Beware! TDtrade 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.
TDtrade wants to convince us that it’s a reputable broker offering safe and secure trading. In fact however it’s just another scam firm trying to deceive uninformed customers. There are certain signs you should look out for when it comes to online fraudsters and TDtrade bears all of them at once.
First of all, it doesn’t have a legit forex license and isn’t authorized to offer financial services. On top of that there is no company name or corporate address so this website happens to be absolutely anonymous. It also offers a very risky leverage of 1:200, so we definitely don’t recommend investing here. For more details on what’s wrong with TDtrade keep reading the following lines.
Regulation and safety of funds
As we mentioned above, there is no data about this broker’s address, company name or corporate background. It also doesn’t mention anything related to its regulation like for example a license number or the jurisdiction that oversees its activities. All of these mean two things for sure – first, TDtrade is absolutely anonymous, as we don’t know who stays behind this website and where it operates from. Secondly, this firm is 100% unregulated, otherwise it wouldn’t hide its identity and registered address. Remember, that legitimate brokers display all the needed information and legal documents in order to prove their credibility.
In the case of TDtrade we can’t verify this broker’s identity by comparing its credentials with the data in the registers of any official regulatory institution. In fact we don’t know anything about this broker in particular, so it would be truly reckless to
invest here or to provide this broker with your personal details.
In addition, you won’t get any client protection if you deal with unlicensed brokers. But if we add the total anonymity of this firm, the chance of getting scammed is virtually 100%. Note, that there’s no point in turning to any financial authority in case things go wrong, as there’s nothing they can actually do. It’s up to you to choose a reputable broker and if you decide to trade with an unregulated firm you are doing so at your own risk.
There are many advantages in choosing one of the many legitimate brokers that offer investment services nowadays. First of all genuine brokers must meet an impressive minimum capital requirement – for instance 730 000 EUR for the UK and the EU and 20 000 000 USD for regulated brokers in the US. Moreover licensed firms must keep their customers’ money in segregated accounts and must also report on a daily basis about their trading operations. Regulated brokers in the EU and the UK are also obligated to participate in guarantee funds, which aim to protect your funds in case the broker goes bankrupt. You can get up to 85 000 GBP of compensation in the UK or up to 20 000 EUR for most of the countries in the EU.
Trading software
TDtrade doesn’t say anything essential when it comes to its trading software – just the random cliches and promises for “user-friendly interface”, “advanced tools” and “fast execution” of orders.
We registered straight away and got access to this trading platform:
As you see, this is a simple web-based software that doesn’t stand out with anything special. It has some custom tools and indicators, but isn’t the most convenient or “user-friendly” platform to be honest. There are way better options out there, especially if you want to invest on a truly advanced and sophisticated platform – in this case you better choose a legitimate broker who offers 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
TDtrade claims to offer four types of accounts – Basic, Advanced, Premium and Gold. Take a look at some more details about them:
The minimum deposit of 250 USD seems pretty standard for the sector. What’s more, most of the genuine brokers tend to offer micro accounts which require even less – around 10 USD. So certainly TDtrade doesn’t offer anything unique or impressive.
The leverage of 1:200 however exceeds the limits set by most of the financial authorities around the world. Usually such levels of leverage are associated with a huge risk of losing your money entirely, that is why many countries around the world have made the decision to cap it to a certain amount – for example 1:30 for the UK and the EU and 1:50 for the US. Still if you want to give it a try and trade with higher leverage we advise you to do so using the services of a legitimate financial services provider – you can simply take a look at some of the offshore subsidiaries of reputable forex brokers here.
As for the spread, there is nothing mentioned on the website. However if you look at the trading platform, you’ll see a spread of 0.3 pips for EURUSD which is a pretty decent amount in general, as any spread below 2 pips is known to be less costly. In the case of TDtrade however we wouldn’t take its words for granted, since this spread seems too suspicious. Remember that even if you trade with raw spreads, there are certainly going to be some commissions at the end.
This broker also claims to offer a starting bonus, however note that such promotions are forbidden in the EU and the UK. If you want to benefit from a welcome bonus, you better choose some of the regulated international brokers.
Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
On its website TDtrade claims to accept Visa/Mastercard as well as Maestro and wire transfer.
After we registered there was only one option for a deposit – with Visa/Mastercard. Take a look:
No matter what payment options this broker offers, we don’t recommend investing here. As we mentioned before, TDtrade is totally unlawful and anonymous, therefore – not to be trusted.
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!
