Beware! Vault Markets 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.
Vault Markets is just another unregulated broker with delusions of grandeur. At its core it’s nothing more than you average FX scam.
Registration was a walk in the park, however in the user area we were told that our account was not verified, and as a result we had no access to any of the portal options. Basically, we were left at the mercy of the broker, and as we expected we never got the green light from it.
And so, we have to take the trading details from the website. First and foremost, we have to clear the account predicament. The website states that there are a total of 9 different account types, yet while we were registering, we were given only two: an individual and a corporate one. This is a clear play on expectations that fraudsters use to solicit clients.
The promoted trading assets are forex currency pairs, shares, indices, and crypto. The leverage is capped at the most common offshore value of 1:500, while the spread was fixed at 1 pip for all account types. However, there is a 1:1000 leverage account that we are not sure really exists. As mentioned, brokers juggle with accounts as if they are nothing.
VAULT MARKETS REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
We will just jump straight to the point. The broker lies about having a Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) license. The FSCA is the South African regulator, and the most respected one on the continent. The majority of Africa’s best and most profitable brokers are regulated by it, meaning that it cannot allow to get its reputation soiled by the likes of Vault Markets.
The broker mentions another related firm that its purpose is lost in translation. This second company is allegedly registered in Namibia. It’s sort of like the firm’s supposed liquidity provider but we seriously doubt that Vault Markets has dug so deep. Anyway, Namibia is one of the last places that we would ever associate with FX trading. This African nation turned out to have a semi government-tied regulator of markets called the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA),. However, the NAMFISA did not strike us as the best place for an FX broker; more like where a somewhat shady firm will look for approval. In any case, Vault Markets was nowhere to be found in the registry of the company.
Meaning that we can state the obvious: Vault Markets is not licensed and a risk to all!
Unless you wish to throw your money away for no reason , there is absolutely no incentive for investing in unlicensed brokers. In fact, you would be doing them a big favor by funding their further fraudulent projects. If you wish to trade real FX and CFD with regulated brokers, looks no further that those that are regulated, especially in well known locations such as Europe, the UK, the US, or Australia. The regulators there are pedantic to a ridiculous degree and will do everything in their power to uphold the rights of the user and the integrity of the market industry. It is within their power to penalize brokers and demand client compensation, as well as to set industry standards and introduce new rules and regulation.
VAULT MARKETS TRADING SOFTWARE
It’s becoming a weird trend to offer one of the MetaQuotes software, but to embed it with some sort of a virus or malware. With Vault Markets it’s the MT4 that was made available, however the file was too shady for us to open. And we do not recommend opening it to our users.
VAULT MARKETS DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
Here we have a classic example of information overlap even though the pure content of it does not really make a big difference. We are talking about the minimum deposit requirement. At one point in the site, we are told it’s $5, while on another the minimum is said to actually be $3. The difference is insignificant, but the principle of steady information has been broken, as it has been done by other scammer brokers in the past.
The alleged payment methods are credit cards, BTC wallet, and wire transfer.
All withdrawals are apparently instant; which is definitely impossible, especially with wire transfers were it takes multiple institutions to process a request.
To further worsen the deal, we found out about some sort of commissions and fees that are payable by the user, but have not been disclosed. According to the legal docs these fees are applicable, and it does not make a difference that the firm has not revealed the nature of these commissions nor their values.
That’s all the payment details that Vault Markets gives away. This broker is a definite risk to all!
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Getting scammed usually happens without you knowing it. It’s a deceivingly simple process that owes its success precisely because it seems so avoidable.
First, there is the matter of getting in contact with the broker which happens in one of two ways. Either it contacts you, or you it. If it calls, it means that somewhere in your net journey you accidently left a phone number or an email address. Or you were persuaded by the broker to contact it, which is why many scammer brokerage sites looks so appealing.
The hardest thing to achieve, for a fraudster, is to convince a user to invest an initial deposit. Prior to this a certain level of trust must be built, centered around a false sense of rapport. The broker will fake an interest in the user and in the process talk about market and profit opportunities, as well as investment choices. It’s all a part of a retaining strategy that will keep the user invested for at least a couple of thousand dollars, on average, until, eventually, he realizes the scammer pit he has fallen in.
When this happens, the broker will seize all contact with the user, and might even block the client from the website. It will go to great lengths not to return a single penny of the user’s money.
WHAT TO DO IF SCAMMED
The first thing you should do it to file for a charge back. That’s if you have invested by means of a credit or debit card. MasterCard and VISA have a chargeback period of 540 days giving users more than enough time to try to get their money back.
Wire transfer deposits are not as easy to acquire, and the best advice we can give you is to set up a reimbursement strategy with the bank leading the transactions. Most banks have strategies put in motion when these circumstances are met. Furthermore, if scammed via a wire transfer, it’s best to change your bank account user name and password.
Unfortunately, all crypto deposits are most surely lost for good. These transactions are untraceable and therefore once they reach the scammer end it all depends on the fraudsters if you see your money back or not.
Lastly, do not trust recovery agents or agencies. These are either separate scammers trying to get a hold of any leftovers, or can even be an extension of the brokerage scam.
