Beware! WellsTrader 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.
WellsTrader presents itself as a regulated forex broker which will help us trade with confidence and maximise the power of online trading. But you should never put your lot on the line before you have done a careful fact check. And such a check shows that WellsTrader is not at all what it claims to be. In this review, we’ll show why WellsTrader is not a genuine forex broker and point you towards more credible alternatives.
WellsTrader Regulation and safety of funds
| Guaranteed Funds | Segregated Accounts | Negative balance protection | |
| WellsTrader | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| UK regulated brokers | £85 000 | Yes | Yes |
| EU regulated brokers | €20 000 | Yes | Yes |
| AU regulated brokers | No | Yes | Yes |
| US regulted brokers | Yes | Yes | No |
Legitimate forex brokers provide clear and detailed information about the legal entity that owns and operates them, where it is based, what licences it has and which regulators oversee its activities. Lack of such details or improper presentation of them are always a red flag that we are probably dealing with a scam.
No company name is listed on the home page of the website. WellsTrader claims to be based in Switzerland, but we do not find a broker with this name in the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) database.
Among the legal documents we find an image of a supposed licence from the Spanish financial regulator, the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV).
The licence is in the name of the company Mount Nico Corp Ltd, which is not mentioned in the Terms and Conditions and other documents on the website. We have no evidence that this legal entity actually exists.
But on checking through the CNMV register we find that this licence is a fake. WellsTrader is not authorised by the CNMV.
Under no circumstances should you trust your money to such anonymous websites full of false and contradictory information. Instead, you can turn to one of the many companies that really work under the supervision of respected regulatory bodies like Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) or Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.
As their customer you will enjoy a number of guarantees including negative balance protection and guarantee for your funds if the broker goes bankrupt, which goes up to EUR 20,000 in EU and 85,000 GBP in the UK. Regulations in the UK and EU include some important measures designed to improve investor protection and promote market integrity and transparency, such as transaction reporting. Regulated brokers are also required to segregate their operational funds from the client’s money.
WellsTrader Trading software
| Analytical tools | Auto trading | Custom indicators | Mobile apps | |
| WellsTrader platform | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| MT4 | 30+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android and iOS |
| MT5 | 50+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android and iOS |
| cTrader | 40+ indicators | ✅ | ✅ | Android and iOS |
WellsTrader promises a web-based trading platform, but we have not been able to verify if any trading software is available. The reason for this is that account registration requires a promo code. Financial scammers sometimes prefer to handpick their potential victims through social networks and online forums, which is why they do not allow free registration. Genuine brokers allow easy Demo account creation.
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.
If you use the services of a licensed broker, you will get the opportunity to use established software with advanced features and versions for all types of devices and operating systems. The most widely used trading platforms in the industry are 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.
WellsTrader Trading instruments
| Currency | Stocks | Indices | Crypto | Commodities | |
| WellsTrader | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| XM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FBS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FXTM | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
When you visit the website of a legitimate broker you will find proposals for different types of trading accounts suitable for investors with different preferences, as well as detailed descriptions of trading parameters – minimum deposit, order execution method, tradable financial instruments, leverage, spread, swap, commissions, etc. WellsTrader offers a range of accounts, but their descriptions do not include any specific information on trading parameters.
WellsTrader Spreads and cost of trading
| WellsTrader | XM | FBS | FXTM | |
| Spread EURUSD | ❌ | 1.7 | 1 | 1.1 |
| Spread GBPUSD | ❌ | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
| Spread USDJPY | ❌ | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 |
WellsTrader does not provide any information on the cost paid by customers.
WellsTrader Maximum leverage
| Forex | Stocks | Crypto | Gold | Indices | |
| WellsTrader | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| UK regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | ❌ | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| EU regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| AU regulated brokers | 30:1 | 5:1 | 2:1 | 10:1 | 10:1 |
| US regulated brokers | 50:1 | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
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. 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 are willing to take the risk of trading with high leverage and benefit from bonuses and promotions, the best option is to invest through an offshore division of an established brand.
WellsTrader Deposit and withdrawal methods
Due to our inability to register an account, we were unable to ascertain what payment methods WellsTrader uses. Experience has shown that fraudsters direct their potential victims to cryptocurrency transactions that do not allow refunds to be requested.
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 or GiroPay.
WellsTrader Minimum deposit
| WellsTrader | XM | FBS | FXTM | |
| Minimum deposit | $250 | $5 | $10 | $5 |
The account descriptions on the WellsTrader homepage specify a minimum deposit of 500 USD, but the Terms and Conditions specify an amount of 250 USD. Such inconsistencies are typical of fraudulent websites. In any case, it would be wiser, safer and cheaper to open a trading account with a licensed broker.
WellsTrader Withdrawal requirements
| Trading volume | Fee/Tax on withdrawal | Minimum withdrawal | |
| WellsTrader | Bonus x25 | Not specified | Not specified |
| UK regulated brokers | No | No | No |
| EU regulated brokers | No | No | No |
| AU regulated brokers | No | No | No |
| US regulated brokers | No | No | No |
If the account has received a bonus it can only withdraw funds after it has traded an amount equal to 25 times the deposit amount plus the bonus. This is a typical scam clause designed to block withdrawal requests. European financial regulators prohibit brokers from offering bonuses, promotions and prize games. Therefore, the mere mention of bonuses is further proof that tWellsTrader is a scam.
WellsTrader also charges an outrageously high inactivity fee of 30% of the account balance.
