WintersnowFx review – 5 things you should know about wintersnowfx.com

Beware! WintersnowFx is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.

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Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Open trading accounts with at least two brokers.

We were able to recognize that WintersnowFx is a fake broker from the get-go, because this website is just another version of a scam we have already encountered – Ws-Fx.net. But even if we had not seen the other faces of this fraud, there is ample evidence that WintersnowFx is not the established and trustworthy broker it claims to be. Let’s look at the clues.

WINTERSNOWFX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS

The first thing to inform yourself about when choosing a broker is what its regulatory status is. Licensed brokers provide detailed information about which company runs them, where it is based, which jurisdictions it is authorised in and which regulatory bodies oversee its activities. Regulated financial services providers are also required to provide a comprehensive set of legal documentation.

The complete lack of legal information and documentation on the WintersnowFx website is very indicative that this is not an authorised financial services provider. There is not even an office address listed on the website, and the only method of contact is email.

Only after installing the available trading software and looking at the registration information do we see that the company Wintersnow Limited is based in Hong Kong.

However, a check of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) database shows that Wintersnow Limited is not among the licensed forex brokers. This means that even if the company is indeed based there, it is not authorised for such activities.

Registering a new Wintersnow account is only possible if you have a reference code. This is not at all typical for genuine forex brokers, which usually allow easy demo account creation. But we have seen this with scammers who pick up potential victims by spamming social networks and online forums.

If you have decided to invest in financial instruments, and especially if you are a novice trader, you should use the services of a licensed broker based in a jurisdiction with strong regulations. Depending on your location, it is advisable to choose a company that is regulated by an institution such as Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in US, Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC), UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or some EU regulator like Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

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.

WINTERSNOWFX TRADING SOFTWARE

Although WintersnowFx  is obviously not a real broker, the website offers real trading software, and the most widely used in the industry at the moment – MetaTrader 5 (MT5):

It should be noted that the presence of some kind of trading software is no guarantee that this is a genuine broker. Financial scammers often use trading platforms to fool their victims that their money is actually being invested. However, this trading is entirely fictitious and the money goes directly into the scammers’ pockets.

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.

WINTERSNOWFX TRADING CONDITIONS

On the website, we see a statement that the WintersnowFx is offering trading in CFD products from six asset classes, including foreign exchange, stock, spot index, futures, spot precious metals and spot energy.

At the same time, however, no information has been provided on the terms of trade. Legitimate forex brokers usually offer several types of trading accounts tailored to clients with different experience, capital and investment intentions. They also provide detailed information on all trading parameters such as leverage, spread, commissions, order execution method.

Given the lack of a Customer Agreement and other documentation, you have no way of knowing what terms you are agreeing to when you work with WintersnowFx. In such circumstances it would be very unwise to put your money on the line.

There is no reason to take such a risk, given that for a very low minimum deposit you could open a starter account with a licensed and regulated broker.

WINTERSNOWFX DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES

WintersnowFx claims to offer multiple payment methods for deposits and withdrawals, including wire transfer, debit/credit card and unspecified online payments. We had no way of confirming this. Experience with such scam schemes shows that they rarely use conventional payment methods, whatever they claim. Most of them only use cryptocurrency transactions because they don’t allow the defrauded person to ask for a refund.

HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK

With all the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies and NFTs, many people are starting to consider investing in the financial markets as a bid to improve their fortunes. Scammers on the internet have taken notice of that and take advantage of the ignorance of the general public by creating countless websites posing as brokers. These websites offer no real brokerage services and only deceive people into believing that their money is really being invested.

If you come across such a scam website and give out your contacts, you will be contacted by experienced scammers who will convince you that they can take on all the frighteningly complex aspects of investing for you. But you will never get any real profits, nor will you be able to get back the money you deposited. The terms and conditions of these websites are riddled with clauses that make withdrawing funds from your account unfeasible – for example, extremely high minimum trading volume requirements or hefty fees of 10%, 20% or even more of the amount.

Scammers hide behind fake addresses and names and operate through offshore companies that are not subject to regulation and scrutiny. So even if all the withdrawal requirements are met, they may simply disappear and move on to their next fraudulent scheme.

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.