Beware! Vortex 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.
Vortex Markets confidently states that it is a well-established forex and CFD broker with a global presence. But this website gives us no reason to believe these claims. It does not take much time and effort to establish that Vortex Markets is an anonymous website filled with false and misleading information. Let’s take a detailed look at why you should never trust Vortex Markets with your money.
VORTEX MARKETS REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
When you visit the website of a legitimate broker you can expect to find clear and detailed information about the company that owns and operates it, where it is based and what regulatory regimes it is subject to. Licensed financial services providers are also required to provide a comprehensive set of legal documentation. The absence of these features is an unmistakable red flag that we’re dealing with scammers.
Vortex Markets does not provide a contact address, and the links to the supposed Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy do not work. The footer on the website lists a company name – Vortex Markets Inc – but we have no proof that such a company actually exists.
We don’t know exactly who is behind this website, nor what the terms are that we agree to when we sign up for an account. In such circumstances it would be very unwise to put our money on the line.
We can only be sure that whoever is behind Vortex Markets has no legal authorisation to provide financial services. 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.
VORTEX MARKETS TRADING SOFTWARE
Vortex Markets claims to offer clients the most widely used trading software in the industry – MetaTrader 5 (MT5). But this also turns out to be a lie. After signing up for an account, we don’t get access to this advanced software, but to a basic web platform like we’ve seen with many other fake brokers.
The presence of a trading platform does not make this website any more legitimate and does not guarantee that this alleged broker offers real trading. Many scammers have trading software to fool their victims that their money is being invested.
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.
VORTEX MARKETS TRADING CONDITIONS
On the Vortex Markets website we find descriptions of three types of trading accounts. These descriptions lack information on the basic parameters of forex trading such as leverage. There is also no clear information on the price paid by the trader through spreads and commissions.
Even more telling is that the minimum deposit is stated in cryptocurrency. While many genuine brokers offer cryptocurrency trading when relevant regulations allow it, the base currency of the accounts is always one of the major fiat currencies such as USD, EUR or GBP. The minimum deposit at legitimate brokers is also usually lower – often 100 USD or less.
In the trading platform we see a spread of more than 2 pips for the benchmark currency pair EUR/USD – a level that is too high and unprofitable for the client.
The leverage set in the platform is 1:100. This is not a level that you see with regulated brokers. Trading with high leverage allows higher profits, but also increases the risk of sudden and excessive losses proportionally. All leading regulators limit leverage for retail traders. In the EU, UK and Australia the maximum permitted level is 1:30 and in the US it is 1:50. This maximum level only applies to trading major currency pairs, with even more limited leverage for more volatile assets.
VORTEX MARKETS DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The Vortex Markets deposit menu is not available if the account has not been verified by providing a copy of ID. Needless to say, you should not submit personal information to anonymous websites that are not subject to any regulation.
However, Vortex Markets makes it clear that it only uses cryptocurrencies. This is typical of financial fraudsters. Digital currency transactions help fraudsters remain anonymous while at the same time preventing the defrauded from asking for a refund or chargeback.
While there are some legitimate brokers that accept digital currencies like Bitcoin, they do so alongside other transparent payment methods such as credit/debit card, bank transfer or popular e-wallets like GiroPay, PayPal or Skrill.
Since Vortex Markets 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 have a desire to invest in the financial markets but lack the necessary knowledge and experience. This makes them a potential victim of the many internet scammers posing as brokers and investment intermediaries. These types of scams have exploded alongside the cryptocurrency boom.
If you trust such a website and give them your personal information, you will be contacted by experienced scammers who will entice you with promises of easy profits. The scammers usually offer to take over all aspects of investing for you, sometimes even prompting you to install remote access software on your personal computer. After investing an initial low amount, they will convince you that you are already making incredible profits and urge you to invest more.
But you will never get the promised profits, nor will you be able to get your money back. If you want to withdraw funds from your account, you will find that you have suddenly lost everything in the market, or that you have to meet impossibly high traded volume requirements, or that you have to pay huge fees. It is also possible that fraudsters simply disappear because they hide behind fake names and shell companies in offshore areas that are not subject to any control and regulation.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
One of the few options to get at least some of your money back in such a situation is to ask for a chargeback. But this is only possible if you have used a credit or debit card for the transaction. Scammers typically use cryptocurrencies or dubious e-wallets that make it impossible to get your money back.
Under no circumstances should you trust people and websites that promise to magically refund your lost money for an upfront fee. This is also a well established scam. You may even fall victim to the same scammers again.
