Beware! TrustCapitalFX 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.
TrustCapitalFX claims to be a CySEC-regulated broker that “offers a plethora of opportunities to trade FX, Commodities, Indices, and Cryptocurrencies in a safe and efficient environment”. The broker promises “competitive prices, tight spreads, and low commission on an array of financial instruments” – but it actually does not offer its clients the opportunity to trade since it does not provide access to a trading platform. Even more troubling is the fact that this company is in no way licensed and has attempted to clone a regulated broker.
Investing money with such a broker would result in disaster – turn to a legitimate broker instead.
TrustCapitalFX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
TrustCapitalFX claims to be a Cyprus-based broker licensed by one of the strictest and most respected financial regulators in the world – the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). The curious thing is that the broker’s name did not appear anywhere in the CySEC register but their license number did. However, that license number belonged to a completely different company – Trust Capital TC Ltd (and not to TrustCapitalFX LTD as the broker claimed).
The domains and contact information (address, phone number, and e-mail) of the licensed company and of TrustCapitalFX did not match. This means that these insolent scammers are trying to use the license information of another broker. Obviously, no broker that would ever dare attempt such a trick could be anywhere close to legitimate. Regulation is extremely vital in the world of forex trading – that is the only way to be sure that a broker is anywhere close to legitimate. Since TrustCapitalFX is obviously not, we would not consider depositing with them a wise idea.
When choosing a broker, make sure to be careful and always trust only reliable, licensed companies – brokers licensed by the FCA (the UK), ASIC (Australia), and CySEC (Cyprus) are generally the best choice. All of these financial authorities are strict in their regulations and demand that a broker meets a lot of requirements before being able to obtain a license. Client deposits must be kept in segregated accounts – this means the broker has limited access to your money and there is no chance for them to use your investment for their own financial operations – either willingly, or by mistake, Negative balance protection must be provided to all retail clients – this ensures that you can never lose more money than you have in your account. Minimum capital requirements exist in both Australia and Europe – A$1 million for Australia and €730 000 for the EU and the UK. This money cannot be used for the broker’s daily business – it just proves that the company is financially stable.
TrustCapitalFX TRADING SOFTWARE
TrustCapitalFX promised access to MetaTrader 4 – one of the best and most popular platforms in the trading world. However, we could not download the software from the link the broker provided on its website – that link just led to an empty page. When we opened an account, we discovered that the broker does not offer any sort of functional trading software at all. In the client area, all we discovered is a simple chart tracking different markets.
Opening an account with a broker that does not offer a trading platform is pointless since you would not be able to trade with them. Since this is the very reason you sought out the services of a forex broker in the first place, we would recommend that you check out some brokerages that actually offer MetaTrader 4 instead.
With MT4, you will get access to various charting and analysis tools, and other useful features. You would be able to employ preprogrammed Expert Advisors to track markets and trade in accordance with an algorithm, create custom scripts (your own trading bots and indicators), purchase VPSs that can keep your EAs operating even when your computer is off, access a market for trading apps, set signals for prices going above or below a certain level, etc.
TrustCapitalFX TRADING CONDITIONS
TrustCapitalFX asked for a minimum deposit of $500 in order to open the most basic trading account type it offers. This might not sound like that much but it actually is – some of the best brokers in the industry would demand a much smaller payment. Opening an account for as little as $10 is completely possible these days – check out our list of affordable forex brokers.
Since TrustCapitalFX does not offer access to a functional trading platform, talking about things like spreads and leverage is completely pointless – you would simply not be able to trade with this broker.
TrustCapitalFX DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL METHODS AND FEES
TrustCapitalFX claimed that it accepted various payment solutions – credit/debit card, bank transfer, and electronic payment solutions such as Skrill, Neteller, and PayPal. That turned out to be another false claim – we were only allowed to deposit in crypto (Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Tether).
Do not, under any circumstances, deposit with this broker. All crypto transactions are irreversible and anonymous. This means that you would not be getting your money back any time soon – the only way for this to happen is for the scammers to send it back voluntarily. That is not something they would do, of course, so the best solution is to not deposit in the first place.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORK?
In recent years, such scams have become more frequent than you can imagine. That is why it is very important to learn how they usually work and how to tell scam brokers apart from legitimate ones.
Always make sure to check the registers of regulatory bodies to make sure that a broker is licensed and reliable. Stay away from shady-looking websites that promise enormous profits in no time with zero effort. Do your own research – never blindly trust what a certain broker is telling you.
All scams start in a fairly similar way. You see an ad on the Internet promising immense fortune in no time – the only thing you have to do is open an account with a particular forex broker. You give in to curiosity and provide the scammers with your phone number and e-mail – at this point, you might still be reluctant to deposit. But once the scammers have your contact information, you will start getting calls and messages from them. They will ask you to deposit to unlock the full potential of their platforms and turn a profit. Keep in mind that such people are well-versed in the art of sweet-talking – they can promise amazing things and make effortless profits seem possible.
After you make an initial deposit, they would not leave you alone and keep asking for more money. You might even be happy to deposit since, at this point, it might seem like you are turning a profit. Scammers tend to manipulate platforms and results to make it look like you are doing great when you are actually just pouring money into their schemes.
The moment you try to withdraw, you will find out that something is not quite right. Reasons why withdrawals are impossible will show up – additional taxes, new clauses in the broker’s Terms and Conditions, etc. At some point, you will figure out that you are being scammed – but it would already be too late. The scammers will stop answering your calls and e-mails – and they will simply disappear with all your deposits.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED?
The first thing you should do is contact your bank and inform them about what has happened. Change your banking passwords to ensure that the scammers would have no way of stealing more money.
If you have installed remote access software – such as TeamViewer or AnyTesk – make sure to remove it. Some scam brokers will try to convince you that such software is necessary for a better trading experience – in order for them to help you with platform issues, or even with trading. Their true goal is to get access to your computer and banking systems – so they can start draining your accounts.
If you have deposited with a credit or debit card, make sure to contact your card issuer as soon as possible. Both Visa and MasterCard try to combat scams by allowing chargebacks within 540 days of the transactions. Retrieving your money might still be possible. If you have deposited in crypto, on the other hand, there would, unfortunately, be no way for you to get your money back.
Make sure to inform the authorities in your country about the broker and share your story – online and with acquaintances. This will prevent people from getting scammed in the same way.
One final important note – never trust anyone that calls themselves a “recovery agent”. Such “agents” promise to track down the scammers and retrieve your money – for a fee, of course. This is nothing more but another type of scam directed at desperate people.
