Beware! EmpireFxPlus is an offshore broker! Your investment may be at risk.
RECOMMENDED FOREX BROKERS
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On the internet, you can come across numerous websites that claim to represent a leading forex and CFD provider, award-winning for the quality of its services. In some cases this is true, but in many others it is a lie. EmpireFxPlus is a very typical example of a scam trying to pose as a well-established financial services provider. Let’s take a detailed look at how you can identify such tricks.
EMPIREFXPLUS 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.
EmpireFxPlus is completely anonymous. Even the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy do not mention the name of any legal entity or applicable jurisdiction. This makes these documents legally invalid.
The website lists a contact address in London, United Kingdom.
This address is obviously fake because such an anonymous website could not legally provide brokerage services in a regulated jurisdiction such as the United Kingdom. The lack of a company name and registration number is in itself evidence that EmpireFxPlus does not have the necessary licence from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). There is no authorised broker using the trade name and domain of EmpireFxPlus in the regulator’s database.
As further evidence of the fraudulent nature of tEmpireFxPlus, the registration confirmation email lists a different brand – Digitalcapitalmarkets. This connects EmpireFxPlus to two other fraudulent websites we have reviewed, DigitalCapitalMarkets.org and targetgrowthinvestment.com.
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.
EMPIREFXPLUS TRADING SOFTWARE
Genuine forex brokers pay great attention to the software they offer to their clients. But the EmpireFxPlus website lacks any specific information on the matter. After registering an account, we get access to a demo version of the MetaTrader web platform, but EmpireFxPlus does not provide credentials for logging into its own trading server. EmpireFxPlus apparently does not have a functioning trading platform.
If you use the services of a legitimate broker, you will be able to trade through advanced platforms, including the full-fledged desktop versions of 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.
EMPIREFXPLUS TRADING CONDITIONS
EmpireFxPlus claims to offer a choice of six trading account types. Given the lack of legal authorisation and software, it is obvious that EmpireFxPlus does not offer real trading in financial instruments. But the parameters set out on the website provide us with further clues that EmpireFxPlus could not really be a licensed broker operating in the UK.
The first such evidence is the extremely high leverage indicated in the account descriptions – up to 1:5000. 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 British regulator also bans crypto derivatives trading for retail traders, and EmpireFxPlus says this is one of the main services it offers. EmpireFxPlus also promises different deposit and referral bonuses, a practice banned for regulated brokers. EmpireFxPlus. does not provide information about the terms and conditions associated with these bonuses, which is an additional red flag. Scammers often use supposedly generous bonuses to tie their potential victims to extortionate terms such as high hidden fees.
It should be noted that the promised terms of trade are not at all competitive. The spread of 3.3. pips is double the industry average. The minimum deposit of 500 USD is also very disadvantageous. Many licensed brokers allow you to start trading with a ten times lower amount.
EMPIREFXPLUS DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The FAЯ section claims that deposits and withdrawals are possible via cryptocurrencies and Hong Kong-based payment processor PerfectMoney.
In the deposit menu itself, however, the choice is between cryptocurrencies, Western Union, MoneyGram and credit card. But if any of the conventional payment methods is selected, a message appears that the website admins will contact us for further clarifications. The only active deposit method is cryptocurrencies. This is typical for financial fraudsters because crypto transactions do not allow the defrauded to request a refund. If you’re interested in legitimate brokers that accept digital currency payments alongside conventional methods, check out this list.
EmpireFxPlus does not provide clear information on fees and withdrawal conditions. Fraudsters block withdrawal requests through various tricks, such as requiring a minimum traded volume.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
While browsing the interwebs there is a significant chance you will come across comments, videos, social media pages that promise easy ways to passively make money. If you follow the links you will be taken to websites claiming to be legitimate brokers or investment firms. And if you take the next step and make contact with the people behind these websites, you will be contacted by slick and experienced scammers who will lure you in with promises of easy profits. For a while they will convince you that your investment is generating impressive returns and you need to pour in even more money to make sure you don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity.
However, the attitude towards you will be changed if you want to withdraw your money. Suddenly, it will turn out that your investment makes losses and you even owe money to the fake broker for unexpected fees and expenses. They will show you clauses hidden in the Terms and Conditions, according to which you can only withdraw money after you have traded an impossible minimum volume, or that you will have to pay withdrawal fees of 20%, 30% or even more. When you try to hold them accountable you will find they are using fake names and shell companies in shady offshore jurisdictions without any regulatory oversight.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
Your options to recover your money are limited. If credit/debit cards were used for the transactions, you have the possibility to request a chargeback. But most scammers insist that you send them proof of identity and address with which they can dispute that the transactions were legitimate. Fraudsters also predominantly use cryptocurrencies, where refunds are impossible.
You should also be aware that there are many scammers who offer to recover your money for an upfront fee. You should not trust such offers. It is better to contact the relevant authorities in your country and warn them about the activities of the scammers.
