Beware! VFX 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.
Everyone that considers trading with VFX Markets should be aware that this broker is not regulated in any way, as it is based in a country that doesn’t license forex brokerage. This being said, it is already clear that you won’t be able to benefit from any client protection in case things go wrong and this is the least to say. Investing with such offshore brokers with no legit license puts your funds at serious risk of being stolen or misused.
Apart from that, note that VFX Markets offers very disadvantageous trading conditions like risky leverage and high spread, respectively high trading costs. All in all stay away from this broker at all means. For more details feel free to read the full review.
Regulation and safety of funds
First and foremost, VFX Markets claims to be situated in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As we already mentioned this country doesn’t regulate forex brokerage, so firms registered there don’t comply with the general rules like every other licensed broker in the UK for instance. This means that brokers like VFX Markets play by their own rules and are not obligated to meet any requirements in order to offer financial services. Investing with such a firm is very risky, as no entity can actually help you in case you have been scammed.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines clearly states that forex trading brokerage activities are not licensed in the country and that investors would be using unregulated firms’ services at their own risk. Take a look at the whole notice down below:
VFX Markets also claims to have a registered address in London, the UK. However this can’t possibly be true, as every broker in this country must be authorized by the local Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Needless to say that VFX Markets isn’t present in FCA’s registers, so we are pretty sure this address is actually fake.
As we said, investing with such offshore brokers with no legit license brings no client protection and the possibility to get scammed is huge. Something that is unimaginable with a legitimate broker, since these firms have to meet a ton of requirements in order to be granted a license in the first place. They are also supervised by financial watchdogs every step of the way.
For instance every regulated broker in the UK must have an initial minimum capital of 730 000 EUR and is obligated to take part in compensation schemes – in case the broker goes bankrupt the client can be compensated for up to 85 000 GBP by the local Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Also note that your funds must be kept in segregated accounts, so the chance of being misused is down to zero.
Trading software
VFX Markets claims to offer the industry standard MetaTrader 5, accessible through desktop and mobile.
Although it really seems that this broker offers MT5, we can’t confirm this at 100% as we couldn’t see the platform itself. After we registered our account was inactive and was under approval for a long time, so we didn’t receive any password or whatsoever. For this reason, even though we downloaded the MT5 platform, we couldn’t log in.
However no matter what piece of trading software this shady broker provides, we don’t recommend investing here for the reasons stated above. There are many genuine brokers who can offer great trading conditions and advanced platforms like MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5.
MT4 and MT5 are appropriate even for both advanced traders and beginners. You can be assured that the safety of your funds and personal information is granted as all transactions are encrypted as well as your IP address.
You can also choose between a wide range of educational resources, forex news and technical analysis tools. Most of the customers consider the trading bots to be the best part however. These bots, also called Expert Advisors, analyze the forex market in a search of certain conditions and then perform trading operations once they find them.
MT5 and MT4 can be easily downloaded on PCs, smartphones and tablets and have regular updates. Unfortunately, since Apple removed both MetaTrader 4 and 5 from its AppStore, these platforms can’t be downloaded any more from iPhone/ iPad users. All of you that have already installed the apps can continue using them, but without the above-mentioned updates. On the contrary you can still download MT4 and MT5 from Google Play Store.
Trading conditions
VFX Markets displays three different account types – Standard, Premium and VIP. Take a look at all of them:
The Standard account requires a minimum deposit of 200 USD – this is a rather usual amount as most of the reputable brokers tend to ask more or less for the same sum.
From now on however things go down very fast – a spread of 4 pips is certainly going to be very costly and is not beneficial for trading at all. Better loom for licensed brokers that offer tight spreads less than 2 pips, as they are more advantageous for you.
In addition a leverage of 1:500 is way too high – trading with such volumes leads to increased risk of losing your investment entirely. In fact the leverage in the UK is capped at 1:30 – one more proof that this broker just can’t be based there. If you still want to trade with higher leverage, you can look at some of the offshore subsidiaries of reputable forex brokers here.
Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
On its website VFX Markets promises several different payment methods to choose from – Bitcoin, Bank wire and credit card. See for yourself:
After we entered our account however and made an attempt to add funds, it turned out that the only options we had are bank transfer, crypto transaction and online payment with GlobePay, take a look:
This broker claims there are not going to be any additional fees or commissions, however we recommend taking such promises with a grain of salt. Scammers usually ask for high fees upon every deposit or withdrawal request, so be extra careful when dealing with unregulated firms like this one.
As for the payment methods VFX Markets provides, be on guard when it comes to paying with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as these transactions are not eligible for a return. Of course, it’s not advisable to make any deposit here, no matter what payment options you would have.
How does the scam work
Be very careful to whom you provide your personal information like email or phone number. The moment scammers have your number they will start calling you in an attempt to make you invest right away.
They will most certainly assure you that trading with them is risk-free, which is highly doubtful at least to say. Also be prepared to hear that you can get a fast and incredibly high return on investment – this is also a shameless lie of course. Scammers tend to sweet-talk traders into making a deposit and then vanish like thin air.
Before that however they might try to manipulate their trading software so it looks as if your money is being invested. They might also fool you into believing that your results are very profitable. This is done with one specific purpose – to make you invest even more before you find out that everything is a lie.
Expect all kinds of hidden fees the moment you try to withdraw even a cent and what is the worst part – to find out that a withdrawal is declined no matter what you do.
What to do when scammed
If you have been scammed, the first thing you can do is to turn to the bank that issued your credit or debit card and ask for a chargeback. If you have paid with your Visa/ Mastercard, a chargeback is eligible within 540 days.
Wire transfers are more difficult to return, and the best thing you can do in this situation is to change your online banking username and password as soon as possible.
Using payment methods like Neteller, Paypal or Skrill also gives you the opportunity to open a dispute in case of online scam.
Unfortunately crypto transactions are irreversible as we already stated and therefore your money can not be returned. All in all we advise you not to trust brokers that use only crypto coins such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Last but not least, certainly don’t trust people on the internet offering to return your funds only after you pay a certain fee. They might also be scammers so don’t risk losing more money than you already have!
