It’s a Scam! Why You See So Much of the Same Complaints

I’ve Been Scammed – Learn to Avoid (and Ignore)

We are all familiar with that shameful feeling, the feeling when we’ve just realized we’ve been scammed. In fact, some of us might feel so shameful we don’t even mention it to anyone. We feel this way because of the common misconception that only stupid people can get fooled. The truth is, we can all be fooled and scammed one way or another. Yes, especially those who think they can’t be fooled! However, the more aware and educated you are the less likely that you’ll fall victim to a scam. In this review I want to talk about some of the most common fraud complaints and accusations, and then discuss whether they are all true? And finally, I’ll touch on what should you do if you get scammed.

I’ve categorize the complaints into two types. Type one is simply people having “issues” with their broker because they ignored the terms & conditions before they agreed to various services or they simply lost all their money. These are often avoidable if not solvable problems. Type two is the kind of complaints where either a fake broker or a signal service has scammed their clients, taken their money and fooled them into paying for non-existing or non-working services.

Common Type 1 Complaints:

I can’t withdraw

Oftentimes this is because the client has a bonus with the broker and haven’t read the terms & conditions. Bonus terms, when offered by a trusted broker, will clearly state that a high generated volume is required before withdrawal can be approved. This is usually in the range of 20 to 30 times your deposit and bonus. Before you cry wolf, remember that you agreed on not being able to withdraw before generating a big volume for the broker. Of course, it is also possible for a shady website to use a bonus against you but that’s a whole different scam. Read more about binary options bonuses wager rules in this article. Remember! Do NOT take a bonus if you’re not even sure what is trading, or at least settle for a low 20% bonus. If you did take a bonus, there’s really no point to complain about it. And when you see complaints regarding bonus, that’s another clear evidence why bonus is not for everyone.

They want to steal my CC and ID info

The reason why most brokers want a copy of your ID, C.C and a utility bill is because regulated brokers are required to identify their clients. Even unregulated brokers can ask for identification because they are working with anti-money laundering organizations. You will always have to provide ID, no matter what type of broker or bank you use. However, you should make sure you only send your documents and money to a trusted and reputable broker! Sometimes account managers would nag you about your identification. Get your papers ready in time, but seriously, I don’t think anyone is trying to still identity or C.C details. They just want your business.

Didn’t get my money

A deposit is instant but a withdrawal process takes time. First, the desired amount has to be approved. This usually takes 3-5 days. Once your funds are released it might take an additional 3 to 5 bank days before the money shows up in your bank account, the time it takes of course depends on your own bank. Also if you haven’t sent correct documents (C.C and copy of ID) as mentioned above, you can forget about getting them to approve your withdrawal. On average it will take 2 or more full weeks for a withdrawal to post. Using an online e-payment or money-booker often speeds up the withdrawal process but are not offered by all brokers. In many cases, your account manager is the one holding you back from getting a withrawal process done. He/She wants you as a clients, and for some reason they assume you don’t really want to quit, just having some setbacks. Well, stay calm. They’ll try, but you won’t let them. In case this process is taking far too much time, there’s a place to complain, or even file a CySec complaint.  One more thing: check the terms & conditions whenever you are looking at a new broker! Some brokers have minimum withrawal sum, fees, restirictions, wagers and more. If you don’t find any of the terms acceptable – don’t deposit. As simple as that.

The price changes on the broker’s platform

I think this is the most common complaint that we hear from short expiry traders, 30 seconds to 5 minutes. It’s not unusual that price shifts as soon as you place a trade when trading short periods. This even happens when trading longer expiries because brokers include a small spread or buffer into each trade to ensure they maintain a proper risk profile. Price shifts are often only a few pipettes (10 pipettes=1 pip) but since the expiries are so short, even a pipette can make a difference. Basically I would suggest you skip trading below 5 minutes expiry. Still want to take short expiries? Then you will have to deal with this problem quite often so think twice before getting too excited about 60 seconds trading. I reccomed using video software to capture your open trades. Clear evidence of price manipulation would help you with your complaint.

Common Type 2 Complaints:

The type two complaints can be the same as above, with the difference that the broker or signal service is a fraud or a fake. Their purpose is to trick people to deposit in order to receive special services, guaranteed winning signals or a strategy that works! These are often non-regulated brokers, signal service providers, auto traders, binary robots and any other binary options service that require you to sign up and fund an account with a “trusted broker”. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of bogus websites whose only intention is to get you to make a deposit and trade your money. They make their income from revenue sharing with the recommended brokers and may not even know how to trade. The part that really sucks is that a shady SSP or autobot can use a trusted broker to scam you with no fault on the broker. In fact, some are so shady they ask you to pay up front for the service, require you to fund an account with their broker and then when you lose your money tell you you aren’t doing something right and to deposit some more.

To avoid this kind of scam it is always wise to do your own research! Don’t just sign up because the advertisement tells you you’re going to be rich in 45 minutes. Visit our Make Easy Money Exposed Forums and look at reviews, ask people questions, compare services and even when you are sure don’t put your life savings with the first broker you sign up with. When choosing a broker, always choose a well respected and trusted broker. When choosing a service never join one that requires a deposit. Unfortunately, if you have already been scammed by a rogue broker or service there is not much you can do. Many of them exist in the ether net and are impossible to track down. You may simply have to suck it up and move on. You can file a complaint with CySEC or other regulatory body but the most they can do, provided the scam is from an unregulated source, is post a warning.

Due Diligence* First

Now you know why it’s important to investigate the broker or the service you want to sign up with. Whether the broker you are trading with is regulated or not you might someday get into a dispute with them. If the broker is not regulated you can file a complaint against them here on our forum. If they are regulated, then simply contact the relevant regulatory organization depending on where the broker is located. Whatever you do don’t just give up!

It’s important to know that not all claims of scams are true, some people will give poor reviews because they gambled their money, they couldn’t meet the bonus terms or their withdrawal took so long they missed the mortgage payments. Same goes for good reviews, not all are true because some affiliate marketers just want to make money on you and they don’t care if you get scammed or not. Therefore, it’s wise to check different sources of information before forming an opinion! Start here in our forum CommuniTraders. You can find information on all known brokers or services, approved and not. And if you can’t ask someone and we will surely check it out for you.