Beware! Winner S Trade 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.
Winner S Trade is the worst type of broker imaginable. It’s clear from the first glance that something is wrong with it. The moment we landed on its website we couldn’t help but notice how plain and old-fashioned it is, not to mention that it lacks any useful information about its trading conditions. Even though Winner S Trade claims to deliver a “safe and secure” trading environment, we have no reason to believe that, as this broker is totally unlawful and anonymous. It also lies about being regulated – in fact Winner S Trade isn’t licensed nor authorized to offer investment services. For more details on why you should avoid this shady broker, keep reading the full review.
Regulation and safety of funds
First things first – after we carefully examined this bogus website we realized that there is no data about this broker’s corporate address, company name, phone number or corporate background. This actually renders this firm to be absolutely anonymous, as we don’t know anything about it including who stays behind this site.
This being said, Winner S Trade claims to be regulated by the National Futures Association (NFA) of the United States and even displays a suspicious certificate which seems fake at the first glance. So we decided to double check this claim and opened the registers of NFA – you can look for any broker there and it takes just a couple of minutes. The search results however didn’t surprise us at all – Winner S Trade isn’t a NFA member therefore isn’t authorized to perform on the forex market. See for yourself:
This site is obviously not to be trusted, being unregulated and virtually anonymous. Don’t forget that you won’t get any client protection if you decide to trade with unlicensed brokers like this one and no entity can help you in case you become a victim of a scam. Not being regulated is a red flag already, but lying about its license status is even worse.
All in all your best decision would be to avoid this shady broker at all costs. Instead look for a legitimate firm with a forex license and proven credibility. There are plenty of regulated US brokers who meet all the requirements and expectations when it comes to offering secure trading experience. You can be sure that these firms are financially stable, as the license comes with a formidable minimum capital requirement of 20 000 000 USD. What’s more, legitimate brokers in the US are also obligated to keep your money in segregated accounts apart from their own capital. This way they ensure your fund’s safety.
Trading software
Winner S Trade claims to offer X Open Hub (XOH) trading platform but also promises that you can benefit from using Expert Advisors, which however are typical for MetaTrader 4. And even though this broker started to seem a bit dodgy we decided to give it a try and download the desktop version of the platform. Once again we were heavily disappointed to find out that what Winner S Trade offers isn’t its own platform at all. In fact you can only install the demo version of MT5, provided by another firm – AMP Global EU. See for yourself:
As you see, this software has nothing to do with Winner S Trade and also doesn’t provide any information about its trading conditions.
Even after we registered there was no sign of a trading software anywhere on our profile. In short, this broker is a total bummer – don’t waste your money with it unless you want to be left stone broke.
Instead look for a reputable firm that can offer an advanced and secure trading platform – MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 are proven to be the best so far.
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
Winner S Trade doesn’t mention anything about its trading conditions. The website is full of unnecessary information that doesn’t serve any purpose at all. However there is no data about what’s most important for every trader – account types, leverage, spread or minimum deposit requirement.
After we registered it turned out that the leverage that is automatically set for our account is 1:500. This is way too high as such volume is associated with greater risk of losing your money entirely. Not to mention that it would be highly unwise to listen to what this broker suggests and go on investing with such a risky amount (no doubt that it’s exactly what the broker aims by the way). What’s more, keep in mind that there’s a leverage restriction of 1:50 in the US, so Winner S Trade goes off the rails once again. Yet, if you want to give it a try and trade with higher leverage you can look at some of the offshore subsidiaries of reputable forex brokers.
In addition, after we registered and tried to add funds to our account, it became clear that the minimum deposit required was 50 USD. This seems way too low than the usual amount of 250 USD that most legitimate brokers tend to ask, however don’t fall into this rabbit hole. Obviously Winner S Trade tries to trick unwitting customers into depositing – we can assure you this is a fraud, given the fact that there’s no platform to trade on. Not to mention that regulated brokers offer micro accounts for around 10 USD, so there really is no reason to deal with shady firms like Winner S Trade.
As for the spread, we don’t have the slightest idea what to expect, as there’s no data on the website or on the trading platform as well. If you want to invest in crypto, stocks, shares or commodities we encourage you to turn to a well-established broker who offers tight spreads less than 2 pips.
Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
At the bottom of its homepage Winner S Trade claims to accept a variety of payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, Skrill and Neteller.
After we registered there were three options to choose from. Apparently you can deposit via ThunderXPay which is a platform for various payments with credit/debit cards, e-wallets and crypto using a QR code. This payment provider is popular in South Asia and controlled by the Bank of Thailand, which seems rather strange to be honest.
You can also use crypto transactions with Tether and QR code payment, take a look:
Anyway, we don’t recommend investing here, especially using crypto coins, as they are proven to be absolutely irreversible. This broker is shady enough so better stay away from it by all means!
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!
