Beware! Trader Hub Fx 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.
Trader Hub Fx presents itself as a well-established and award-winning forex broker we can trust with our money without worry. But fact-checking quickly reveals that this website is just the opposite – an online scam targeting people without enough experience and knowledge of the financial markets. Let’s take a detailed look at why it’s in your best interest to stay away from Trader Hub Fx.
TRADER HUB FX REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
If a financial services provider is legitimate, you will find on its website clear and detailed information about the company that owns and operates it, where it is based, and what licences it has. Genuine brokers also provide access to a comprehensive set of legal documentation.
The availability of such information does not guarantee that it is not false or misleading. But the absence of these elements is very indicative that in all likelihood you are dealing with scammers.
Trader Hub Fx website is anonymous. It is a complete mystery who is behind this alleged broker. When registering an account, agreement to the Terms and Conditions is required, but Trader Hub Fx does not provide access to this or any other legal document. We don’t know exactly who we are dealing with nor what terms we are agreeing to. Under such circumstances it would not be wise to put our money on the line.
Trader Hub Fx gives two different contact addresses – in Australia and Indonesia.
Such an anonymous website could not legally operate in a regulated jurisdiction such as Australia. The Jakarta address given is used by numerous other bogus brokers, for example Gain Trade.
There is no authorised broker using the trade name and domain of Trader Hub Fx in the Australian Securities and Exchanges Commission (ASIC) and Indonesian Commodities and Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (BAPPEBTI) databases.
If you intend to invest in financial instruments, you should beware of the many fake brokers lurking online. Always check carefully whether the broker you choose really has the necessary licences. There are numerous benefits to working with a company that is truly authorised and supervised by a regulatory institution such as the 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.
TRADER HUB FX TRADING SOFTWARE
After account registration we get access to a basic web-based trading platform. Here is how it looks like:
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 rigged 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.
Legitimate brokers offer clients a wide selection of trading software, including desktop, mobile apps and web-based platforms. The most widely used 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.
TRADER HUB FX TRADING CONDITIONS
Trader Hub Fx claims to offer three different types of trading accoutrements. In the trading parameters described, we find some additional evidence that this is not a regulated broker.
One such piece of evidence is the leverage covenant of up to 1:500. Regulators in Australia and other leading markets such as the EU and the UK do not allow licensed brokers to offer leverage above 1:30.
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.
Regulated brokers offer higher leverage only to professional clients who must meet very high standards for capital and experience and forgo the guarantees enjoyed by retail traders.
If you don’t qualify as a professional trader but are willing to take the risk of high-leverage trading, the most viable option is to use the services of an offshore affiliate of an established brand.
Trader Hub Fx promises a spread of 3 pips for the starter account. This level is double the industry average and very unfavourable for the trader. On the trading platform, we see a more competitive spread of 1 pip. But as pointed out, scammers of the Trader Hub Fx type offer fictitious rather than real trading.
Trader Hub Fx requires a minimum deposit of 200 USD. For that amount you could start trading through almost any licensed broker. Many leading brands offer Micro and Cent accounts with a very low minimum deposit, sometimes as low as 5 USD.
TRADER HUB FX DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
The homepage of the website claims that Trader Hub Fx allows deposits and withdrawals via a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, bank transfer, Skrill and cryptocurrencies. But after registering an account, we find that only the latter is true. The only active option in the deposit menu is for cryptocurrency payments.
Scammers prefer cryptocurrencies because these transactions are not subject to refunds. If you’re interested in legitimate brokers that accept digital currency payments alongside conventional methods, check out this list.
Since Trader Hub Fx does not provide proper legal documentation, it is unclear what traps the fraudsters may have set. Typically, fake brokers make withdrawing money impossible through huge fees and impossible-to-fulfil traded volume conditions.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORKS
Scammers who promise easy money without any effort are nothing new, especially on the internet. But given the excitement around bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in recent years, malicious actors have run rampant more than ever, capitalizing not only on people’s desire to solve their financial woes with a magic wand, but also ignorance and misunderstanding of how blockchain and complex financial instruments actually work.
If your curiosity is stirred by one of the many flashy websites promising easy riches, and you provide your contacts, you will soon be contacted by skillful and persuasive scammers who will convince you to start with a relatively small and “risk-free” investment. If you agree to this, you will be transferred to even more skilled at convincing scammers, who will persuade you to invest even more. Any money you give to such people is money you are unlikely to get back.
Any attempt to withdraw deposits or alleged profits will be hampered by numerous and significant fees, as well as harsh and often prohibitive conditions written into the terms and conditions – such as high trading volume requirements, unexpected “taxes”, or withdrawal fees as high as 10% or even 20% of your funds.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
Recovering money you have given to fraudsters is difficult and often impossible. Fraudsters always want you to provide them with documents such as a copy of your ID and proof of address so that they can claim that it is a legitimate transaction, agreed voluntarily between both parties. If the transaction is made by credit or debit card, you can request a cashback and hope for the best, but transactions via wire transfer or cryptocurrencies are not refundable. It is important not to trust online offers from people who offer to recover your money in exchange for an upfront payment, because this is also a well-known scam.
