Beware! AstroCapitalTrade 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.
AstroCapitalTrade is one of those brokers that does not require a deep analysis to know that it is illegitimate and a huge scam. Just by the way it looks we can deduce that there is something fundamentally wrong with this one. But in the following review we expand beyond the visuals, and we get to know the broker personally. What we found out is not unexpected, but still worse than what we anticipated.
This is a first for us: the registration process asked us our, or any user’s, salary range. The only reason we can think of is that it wishes to know the type of user it deals with, although the choices were only three. Subcategorizing users this way allows the broker to pay special attention to some.
The registration process itself was over with within seconds, and we were redirected to a very bad user area, completely scammer like. The worst part of it was yet to come: there was no trading platform at all. This means that all of the promoted trading conditions, such as the spread, the leverage, and the financial instruments, do not apply here.
ASTROCAPITALTRADE REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
The main statement made by AstroCapitalTrade concerning its legal status is that it is registered in the United States. It seems that only the worst kind of brokers claim a US registration, and of course those that are actually licensed there, but they are only a handful.
Another misunderstanding is the claim that the firm is regulated by the US Financial Services Authority, which is a regulator that does not exist. In the US only the NFA and CFTC have the power to issue or cease licenses, and it is more that obvious that AstroCapitalTrade has not been granted the green light.
Moreover, the broker continues throwing false statements. It claims to be a MIFID Compliant, regulated by the FCA, BaFin, Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and other European regulators. We don’t even have to check with any of the regulators to know that AstroCapitalTrade is not legitimized by any one of these.
This broker is a very bad liar and completely unlicensed. It is a scam and a risk to all! All investments will be lost!
It would be a big shame to lose all that money to scammers. By registering and investing in an unlicensed broker, you are indirectly throwing your money away for a completely futile and illicit cause. There is no reason to do so. That is why we urge our readers to rely on European, UK, US, or Australian brokers, or any licensed entity for that matter. Licensed entitles are covered by hundreds of requirements, many of them apply financial compensation schemes, and anti fraud practices. In other words, they are the exact opposite of what this broker and others like it stand for.
ASTROCAPITALTRADE TRADING SOFTWARE
Some readers might be confused. Why are we attaching a picture of a web trader but then claim that there is no software for trading at all? Well, what we have snipped is actually not a web trader, but it may look like it to the untrained eye.
The third party chart, the menus on the right and left are not associated with each other. In fact, this seems more like a binary options trader like anything else. Even if it is a functioning one, it still is not a trading software in the classic sense. Binary options trading is prohibited in most mainland FX jurisdictions or very heavily regulated. So not only is it very risky, but here it seems also very inadequately executed.
ASTROCAPITALTRADE DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The user area reveals that crypto wallets and some popular alternative methods are used for investing. However, the broker makes it difficult and obscure to invest in the wallets. The crypto ones are the easiest and most accessible to invest in. All crypto deposit are untraceable, and it makes sense that the broker uses them. The minimum deposit is $50.The withdrawal area discloses the same payment methods.
There is no further information on payments. We have no details on withdrawal fees or processing times, nor anything else. AstroCapitalTrade is not worth investing in; it will steal your money and will misuse any personal details.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK
Generally, the first step to being in a scam, whether a user is aware of it or not, is to bridge the crucial gap that exists between a user and a broker. With legit entities rarely does this go beyond the limits of formality, whereas with scammers they will try to behave as close friends, and will try to sell you as much as they possibly can.
It easy to fall prey to their sweet talk, because as financial instruments grow more complex, so do scammers, and there are surprisingly advanced swindle techniques that will leave you empty handed faster than you know. So make sure to think before you act, and to ask for professional guidance if necessary.
Contact usually begins at the online ads level, and expands to the telephone line relatively fast, depending on how good the scammer is and how susceptible he or she is to manipulations.
The ultimate goal is reached once a scammer successfully causes an initial deposit to be invested. Once this happens the user has become the victim, and from then on the fraudsters will try to retain the client for as long as possible, draining him/her along the way.
On average, it takes 2 to 3 deposits for a user to realize that something very unlawful is happening. By that point however, the broker will cut all communications with the user and will deny all withdrawal requests.
WHAT TO DO IF SCAMMED
The most common action to take is to file for a chargeback, but this happens only if the user has invested with a credit or debit card. That’s why you don’t get many investment frauds taking card payment nowadays. But the good news is that, if money was invested via a card, the chargeback period for MasterCard and VISA is 540 days.
Wire transfer deposits are harder to get back, and the only thing we recommend is contacting the bank to sort things out if possible. Oh, and make sure to change you bank account user name and password ASAP!
Crypto transactions are lost for good, unfortunately. As cryptocurrencies become more numerous and the systems underlining them more complex, scammer are taking full advantage of these aspects, and the end results are very lucrative. So, never trust unregulated brokers with crypto payments.
And then, we have to mention the other type of scammer, the recovery agents. These are either third party fraudsters or extensions of existing swindles, and will provide the seemingly impossible service of tracing your lost money. All they need is a fee for their effort, a sum of money that will be lost once paid.
