Beware! A1 Invest Trade 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.
A1 Invest Trade promises to be a broker “founded with a vision to create a 100% transparent digital trading experience for its clients” and claims that it is “proud that (it) helped many customers to make revenue”. However, the only one who would be making a revenue if you invest with this broker is the broker itself – do not fall for this scheme. There is more than enough proof that there is something shady going on – read the review below to find out more.
A1 Invest Trade REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
A1 Invest Trade is supposedly a broker that is based and registered in the UK. On the website, the following UK Business License is provided:
However, such a document definitely does not mean that a certain broker is authorized to offer financial services in the UK. In order to be legitimate, every UK broker must be licensed by one of the strictest financial regulatory bodies in the world – the FCA. This was not the case with A1 Invest Trade – the broker was nowhere to be found in the extensive register the FCA keeps. This goes to show that they are definitely not licensed but this hardly comes as a surprise. This broker was more or less anonymous and has provided very little information about itself – no legitimate broker would allow such a thing.
Turning to a legitimate, regulated broker is essential if you do not want to end up scammed. Brokers with a solid license are reliable choice because they have to answer to certain reputable authorities that make sure that all brokers conduct business in a fair and transparent manner. UK brokers, for example, are considered to be among the best in the world – and a company has to meet many requirements before obtaining such a license. There are minimum capital requirements – all brokers are obligated to prove their financial stability by holding capital of at least €730 000 – and sometimes more if the broker has many clients. If such a broker does go bankrupt despite all safety measures, its clients would be entitled to compensation of up to £85 000 because UK brokers are obligated to participate in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). But since your capital is always kept in segregated bank accounts so that broker money and client money do not mix, it is extremely unlikely for your deposit to be lost if your broker becomes insolvent.
A1 Invest Trade TRADING SOFTWARE
We were unable to see what sort of trading software this broker offers. We were supposed to verify our account via email before accessing the broker’s client area – but a verification email never arrived. Some scammers use this trick and prefer to allow only certain people to open accounts – in this way, the scam remains undetected for a longer period of time. We cannot be sure that this broker even offers any sort of trading platform – if they do not, opening an account with them becomes completely redundant.
Work with a broker who can offer you a decent, functional trading platform like MetaTrader 5. This is currently the most popular platform in the world of trading and there is a very good reason for that. MT5 is fairly user-friendly and intuitive – but that does not mean it is not also highly functional. The platform offers a huge number of technical indicators, graphical objects, and timeframes but also many other features – Expert Advisors that allow you to track markets and trade automatically, the chance to develop your own trading bots and indicators, a multi-threaded Strategy Tester, hedging and netting options, a community chat, the chance to set signals or to subscribe to those set by others for a small fee, a market for add-ons, etc. Do not hesitate to discover what the platform is fully capable of yourself.
A1 Invest Trade TRADING CONDITIONS
We have huge doubts that A1 Invest Trade offers leveraged trading at all. On the broker’s website, we found the following account type description:
A1 Invest Trade seems to be running an investment scam – it asks you to deposit a relatively small amount of money ($500) and promises lightning-fast returns. If you invest in the broker’s Stater plant, you will be getting a 35% return on investment in just 14 days. The Platinum plan on the other hand promises 40% daily. These returns are supposed to be guaranteed and safe – you would not have to do anything or risk anything, you just have to wait and see your money grow. However, no broker can and would dare to guarantee certain returns in unstable financial markets. Moreover, as a retail investor, you should be happy to see 15% annual returns and not 40% in a day. A1 Invest Trade does not explain how such profits are even possible – because they are simply not. Do not fall for such simple traps.
Better check out this list of brokers who offer affordable trading accounts.
A1 Invest Trade DEPOSIT/WITHDRAWAL METHODS AND FEES
A1 Invest Trade explicitly states that you would only be able to transfer money straight to the broker’s Bitcoin or Ethereum wallet. This news is hardly surprising – many scam brokers urge their clients to deposit in crypto because such transactions are irreversible by default. Once you have transferred it, the only way to get your money back is if the broker decides to send it back voluntarily – which is, of course, not something such scammers would want to do. Crypto transactions are also fairly anonymous because they cannot be traced to a specific person or organization – which makes them perfect for the purposes of scam brokers. Someone only accepting crypto deposits is a huge red flag and might imply a scam. Be careful who you transfer money to when using this payment method – make sure that they are completely reliable.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK?
Such scams are not only becoming more frequent but they are also surprisingly effective – which is why the first and most important step if you want to protect yourself from them, is to understand how they work.
You stumble upon a broker on the Internet – that broker promises to make you a rich, successful trader in no time. You are curious to see what forex brokers are all about – after all, you have heard stories of people becoming rich by trading – and provide the scammers with your phone number and email. After that, you would not be left alone before you have deposited – these people are seasoned scammers and will convince you to transfer money in no time.
This will not be enough though – the broker will keep asking for more and more money, and since scammers often manipulate profits and platforms, you might even be happy to invest because you would be thinking that you are turning a profit.
Once you try to withdraw, however, the problems will start – the broker will start denying withdrawals because of certain clauses in the Terms and Conditions, because of previously unmentioned fees and taxes, etc. At this point, you will find out that there is something wrong going on – but the scammers will be long-gone with your money before you can do anything.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED?
Do not get desperate and do not employ any so-called “recovery agencies” that promise to track down the scammers and retrieve your money for a fee – this is just another type of scam.
What you should do is notify the responsible authorities in your country and contact your bank to let them know that you have been scammed. Change all your banking passwords and remove all remote access software the scammers had you install under false pretenses – they only wanted access to your computer and your banking systems.
If you have deposited with a Visa or MasterCard card, you might be able to retrieve your money – both card providers allow chargebacks within 540 days of the transaction so contact your card issuer as soon as possible.
Finally, make sure to share your story with as many people as possible to let them know that such scams exist and how they work. This way, others can avoid losing their money in the future.
