Beware! CryptoCoinFox 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.
If we believe the CryptoCoinFox website, it is the most regulated broker in the world, with licenses for forex and CFD trading in almost every major market on the planet. However, if we check these claims we find that this is in fact a completely anonymous website without any credentials to provide financial services. This is yet another fake broker designed to scam inexperienced people out of their money.
CRYPTOCOINFOX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
The first clear clue that CryptoCoinFox is not the legitimate broker it claims to be is the fact that it is not clear which entity owns and operates it. The website and legal documentation only mentions the brand name of the CryptoCoinFox, with no specific company name.
Despite this anonymity, CryptoCoinFox claims to hold licenses from leading regulators such as UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), The Financial Services Authority of South Africa (FSCA). However, no licensed broker named CryptoCoinFox can be found on the records of these regulators. In fact, one of these regulators, the UK’s FCA, has posted a warning that this website offers financial services without authorization:
CryptoCoinFox also claims to be authorised by authorities in offshore areas such as Belize, the Bahamas and Vanuatu. The text of the Terms and Conditions only mentions Vanuatu. However, no company can be found in the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission database whose name includes “CryptoCoinFox “. But even if CryptoCoinFox has a registration there, it means nothing in terms of the security of your money. Vanuatu is an offshore zone that has no regulatory requirements for brokers, except for a requirement of available capital of 50,000 USD.
When investing in the financial markets you should first make sure that you are working with brokers that are truly licensed by regulators such as FCA, ASIC, CySEC or Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US.
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.
CRYPTOCOINFOX TRADING SOFTWARE
CryptoCoinFox claims to offer a custom trading portal with advanced features. After registering an account, we only get access to a very simplified web-based platform. Here is how it looks like:
While the platform has the basic features for placing orders, customizing charts and application of technical indicators, it lacks the more advanced functionality found in the most widely used trading platforms in the industry, 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.
CRYPTOCOINFOX TRADING CONDITIONS
CryptoCoinFox claims to offer three types of trading accounts – Beginner, Trader and Profesional. The minimum deposit is 150 USD, 1 000 USD and 10 000 USD respectively. You should know that most legitimate brokers also offer accounts for beginner traders with a minimum deposit of 100-200 USD, and often even lower amounts.
The only trading parameter specified in the account description is leverage – up to 1:500. Such levels of leverage are not permitted by the regulators from which CryptoCoinFox claims to be licensed.
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 FCA, like EU regulators, limits leverage to 1:30 for trading in major currency pairs and even lower levels for more volatile assets. The same rules currently apply to Australia. In the US, the maximum limit is slightly higher at 1:50.
The legal documentation also mentions bonuses, but the nature and conditions of these bonuses are nowhere specified. Bonuses and promotions are a practice that is also prohibited by all leading regulators.
CryptoCoinFox puts emphasis on the fact that it offers PAMM accounts where the trading activity is carried out by an account manager. Many legitimate brokers offer such a service, but for the fraudsters at the CryptoCoinFox, it’s just a way to fool you into thinking your money is being invested when it really isn’t.
CRYPTOCOINFOX DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
Like most fake brokers, CryptoCoinFox only sells cryptocurrencies.
Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to 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. If you are interested in licensed brokers that accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, take a look at this list.
According to the Terms and Conditions, the client cannot withdraw funds for the first 30 banking days after account creation. Also, to withdraw funds at least 15 days must have elapsed since the last deposit. CryptoCoinFox also charges an unspecified inactivity fee.
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.