Beware! Status Code 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.
The Status Code website assures us that this is by no means a Ponzi scheme, but an easy and secure way to make money through leveraged cryptocurrency trading. But even a basic fact-check reveals it to be just that – yet another scam trying to cash in on the hype around cryptocurrencies. Let’s take a detailed look at why it is in your best interest to stay away from Status Code and all websites of this kind.
STATUS CODE REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
If a financial services provider is legitimate, you will find on its website clear and detailed information about the company that owns and operates it, where it is based, and what licences it has. Genuine brokers also provide access to a comprehensive set of legal documentation. The availability of such information does not guarantee that it is not false or misleading. But the absence of these elements is very indicative that in all likelihood you are dealing with scammers.
Status Code is a completely anonymous website – no company name or contact address is given anywhere. There is not even an email or phone number. The text of the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy is completely generic and also makes no mention of a company name – making these documents legally invalid.
The only identifying information is the statement that the agreement with the customer “shall be governed by and construed in all respects in accordance with the laws of the UK”.
The UK is a heavily regulated jurisdiction, so an anonymous website like Status Code could not legally operate as a broker there. Furthermore, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) prohibits the trading of crypto derivatives – which Status Code presents as its core business. There is no authorised broker with such a name in the regulator’s database:
That’s reason enough to close the Status Code website and never open it again, but things get even worse when we register an account. Logging transfers us to a completely different domain – tironinvest.co, which belongs to another fake broker we have reviewed – Tironinvest. Status Code is obviously an additional project of the same scammers.
If you want to trade on financial markets without being scammed, you can turn to some of the legitimate brokers that actually operate from established financial hubs like the UK. These brokers have to meet stringent requirements for financial stability and transparency of operations imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority. They must provide clients with negative balance protection and to participate in a guarantee fund that covers up to GBP 85,000 of a client’s investment should the broker go into insolvency. These brokers are also required to keep their clients’ money segregated from their own operating funds in separate bank accounts.
STATUS CODE TRADING SOFTWARE
Like a host of other fake brokers, Status Code employs a basic web-based trading platform. It is very telling that this platform includes forex and other asset classes, though Status Code claims to only deal in cryptocurrency trading.
While the platform has the basic features for placing orders, customising charts and application of technical indicators, it lacks the more advanced functionality found in the most widely used trading platforms in the industry, 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.
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.
STATUS CODE TRADING CONDITIONS
Given the apparent fraudulent nature of the Status Code, it wouldn’t matter if it promised the best terms of trade in the industry. But the Status Code website doesn’t actually provide any information of this sort.
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.
In the trading platform we see a spread of 3 pips – this level is double the usual for the industry and is very unprofitable for the trader. The platform has a leverage of 1:100 – further proof that this could not be a legitimate UK-based broker. 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 minimum amount accepted by the deposit menu is 250 USD. For this amount you could open an account with almost any licensed broker. Many leading brands allow you to start trading with an even lower deposit.
STATUS CODE DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
Status Code accepts credit card deposits through an unknown payment processor as well as cryptocurrencies. Scammers generally prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds.
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, Neteller, Sofort or QIWI.
Status Code does not specify whether it charges transaction fees. But with these types of scammers, you should always expect hidden fees and extortionate terms.
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.
