Beware! Prime Chain 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.
Upon opening the Prime Chain Markets website, our attention was immediately drawn to the claim that this alleged forex broker is simultaneously regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom, the Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa.
The thing is, we’ve seen these same claims on the websites of multiple fake brokers we’ve encountered. Kryptovest, Longhorn-primefx, OctexTrade, Fx Bit Option, SwiftPayOptions and Unitied Fx Forum are just some of the more recent examples.
But you don’t need to have stumbled across similar scams to determine that Prime Chain Markets is not, in fact, a regulated broker. Let’s see exactly how.
PRIME CHAIN MARKETS REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
As stated, Prime Chain Markets claims to be licensed by some of the world’s leading financial regulators. Furthermore, the website claims to be based in the United Kingdom.
However, a check of the UK’ FCA database did not reveal a licence, but a warning that the Prime Chain Markets is not authorised to offer financial services and products. No licensed broker using Prime Chain Markets’ trading name and domain could be found in the records of the other regulators mentioned.
The Prime Chain Markets’ Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy do not meet the standards for this type of legal documentation and do not even specify the name of the owning company and applicable jurisdiction.
Before investing your money in financial instruments, it is imperative to make sure you do so through a licensed intermediary and not one of the many scammers lurking online.
You should only trust brokers that you can confirm are legitimate and licensed by reputable regulatory bodies such as FCA, ASIC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US 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.
PRIME CHAIN MARKETS TRADING SOFTWARE
On the homepage of the website we see the statement that Prime Chain Markets offers MetaTrader 5 (MT5). This has been the most popular trading software in the industry for years. But Prime Chain Markets does not provide links to download the software. After registering an account, it becomes clear that Prime Chain Markets does not have any trading platform.
Apparently we are dealing with a low-effort scam that relies on fooling people without any experience who don’t know what to expect from a genuine forex broker.
You could always use the services of a regulated broker, the vast majority of which offer clients MT5 or the still very popular MT4. This will enable you to use the advanced features of these platforms without fear of being scammed. These platforms are preferred by the majority of brokers around the world because of their powerful automated trading capabilities, including Expert Advisor bots and customised scripts for backtesting trading strategies.
PRIME CHAIN MARKETS TRADING CONDITIONS
Legitimate forex brokers offer a variety of trading account types tailored to the needs of clients with different capital and investment intentions. These brokers also provide clear and detailed information on trading parameters – leverage, spread, commissions, order execution method, etc.
On the Prime Chain Markets website we find a list of four types of trading accounts, but their description specifies only one parameter – a minimum deposit of 650 USD. The Prime Chain Markets deposit menu itself specifies another minimum of 300 USD. Both amounts are too high, considering that many leading brands in the industry allow you to start trading with a lower deposit, often below 100 USD or even 50 USD.
PRIME CHAIN MARKETS DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
In the Prime Chain Markets deposit menu the choice is between bank transfer and cryptocurrencies. But if the bank transfer option is selected we see a message that we need to contact the people behind the website directly to get instructions. Therefore the only option actually available is cryptocurrencies.
This is typical of financial scammers. Cryptocurrencies are technically the payment method of choice because they do not allow the defrauded to ask for a refund.
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 ot Neteller. If you’re interested in legitimate brokers that accept digital currency payments alongside conventional methods, check out this list.
Since Prime Chain 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
With all the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies and NFTs, many people are starting to consider investing in the financial markets as a bid to improve their fortunes. Scammers on the internet have taken notice of that and take advantage of the ignorance of the general public by creating countless websites posing as brokers. These websites offer no real brokerage services and only deceive people into believing that their money is really being invested.
If you come across such a scam website and give out your contacts, you will be contacted by experienced scammers who will convince you that they can take on all the frighteningly complex aspects of investing for you. But you will never get any real profits, nor will you be able to get back the money you deposited. The terms and conditions of these websites are riddled with clauses that make withdrawing funds from your account unfeasible – for example, extremely high minimum trading volume requirements or hefty fees of 10%, 20% or even more of the amount.
Scammers hide behind fake addresses and names and operate through offshore companies that are not subject to regulation and scrutiny. So even if all the withdrawal requirements are met, they may simply disappear and move on to their next fraudulent scheme.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
It is very important not to rush into trusting people on the internet who offer to magically refund your money for a fee. These are also scammers, and they may even be the same ones who scammed you in the first place.
If you have made the transfers using credit or debit card, you can claim a chargeback. Visa and MasterCard allow this to be done within 540 days. However, such a request may not be approved if you have given the fraudsters documents such as a copy of an ID and proof of address. This will allow them to claim that the transaction is legitimate and approved by both parties.
Urak Hunt
All scamming Dogs * Pigs