Beware! Global X 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.
Global X is a scam broker who wants us to believe that it’s reputable and honest. In fact however it’s just the opposite. Even though this firm falsely claims to be regulated by multiple globally recognized jurisdictions, don’t fall into this rabbit hole. The reality is much more unpleasant – Global X is not licensed by either of them and this can be easily verified in the relevant authorities’ registers. But maybe the worst part is that this broker has been exposed as an unreliable firm by the Financial Conduct Authority of the UK. As you see, Global X is barely up to any good, so better avoid it for your own safety. For more details on why this broker is not a good choice for your investment, please keep reading our in-depth review.
Regulation and safety of funds
As a beginning Global X claims to be situated in Londin, the UK. It also claims to be regulated by many well-known financial authorities like for example the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), FINMA (Switzerland), as well as from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Now, at that point it’s unbelievable how many issues are there. Let’s discuss them one by one.
First of all, Global X is not licensed by either of these watchdogs. We searched all of their registers and can confidently state that this broker is lying.
Secondly, after we checked the registers of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK we came across some very intriguing facts. It turned out that there is an official warning against Global X, which states that this firm is not authorized to offer financial services therefore is not to be trusted. Take a look at it:
As you see, Global X shamelessly lies about being regulated by FCA, but in reality it has been blacklisted by the same authority.
And lastly, the claim to be licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is yet another blatant lie. It’s widely known that this offshore destination doesn’t license forex brokerage activities so it’s impossible that Global X could be authorized there. FSA states the same on its website – there is an important notice that appears immediately after you visit the page. Take a look at it:
As both FCA and FSA clearly warn, there is a huge risk of getting scammed if you deal with unregulated firms and none of these authorities would be able to help you at this point. Not to mention that lying about being authorized is even worse and brings this broker’s credibility down to zero.
For this reason make sure to invest only with regulated and reliable brokers. Such firms meet all the necessary requirements and stick to the rules no matter what. For example all UK licensed brokers must have at least 730 000 EUR of minimum capital and must also take part in compensation schemes. In other words, your investment is ensured against broker’s insolvency for up to 85 000 GBP, even though such an unfortunate event is highly improbable.
Trading software
Global X claims to offer a “multifunctional trading platform” with “simple and intuitive interface”. This doesn’t sound very promising, however we decided to give it a try and registered right away.
The platform itself is truly a simple piece of software – you can use just some basic tools and custom indicators but nothing more advanced. Take a look at it down below:
As you see, this software certainly isn’t among the best in the sector. In fact it’s just mediocre and doesn’t deserve your attention. Especially given the fact that the broker that’s offering it, is totally unlawful and unreliable.
For this reason better look for legitimate firms who offer truly unique platforms like MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5.
MT4 and MT5 have been preferred by most of the reputable brokers for a pretty good reason. You can benefit from a whole bunch of fantastic features that ease your trading experience. For example the so-called Expert Advisors can perform the trading for you – you just have to set certain conditions – the moment the trading bot finds them, it will start trading right away.
In fact MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 are very easy to use even for novices. You can download the app and start trading right off the bat, no matter where or when. You should know as well that this piece of software is really safe – all transactions are encrypted, as well as your IP address.
You can effortlessly install MT4 and MT5 on your smartphone, computer and tablet. Note however that the apps can’t be downloaded on any device anymore, since Apple has removed them from its AppStore. So if you use an iPhone or iPad and you wish to install one of these platforms, unfortunately it won’t be possible. Do not get down however because all of you who have already downloaded the software can go on using it (without any further updates however). You can still download MT4 and MT5 from Google Play Store.
Trading conditions
Global X aims to offer seven different account types – from Welcome on board to VIP account. Take a look at a few more details on some of them:
The first account named “Welcome on board” asks for 250 USD of minimum deposit, which is a standard amount for the sector. To be precise some genuine firms may offer even less – micro accounts require around 10 USD. Nevertheless, no matter the minimum initial deposit, Global X has proven itself as an illegitimate firm, so better stay away from it.
The leverage is said to be 1:50 for the first account and goes up to 1:500 for the VIP account. Both of these amounts are not fine to be honest. First of all the higher the leverage is the greater the risk of failure gets. Moreover, there is a leverage restriction of 1:30 in the UK, so this firm cannot possibly be licensed there. Still, if you want to trade with higher leverage we advise you to choose some of the offshore subsidiaries of reputable forex brokers.
As for the spread, this broker doesn’t mention anything on the topic. On its trading platform we saw a spread of 0.5 pips which is fine in general. Just as you know, any spread lower than 2 pips is known to be less costly. Nevertheless, better skip on investing here, as this broker has been exposed as an unreliable firm, as we already pointed out.
Deposit/Withdrawal methods and fees
Global X doesn’t specify what payment methods it accepts, which is a great drawback if you ask us.
Anyway, after we tried to fund our account, there were two options available – Visa/Mastercard payment as well as a crypto transaction with Bitcoin. Take a look:
However, as we tried to use the credit/debit card method, it turned out that such payment is impossible, as there was some kind of error occurring again and again.
Also note, that transactions with crypto coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum are proven to be 100% irreversible and anonymous, so you won’t be able to retrieve even a cent back.
For this reason and everything stated so far, we strongly advise you to avoid investing with this shady broker!
How does the scam work
Remember that usually scammers want to make you invest with them no matter what it takes. This means that they might try to contact you via email or phone in case you provided them with this information. They’ll try to convince you to deposit as soon as possible, advertising their platform as very advanced and their trading conditions as risk-free and advantageous. Don’t believe them however as these fraudsters don’t intend to trade your money at all – they just manipulate their software.
Very often scammers like to fake your trading results as well, just to lure you into investing more and more until you realize it’s all a huge lie.
Before you find this out however you may face some more bad surprises. For instance it may turn out that you are obligated to pay a certain fee if you want to withdraw your funds – sometimes the fee can exceed 20%. Note that reputable brokers don’t ask for a fee upon withdrawal request or even if they do, the amount is insignificant.
We don’t advise you to deposit or pay fees with such offshore brokers, as you may find out that a withdrawal is impossible no matter what you try.
What to do when scammed
If you realize you have been a victim of financial scammers, don’t trust people on the internet who suggest helping you restore your funds in exchange for a certain fee. It’s very probable that they are also fraudsters, possibly the same who tricked you the previous time.
Still, you can try to retrieve your money if you have paid with credit or debit card – you can turn to the bank that issued your card and file for a chargeback in 540 days. In case you used PayPal or Skrill you can also open a dispute. Unfortunately crypto currency transactions are irreversible as we already stated.
