Beware! IntraO 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.

 

IntraO presents itself as a forex broker that is especially suitable for beginner investors who are just entering the world of financial trading. But closer inspection shows that this is in all likelihood yet another online scam that takes advantage of people’s inexperience to cheat them out of their money. Let’s take a detailed look at the reasons why it is in your best interest to stay away from this website.

INTRAO REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS

Legitimate forex brokers provide clear and detailed information about the legal entity that owns and operates them, where it is based, what licences it has and which regulators oversee its activities. Lack of such details or improper presentation of them are always a red flag that we are probably dealing with a scam.

IntraO doesn’t disclose which company is behind the website, which in itself is a big enough red flag that we’re dealing with scammers. Even the terms and conditions don’t mention the name of a legal entity, so we don’t know exactly who we’re dealing with. Under such circumstances, it would be very unwise to put our money on the line.

According to the website’s homepage, the anonymous owner company is based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Even if this is true, it does not provide any guarantee of the correctness and security of the funds.

SVG is an offshore zone with no broker regulations in place. As soon as you open the website of the local Financial Services Authority  you see a warning that the institution does not licence forex and other types of brokers and does not supervise the activities of International Business Companies engaged in such activities.

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.

INTRAO TRADING SOFTWARE

IntraO claims to have a web-based trading platform and mobile apps, but we have not been able to confirm if this is true. At the time of writing this review, IntraO did not allow new account registration.

It should be noted that the presence of some kind of trading software is no guarantee that this is a genuine broker. Financial scammers often use trading platforms to fool their victims that their money is actually being invested. However, this trading is entirely fictitious and the money goes directly into the scammers’ pockets.

If you use the services of a licensed broker, you will get the opportunity to use established software with advanced features and versions for all types of devices and operating systems. The most widely used trading platforms in the industry are 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.

INTRAO TRADING CONDITIONS

On the IntraO website we see a description of five types of trading accounts. But these descriptions lack information about some of the basic parameters of trading, including the most important one – what price the trader pays through spreads and commissions.

Only leverage reaching a very high level of 1:600 is specified. 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.

The minimum deposit is also very high – 500 USD. For a significantly lower amount you could open a trading account with a licensed broker, including many of the industry’s leading brands.

INTRAO DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES

IntraO states clearly that it accepts a single payment method – cryptocurrencies.

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 PayPal, Sofort, Neteller or iDeal. Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds.

The text of the Terms and Conditions specifies only one fee – for an inactive account. This fee is extortionately high – 50 USD per month after three months of inactivity, after which it is increased to 100 USD per month.

HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK

Stories of people getting rich from cryptocurrencies tempt many to try their luck in the financial markets. But you have to be very careful not to fall into the clutches of the many scammers lurking in the online space. These scammers only pose as brokers and lure you in with promises to take on the confusing aspects of investing for you.

If you make contact with such scammers they will first convince you to give them a small initial sum of a few hundred dollars. They may even fool you for a while that your investment is generating incredible profits to convince you to give them a larger amount. But your money won’t really be invested. And when you try to withdraw your supposed profits or even your deposit, you will find that it is impossible.

The scammers may tell you that all your investments have been lost by a sudden change in the market. Or they’ll point you to clauses hidden in their Terms and Conditions that say withdrawing your money is only possible after you meet impossibly high minimum trading volume requirements. And they can simply disappear because these scam sites hide behind fake names and offshore companies that are not subject to rules and regulations.

WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED

If you find yourself a victim of scammers, you should inform the relevant authorities in your country and spread the word online to warn other potential victims. However, the chances of getting your money back are not high.

If you used a credit/debit card for the transactions, you could ask for a chargeback. However, such requests can be disputed if you have provided the fraudsters with proof of identity such as a copy of an ID. Under no circumstances should you trust people on the internet who claim they can recover your money for an upfront fee. These too are certainly scammers.

Top Forex Brokers

BrokerCountryRatingMin. DepositWebsite
US4.99/5$50 Click for a special offerWebsite

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *