Beware! Jointbid.com 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.
Jointbid.com states that their “goal is to maximize investor return and minimize any potential loss” as well as offer “a truly market-leading service” and provide “fast execution on a huge range of markets”. We have no idea how the broker will make all these things happen when they do not provide access to functional software you could use for trading. This is just another unregulated broker that offers neither safety nor good conditions. Read the review below to learn more.
Jointbid.com REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
Jointbid.com claims to be based in London, the UK. That is pretty much the only specific information the broker has provided about itself – they opted to remain mostly anonymous. What is more, Jointbid.com does not seem to actually be licensed to operate in the UK. When we checked the register of the FCA, the financial regulator of the country, we did not get any matches.
This seems to be a fraudulent company without any sort of formal authorization and without anything to show for its big promises. Trading with unregulated brokers is extremely risky since you can never be sure that they will treat you in accordance with all laws or that they have met any sort of specific requirements.
Opt for the services of a broker regulated by the FCA or CySEC (Cyprus) – these are some of the strictest financial regulators in the world which means that brokers licensed by them are usually pretty reliable. It certainly means that the broker had to meet many requirements before obtaining a license and that it has to report to authorities regularly to ensure full transparency. Companies have to maintain a minimum operational capital of €730 000 to prove that they are well-capitalized and financially stable. All UK and EU brokers are obligated to participate in compensation funds – so in the unlikely event of your broker going bankrupt, you could receive compensation of up to £85 000 in the UK and €20 000 in the EU. Client money is kept separate from the broker’s funds in segregated accounts – so that no mixing of funds could be possible. Once you have invested, your broker would have very limited access to your deposits and would certainly not be able to reinvest them. Negative balance protection is a must – this means that your losses cannot exceed the amount of money you have in your account.
Jointbid.com TRADING SOFTWARE
Jointbid.com does not actually offer a functional trading platform. When we opened an account and accessed the broker’s client area, we discovered that the only things we are allowed to do is deposit/withdraw, and provide personal information. The broker simply did not offer access to the markets, and would not allow us to trade. This means that opening an account with them is pointless. After all, the whole point of seeking out a broker in the first place is to be able to access the financial markets – preferably through a trading platform. Jointbid.com simply did not allow us to do that.
Check out legitimate brokers that offer leading platforms like MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. Both MT4 and MT5 offer over 30 technical indicators and other useful charting and analysis tools, and many additional features – preprogrammed Expert Advisors that track markets and trade automatically, but also possibilities for creating custom scripts (your own indicators and trading bots) or setting signals for prices going up or down, a market for add-ons, etc. Don’t hesitate to try out MT4 and MT5 in a demo or real account.
Jointbid.com TRADING CONDITIONS
Jointbid.com did not provide any specific information about its trading conditions but since we did not get access to functional software such information would be pointless anyway. Things like spread, leverage, and commissions are only relevant when you are trading – and as we already said, you would not be able to do that with Jointbid.com.
Some of the most popular brokers in the industry actually offer amazing trading conditions. For a very small minimum deposit, you would get tight spreads, high leverage, many educational tools, extra features, and – on some occasions – attractive bonuses and promotions. Check out the best forex bonuses of 2023 to get a sense of what legitimate brokers can offer.
Jointbid.com DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL METHODS AND FEES
When we tried to deposit with Jointbid.com, the broker’s website malfunctioned and would not allow us to proceed. We were not even informed what payment solutions we could choose from.
In its Terms and Conditions, Jointbid.com has included the following clause regarding withdrawal fees:
This would imply that we could deposit via wire transfer, with a credit or debit card, or with the electronic payment solution ePayments. The fees are, however, huge. $50 is a standard if a bit high fee to pay for an international wire transfer. However, we would not consider it normal to pay a total of $35 for a card withdrawal, or $25 for ePayments. You would be asked to pay an additional 10% in fees if you have not verified your account or reached an extremely high turnover before withdrawing. The high withdrawal fees are just another way for this broker to prevent withdrawals, or just to rob you additionally when you try to withdraw. Legitimate brokers would not charge you more than a few dollars for such transactions – and sometimes they even cover transaction fees altogether.
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.
