Beware! Activepromarket 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.
Activepromarket’s website greets us with the claim that this is a forex broker whose integrity makes it preferable to competitors. However, these and other promises of transparency and high standards look out of place on this very low-quality and disorganised website. Closer inspection leaves no doubt that this is another online scam that only poses as a genuine broker.
ACTIVEPROMARKET REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
The first thing to look for in a forex broker’s website is which legal entity runs it, where it is based and what regulatory oversight it is subject to. Licensed companies are also required to provide a comprehensive set of legal documentation.
It is immediately obvious that this information is generally missing from the Activepromarket website, and the elements that are available cannot possibly be credible.
There are no Terms and Conditions, Privacy Policy or other documents. The owner is listed as a company with the very improbable name “activepromarket.live Enterprise Limited”.
An address is given in the United States, a jurisdiction with such high regulatory requirements for financial service providers that only a few large companies are able to meet them.
To operate as a forex broker in the United States, a company must be registered as a futures commission merchant and foreign exchange dealer with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and to be a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). No authorised broker whose name includes “Activepromarket” can be found in the NFA database.
There are many more clues that Activepromarket is not a real broker, but the lack of a license and the fake address are good enough reasons to stay away from this website.
If you intend to invest in financial instruments, you should beware of the many fake brokers lurking online. Always check carefully whether the broker you choose really has the necessary licenses. There are numerous benefits to working with a company that is truly authorized and supervised by a regulatory institution such as the 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.
ACTIVEPROMARKET TRADING SOFTWARE
Another sign that Activepromarket does not offer true forex and CFD trading is the lack of the most important tool for such activity – the software. On the homepage of the website we see a statement that Activepromarket offers three of the most advanced trading platforms in the industry – MetaTrader 4 (MT4), MetaTrader 5 (MT4) and cTrader. But this is just another lie.
All we find on the website is an extremely poor imitation of a trading platform entitled “Demo Trader”. This imitation, consisting of gif images and supposedly allowing trading in shares of Apple and Gazprom, has been used by many scammers we have encountered.
If you use the services of a legitimate broker, you will be able to really trade through platforms like MT4 and MT5. 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.
ACTIVEPROMARKET 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.
Instead of this, Activepromarket offers three “investment plans” promising impossibly high and guaranteed returns. Such promises of sure profits are a clear signal that we are dealing with crooks. Activepromarket also promises bonuses, a practice that is prohibited to regulated brokers.
The website lists two versions for the minimum deposit, 200 USD and 300 USD. You should know that for lower amounts you could start trading through a licensed broker, including many of the leading brands in the industry.
ACTIVEPROMARKET DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The homepage of the website promises the ability to deposit and withdraw with almost all leading payment processors. However, in the deposit menu itself we see only three options – Bitcoin, Western Union/MoneyGram and Bank Transfer. But conventional payment methods require you to send an email request. So the only method actually available is Bitcoin.
Legitimate brokers typically offer clients a wide choice of transparent payment methods, including bank transfer, credit/debit cards and established e-wallets such as Sofort, PayPal, Skrill, or Neteller. If you are interested in licensed brokers that also accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, take a look at this list.
Since Activepromarket does not provide proper legal documentation, it is unclear what traps the fraudsters may have set. Typically, fake brokers make withdrawing money impossible through huge fees and impossible-to-fulfil traded volume conditions.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Many people are looking for ways to make money passively, but do not have the necessary knowledge to invest in the financial markets themselves. This makes them a target for the many online scammers posing as brokers. If you come across some of them and give them your contacts, you will be contacted by skilled scam artists who will assure you that they can take on the incomprehensible aspects of investing for you. You will only be required to invest and take profits.
But when you try to collect even just a fraction of your money, it will turn out to be impossible. Your supposed profits will suddenly evaporate, or you’ll find that you have to meet impossible traded volume requirements first. Fraudsters often insert huge withdrawal fees into client agreements amounting to 10%, 20% or even more. You won’t be able to hold scammers accountable because they hide behind fake names and shell-companies offshore. Scammers also typically use non-refundable payment methods.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
First of all, you should be very careful not to fall straight into the clutches of other scammers. Another common scam is to promise money recoveries from fake brokers for an upfront fee.
If you used a credit or debit card for the transactions, you can charge a chargeback. Visa and MasterCard have a long period in which they allow such requests – 540 days. But keep in mind that fraudsters can dispute if you have provided them with a copy of your ID and proof of address. It would also be helpful if you alerted the authorities in your country and other people online to the activities of the scammers.
Ruan
I think I have been scammed by people from activepromarket. Is there any way someone can help me