Beware! Finexstock.eu 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.
We have many reasons to doubt that Finexstock.eu, or Finex Stock, is the regulated forex broker with 20 years of experience that it claims to be. First of all, we have already encountered a fake broker using the same brand but a different domain – finexstock.com. But even if we hadn’t, the Finexstock.eu website provides us with ample clues that this is not a legitimate financial services provider. Let’s take a detailed look at what they are.
FINEXSTOCK.EU REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
The most important factor in selecting a broker is its regulatory status, which determines the parameters of retail auctions and guarantees for client funds. Therefore, legitimate brokers provide clear information about the owner company right on the homepage. But this is not the case with Finexstock.eu – the website does not give the name of a legal entity.
Finexstock.eu provides a UK contact address, we also see a statement that this alleged broker is “UK regulated”.
But right on the home page, we see the contradictory claim that Finexstock.eu is “regulated by the St Vincent’s”.
The text of the Client Agreement confirms that this means Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) – an offshore zone that does not regulate brokers. The local Financial Services Authority expressly warns that it does not license forex and other types of brokers and does not supervise the activities of International Business Companies engaged in such activity. This makes the SVG a very convenient base for scammers who only pretend to be forex brokers.
We also understand from the documents that the company behind Finexstock.eu is called Broker Capitals Limited. The same company owns another fake broker we have reviewed – Broker Capitals.
However, we cannot confirm whether this company actually exists, as it is not on the list of incorporators in SVG. More importantly, it does not appear in the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) database. This shows that Finexstock.eu is lying and is not a regulated broker.
Under no circumstances should you trust your money to such anonymous websites full of false and contradictory information. Instead, you can turn to one of the many companies that really work under the supervision of respected regulatory bodies like FCA in the UK or Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). As their customer you will enjoy a number of guarantees including negative balance protection and guarantee for your funds if the broker goes bankrupt, which goes up to EUR 20,000 in EU and 85,000 GBP in the UK. Regulations in the UK and EU include some important measures designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity and transparency, such as transaction reporting. Regulated brokers are also required to segregate their operational funds from the client’s money.
FINEXSTOCK.EU TRADING SOFTWARE
Software is the most important tool in forex trading. In this respect, the Finexstock.eu is also an obvious scam. Instead of a trading platform, all we find on the Dashboard is a poor imitation of one. This imitation consists of simple charts with current asset prices showing only cryptocurrencies. Separate from these is a buy and sell menu that lacks basic features and information, including the difference between the buy rate and the sell rate.
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.
FINEXSTOCK.EU TRADING CONDITIONS
When you visit the website of a legitimate broker you will find proposals for different types of trading accounts suitable for investors with different preferences, as well as detailed descriptions of trading parameters – minimum deposit, order execution method, tradable financial instruments, leverage, spread, swap, commissions, etc.
The Finexstock.eu website lacks a description of trading accounts. The information on trading parameters is sketchy and disorganized, but it is useful in that it provides us with additional evidence of Finexstock.eu’s fraudulence.
Finexstock.eu claims to offer terms and services not permitted to regulated brokers, particularly those in the UK. These include cryptocurrency trading, various bonuses and promotions, and leverage as high as 1:500.
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 stated minimum deposit is 100 USD. For the same or even lower amount you could trade through a licensed broker, including many of the industry’s leading brands.
FINEXSTOCK.EU DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
Finexstock.eu only allows you to deposit money through shady payment processors like Cardpayz, Gateway, Amald, Paypound and Cryptopayin.com. 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 or Neteller.
The website and documentation do not provide clear information on transaction fees and their amount. It is made clear in the Customer Agreement that if you ask to close your account you will be charged an outrageously high fee of 30% of your balance. Finexstock.eu also charges a fee of 50 USD for accounts that have not been active for more than 30 days.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Stories of people getting rich from cryptocurrencies tempt many to try their luck in the financial markets. But you have to be very careful not to fall into the clutches of the many scammers lurking in the online space. These scammers only pose as brokers and lure you in with promises to take on the confusing aspects of investing for you.
If you make contact with such scammers they will first convince you to give them a small initial sum of a few hundred dollars. They may even fool you for a while that your investment is generating incredible profits to convince you to give them a larger amount. But your money won’t really be invested. And when you try to withdraw your supposed profits or even your deposit, you will find that it is impossible.
The scammers may tell you that all your investments have been lost by a sudden change in the market. Or they’ll point you to clauses hidden in their Terms and Conditions that say withdrawing your money is only possible after you meet impossibly high minimum trading volume requirements. And they can simply disappear because these scam sites hide behind fake names and offshore companies that are not subject to rules and regulations.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
If you find yourself a victim of scammers, you should inform the relevant authorities in your country and spread the word online to warn other potential victims. However, the chances of getting your money back are not high.
If you used a credit/debit card for the transactions, you could ask for a chargeback. However, such requests can be disputed if you have provided the fraudsters with proof of identity such as a copy of an ID. Under no circumstances should you trust people on the internet who claim they can recover your money for an upfront fee. These too are certainly scammers.
