Beware! Nadex CFD 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.
Nadex CFD is supposedly a broker based in the EU and licensed by multiple reputable financial regulators. The broker promises “fair and transparent trading conditions combined with excellent customer support” but nothing could be further away from the truth. Their terms were not that good, the legal documentation was brief and we were not even provided with any sort of phone number we could use to reach the broker.
All in all, trading with this fraudulent company would only result in losses for you. Stay as far away from Nadex CFD as possible.
Nadex CFD REGULATION AND SAFETY OF FUNDS
Nadex CFD claims to be regulated both in Hong Kong and Cyprus – two strict jurisdictions. In the meantime, the broker is supposedly based in Germany and licensed by the local financial regulatory body, BaFin. All of these claims were false. When we checked the registers of all three authorities, we got zero matches for the name of the company behind the broker.
This means that the broker is offering services without authorization. What is even worse, it shows that they were more than willing to lie about being regulated by multiple authorities. Needless to say, no legitimate broker would allow themselves to make such false claims – it would be reputational suicide. Lying about licenses is one of the biggest possible sins in the world of trading.
Trading with a licensed broker is essential if you want to stay safe and trade profitably. Our advice is to turn to a broker licensed in the UK, the EU, and Australia – all countries and regions with strict forex trading laws and requirements imposed by reputable financial authorities. All licensed brokers must prove that they are financially stable – this happens when they prove they hold a minimum operational capital of €730 000 in the UK and the EU, and A$1 million in Australia. The sum can go up to a few million for brokers with many clients, however. Negative balance protection is ensured – your losses cannot exceed the amount of money you have in your account. Finally, your money will always be kept in segregated bank accounts – this proves your funds would not get mixed up with these of the broker and speeds up withdrawals. In case that broker becomes insolvent despite all safety measures, you would not be losing your investment.
Nadex CFD TRADING SOFTWARE
Nadex CFD promised access to both a web-based trading platform and to MetaTrader 4. We were indeed able to access a web platform – here is what it looked like:
Such software is not bad, per se – but it will only be able to satisfy the needs of complete beginners. The number of tools and features such platforms tend to offer is quite limited. That is why we were looking forward to trying the broker’s MT4 terminal.
When we tried to do that, however, we ran into problems. Installing the desktop version of MT4 was simply not possible for some reason. As a result, we were not able to try out the broker’s MT4 terminal.
Turn to a broker that offers a highly functional platform such as the well-known MetaTrader 4 instead. MT4 is a great option for beginners because it is relatively easy to use and accessible but also offers access to a huge variety of charting and analysis tools and additional features. You would be able to employ Expert Advisors to track markets and trade automatically, purchase VPSs to keep your EAs open at all times, use a Strategy Tester, set signals for prices going up or down, or subscribe to those set by other traders, etc. A great platform to try out – with a licensed broker.
Nadex CFD TRADING CONDITIONS
Nadex CFD offers accounts starting at the price of $250. This is actually not too bad of a price for a starter account – but it is not good either. There are plenty of great brokers that would let you start trading for a much smaller amount of money. Here are some brokers that offer accounts for $100 or less.
The leverage we were forced to trade with was 1:100 on forex majors. We say forced because we did not get access to our own leverage settings and as a result could not set our leverage lower. No broker regulated in Germany or Cyprus could legally offer such high leverage rates. In the EU, as well as in some other stricter jurisdictions, leverage caps exist. EU brokers cannot offer leverage higher than 1:30 on forex majors to retail clients. The reason for that is that trading with higher rates is risky – it could lead to either bigger profits or enormous losses. The latter is much more likely if you are a beginner trader. That is why we always advise our readers to be careful with their leverage settings and trade with rates they are sure they can handle.
Nadex CFD DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL METHODS AND FEES
Nadex CFD offered a few different deposit options. Clients could deposit via wire transfer, in crypto, or with their credit/debit card. In order to deposit with card, your payment had to go through one of a few lesser-known payment systems – Cardpayz, Paypound, or Gateway Services.
Depositing with such shady brokers is hardly the best idea – they will surely try to rob you. Moreover, if you have deposited in crypto, you will have absolutely no way of getting your money back – such payments are both irreversible, and mostly anonymous. Wire transfers are not as anonymous but getting a chargeback on such a transaction is also almost impossible and rarely happens. You have the best chances of retrieving your money if you have deposited with a Visa or MasterCard card – such transactions can be reversed within 540 days. If you have used this payment solution to deposit, contact your payment solution provider as soon as possible to see how to get your money back.
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.
