold and major indices, 1:10 for other commodities and non-major indices, and 1:2 for cryptocurrencies. 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.
DCACRIPTOFINANCE DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
DCACriptofinance deposit menu is not available if the account is not verified by providing a copy of ID. Therefore, we were unable to determine what payment methods are available. Experience shows that scammers of this type prefer cryptocurrencies because they do not allow refunds.
Legitimate brokers typically offer clients a wide choice of transparent payment methods, including bank transfer, credit/debit cards and established e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Fake brokers are a type of scam that has spread especially rapidly in recent years, aided by the excitement surrounding cryptocurrencies. People looking for ways to make money online can very easily come across one of the many scam websites of this type. Scammers are very skilled at convincing people to invest – first small amounts of a few hundred dollars, and then larger sums of money. Some of the scam schemes are quite elaborate and even use trading software to convince victims that their money is actually being invested and even racking up profits.
But when you ask to withdraw those winnings, or even your deposit, you’ll find it’s impossible – you’ll be told that a sudden change in the market has wiped out all your money, or that you have to meet impossible minimum trading volume requirements and pay huge fees and commissions hidden in the terms and conditions. Fraudsters can also simply disappear because they use fake names and offshore shell companies for their operations.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
If you find yourself scammed, the first thing you should do is notify the financial authorities in your country about the scammers’ activities, and spread the word online to warn other potential victims.
Your options for getting your money back are limited. If credit or debit cards were used for the transactions to the scammers, you have the option to request a chargeback. Companies like Visa and MasterCard now allow such requests to be made up to 540 days after the transaction. But keep in mind that if you have provided proof of your identity to the fraudsters, they may dispute that the transaction was voluntary. In addition, fraudsters typically use cryptocurrencies and shady e-wallets that do not allow refunds.
Victims of scams are often targeted by another type of online fraudsters who promise that their money can be refunded for an upfront fee. Under no circumstances should you trust such offers.
