Beware! InvescoGBP 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.
InvescoGBP introduces itself as a regulated forex broker operating in the world’s leading markets. However, InvescoGBP’s attempts to convince us that this is true do not stand up to scrutiny. Fact-checking shows conclusively that this website is nothing more than yet another online scam targeting people without sufficient knowledge and experience of financial trading. Let’s take a detailed look at how you could identify such scams.
INVESCOGBP 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.
InvescoGBP does not provide access to Terms and Conditions, Client Agreement or Privacy Policy.
The website claims that this broker is based in the United Kingdom and is licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The only place we see a company name is an image of this alleged licence – Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain UCITS ETF.
But a check on this regulator’s database reveals that this licence is a fake. The FCA specifically warns that InvescoGBP is not an authorised broker:
Before investing your money in financial instruments, it is imperative to make sure you do so through a licensed intermediary and not one of the many scammers lurking online.
If you want to trade on financial markets without being scammed, you can turn to some of the legitimate brokers that actually operate from established financial hubs like the UK. These brokers have to meet stringent requirements for financial stability and transparency of operations imposed by the FCA.
They must provide clients with negative balance protection and to participate in a guarantee fund that covers up to GBP 85,000 of a client’s investment should the broker go into insolvency. These brokers are also required to keep their clients’ money segregated from their own operating funds in separate bank accounts.
INVESCOGBP TRADING SOFTWARE
The InvescoGBP website doesn’t even mention the most important tool for trading financial instruments, the software. After registering an account we get access to a pretty basic web trading platform. Here is how it looks like:
While the platform has the basic features for placing orders, customising charts and application of technical indicators, it lacks the more advanced functionality found in the most widely used trading platforms in the industry, 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.
It should be noted that the presence of a trading platform does not make this website any more legitimate and does not guarantee that this alleged broker offers real trading. Many scammers use rigged trading software to fool their victims that their money is being invested. We have every reason to believe that this is exactly the case with InvescoGBP.
INVESCOGBP TRADING CONDITIONS
We find further evidence of the fraudulent nature of InvescoGBP in the trading parameters set out in the website.
InvescoGBPclaims to offer cryptocurrency trading. But the UK FCA prohibits brokers from offering trading in crypto derivatives.
Another such evidence is that the maximum leverage for the three account types ranges between 1:100 and 1:500.
High leverage creates the opportunity for more significant profit, but correspondingly increases the risk of sudden and excessive losses. All leading regulators therefore restrict leverage for retail traders.
The FCA, like EU regulators, limits leverage to 1:30 for trading in major currency pairs and even lower levels for more volatile assets.
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.
In the trading platform we see a very low spread, close to zero. With such a spread, brokers charge an additional commission, but InvescoGBP does not give any information about this.
The required minimum deposit is 150 USD. For the same or often lower amount, you could open a live account with an established broker, including the industry’s leading brands.
INVESCOGBP DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW METHODS AND FEES
InvescoGBP also does not provide any information on withdrawal fees and conditions. Deposits are possible through questionable payment processors such as Pay Pound and Vil Pay.
Legitimate brokers typically offer clients a wide choice of transparent payment methods, including bank transfer, credit/debit cards and established e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill, Neteller or iDeal.
The lack of a publicly available Terms and Conditions or Client Agreement means that scammers may have set many traps such as hidden fees and impossible-to-meet withdrawal terms.
HOW DOES THE SCAM WORKS
With all the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies and NFTs, many people are starting to consider investing in the financial markets as a bid to improve their fortunes. Scammers on the internet have taken notice of that and take advantage of the ignorance of the general public by creating countless websites posing as brokers. These websites offer no real brokerage services and only deceive people into believing that their money is really being invested.
If you come across such a scam website and give out your contacts, you will be contacted by experienced scammers who will convince you that they can take on all the frighteningly complex aspects of investing for you. But you will never get any real profits, nor will you be able to get back the money you deposited. The terms and conditions of these websites are riddled with clauses that make withdrawing funds from your account unfeasible – for example, extremely high minimum trading volume requirements or hefty fees of 10%, 20% or even more of the amount.
Scammers hide behind fake addresses and names and operate through offshore companies that are not subject to regulation and scrutiny. So even if all the withdrawal requirements are met, they may simply disappear and move on to their next fraudulent scheme.
WHAT TO DO WHEN SCAMMED
It is very important not to rush into trusting people on the internet who offer to magically refund your money for a fee. These are also scammers, and they may even be the same ones who scammed you in the first place.
If you have made the transfers using credit or debit card, you can claim a chargeback. Visa and MasterCard allow this to be done within 540 days. However, such a request may not be approved if you have given the fraudsters documents such as a copy of an ID and proof of address. This will allow them to claim that the transaction is legitimate and approved by both parties.
