Once we noticed Electrum24 and their website, the broker looked ideally. Nice design, UK-based, WhatsApp contact. The website is operating since 2017. What more could you ask from a brokerage? Oh, wait! A regulation. That’s why we were digging about Electrum24 in our review. Here’s what we found.

Electrum24 Regulation and Security

After a more careful examination of the Electrum24 website, we’ve noticed that the company owner is not listed anywhere. Sounds a bit suspicious for a UK brokerage. Another thing, despite the headquarters, the broker didn’t list any regulations. Any brokerage based in the UK needs FCA approval for conducting financial services. This regulation means having a deposit of over 700,000 GBP with a regulator that will be used to refund clients in case of a scam.

Since the broker is clearly not regulated, we’ve searched further. Who Electrum 24 actually is?

Warnings From Financial Regulators

The broker has been blacklisted by the FCA instead of being regulated. According to the FCA, the broker is a clone firm of the FCA regulated company Electrum Capital Limited, listed on the address the false brokerage provided.

Funds Withdrawal Issues with Electrum24

Since many clients are reporting withdrawal issues with Electrum24, we’ve checked these allegations.

For a start, we need to report that the company is using a web trader. This is the least secure platform of all. Any competitive broker on the market should offer at least one version of the MetaTrader, either MT4 or MT5.

Another thing we need to say, the website doesn’t function properly, and we cannot verify the diversity of trading instruments. We could confirm that the leverage goes up to 1:500 while the lot size for the Black account is 1.5 lots. That’s a tremendous high comparing the fact that most regulated brokers allow you to open a position with a 0.01 lot.

The minimum deposit is 500 EUR which is again too high compared to regulated brokerages. The payment methods are not listed anywhere, neither are fees or commissions you need to pay.

Hence, having withdrawal issues does not surprise us. Be aware of all the facts when opening an account with Electrum24.com.

Scammed by Electrum24?

If you were misled or scammed by Electrum24, do not hesitate to report it. There were many people in your situation who successfully recovered their funds.

Do not hesitate more, file a complaint, and request a chargeback.

But what is a chargeback? It’s a process of refunding your card in case you were a victim of an online scam.

Contact our support team now and get guidance on how to file a dispute!

What is Electrum24?

Electrum24 is an online trading brokerage with no regulation.

Is Electrum24 a scam?

Electrum24 is a broker with no regulation, blacklisted by the UK FCA.

Is Electrum24 regulated?

Electrum24 is not regulated by any authority for providing financial services.

With their alleged high level of financial expertise and professionalism, the masterminds behind this seemingly alluring scheme will have you believe there’s no risk of loss.

Continuous profits and high returns on investments are everything that awaits you here. The only obstacle to a bright financial future promoted on this shady site is the fact that they have no valid license to sell and offer financial services online. 

How exactly this sham unfolds and what to do in case you fall victim to it is what our Astro Invest review discusses.

Invisible to Law

While legitimate investment firms in the US are subject to the regulatory oversight of CFTC and NFA, this fraudulent scheme isn’t. That is apparent if you take a look at the NFA database of regulated members. 

To make matters worse, this anonymous firm also doesn’t exist in any other register, such as FCA, BaFin, CySEC, ASIC and others. Not only are they fully unregulated and operate illegally, but they do not exist as a business conduct outside of the internet at all. 

Suspicious schemes like the Astro Invest scam mostly target Forex novices, but they’re certainly not alone. The same intentions are apparent from the evident fraudulent behavior displayed by Integra Asset Management, so make sure you decline any offers from these firms.

How Cons Appeal to Public

Pretty much everything about the firm is a lie from the get-go, such as the company being in business as early as 2015.As you may see from WhoIs, the astroinvest.org domain did not exist prior to 2023.

Bar Facebook, the firm does not have any social profiles, but uses various affiliates that do the advertising instead. These profiles contain the usual propaganda about quick profits allegedly generated through some AI software. Many of the victims live in these nations:

• Malaysia
• Singapore
• United States
• United Kingdom

The Astro Invest broker scheme functions as a typical scam call center. The “account managers”, or better known as boiler room agents, constantly pester new marks to invest. They use a premade script to get as much money as possible before disappearing.

Fake Client Ratings

Nearly all of the Astro Invest reviews you find on platforms like TrustPilot are total fakes, created by review seller networks. You can recognize them by how repetitive they are, and the fact that they don’t contain any relevant piece of information.

The majority of other fraudsters, Senior Wealth Partners for instance, use the exact same strategy to appear legit. If you believe you’ve become a victim of financial fraud, contact our legal experts.

Unclear Trading Terms

One of the alarming details of the shady offer found on the site of the Astro Invest Forex fraud is the fact that legal documents are missing. Instead of providing clear fee structure, pricings and trading conditions, these fraudsters have carefully hidden all of the crucial trading information.

It’s simply impossible that the company doesn’t charge anything for their services, so please do not trust claims that try to assure you about everything being free, including all the services offered.

Referral Commission Bait

Con artists are often employing the referral scheme or better known Ponzi campaign to gather new victims. By promising high commissions and cash incentives for every affiliated new user, the existing victims engage in supplying the scammers with new blood. In this case, the profit percentage from referrals is 5%.

Expectedly Shabby Trading Environment

Whenever we come across a scam company, we don’t expect much in the way of trading amenities. The Astro Invest trading service only offers some semblance of investing utilities that keep you wasting money. Let’s have a look at how this works, so you can recognise it in the future.

Trading Doesn’t Happen

Just because the website represents an investment company that manages clients’ funds and uses automated trading systems to acquire profit doesn’t give them the right to lie about software. 

The promised super accurate AI-based trading solution is not provided and investors have zero insight into what is going on with their funds. Usually, this sort of company provides some sort of a terminal for the investors to oversee the trading process and how their capital is allocated. That, however, is not allowed on this portal. 

Irregularities With Investment Instruments

This investment fraud advertises a few different methods through which you can invest. There’s a large discrepancy, however, as to which ones are actually supported.

The website claims to offer investment in Forex, Cryptocurrency and Binary options, but the Facebook page cites other economic areas, particularly real estate.

Should You Buy This Investment Plan?

There’s several types of investment options presented on the site, depending on how much money potential victims are willing to cough up. 

Each of the bundles promise unrealistically high returns with not a single proof of how the profit is actually made. To spice up the deal, they’ve even declared to have all the payouts handled automatically. Can’t get any less realistic than that.

Take a look at the Astro Invest minimum deposit requirements:

• BEGINNER – $500 – 5% ROI
• PRO – $2,000 – 10% ROI
• EXPERT – $10,000 – 15% ROI
• MASTER – $50,000 – 20% ROI

Fake Automatic Payouts

The entirety of the monetary transactions on this platform are conducted via cryptocurrencies. As soon as you sign up, you will be urged to start depositing and you’ll be spammed with wallet addresses where you’re expected to send funds to. 

As risky as crypto transfers are, the additional obstacle is the fact that the legal papers are missing, especially the Astro Invest withdrawal policy. Due to that and all the reasons mentioned above, there’s no rational explanation as to why you’d trust their words about the free, automatic payouts.

Rude Support Crew

Genuinely surprised with the quick response, we quickly managed to establish contact with the live chat agents. The communication was made difficult however, due to the agents being pushy and borderline unpleasant. Clients that haven’t created an Astro Invest login can only use the whatsapp contact and the email for correspondence.

Lost Money On a Scam? Contact Our Experts!

Protecting yourself from various financial swindlers is not always easy. We offer a solution for those that have already lost money to various scams, including fake investment firms.

Contact our expert team via the live chat, and start working on recovering your funds. Don’t delay – we are available 24/7, and our first consultation is free of charge.

FAQ Section

What is Astro Invest?

It is a fraudulent organization posing as an investment firm to more easily steal from their victims.

Is Astro Invest Legit?

No, the company is completely illicit. They are not registered or licensed to provide any of their services.

How to Get Money Back From a Scam Broker?

Gather all the information you can, and contact our specialists. With our help, you can get your lost money reimbursed.

MarketsOcta is an online scheme trying to pass as a clone firm of a CySEC-regulated brokerage. While researching, we connected this brand to at least two more fraudulent firms. Read our review and find out all the information.

What About MarketsOcta Regulation?

MarketsOcta claims to have a CySEC license number 372/18. And upon checking, we saw a resemblance. The license belongs to Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd, a legitimate firm with the domain octafx.eu and octamarkets.eu. Since MarketsOcta is a new domain registered in 2022, we assume every similarity is intentional to mislead customers.

Also, the Terms and Conditions imply that the brand is owned by Markets Octa Ltd, based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. However, upon checking the FSA, we figured that even the business name was false and not registered.

Why Is It Important For A Broker To Be Licensed?

Brokers covered by the Tier1 license, such as CySEC, ensure a high level of funds safety. Also, the ICF compensation fund covers the money, and the broker will be penalized if there’s an incident.

MarketsOcta is not actually regulated, so there’s no safety of funds.

Also, we want to invite you to read our recently updated reviews of fraudulent brokers AllCryptoMarkets, Battle Trade and Capartners LTD. Be careful with these brokers.

So Is MarketsOcta a Decent Broker or a Scam?

MarketsOcta is a fraudulent trading firm. The company claims to be regulated by CySEC, but it ended up on its blacklist. In fact, it’s an offshore scheme operating from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

MarketsOcta Warning From Financial Regulator CySEC

Once clients filed a complaint with CySEC about the MarketsOcta scam, the regulatory body figured that the brokerage was misusing their name and license. Thus, there’s an official warning against marketsocta.com as a fraudulent domain.

Traders Review of MarketsOcta

MarketsOcta is a fraudulent trading firm. Anyone claiming differently is just a broker’s employee paid to write something good. Likewise, the website consumer index is one, and the firm is marked as untrustworthy.

And for good reason. Thus, starting from a false license number to a fake company owner, there’s nothing good you can get from investing with the broker MarketsOcta.

What Platforms Does MarketsOcta Offer? – Available Trade Software

MarketsOcta offers a WebTrader and MT4. 

Usually, we would praise the firm for providing MetaTrader, but there is a significant issue here. The owner of MarketsOcta broker is Levictus Ltd.

Levictus Ltd is a fraudulent company from the Marshall Islands, related to at least two other scheme firms – SwissFXM and Olimpuscoin, both allegedly based in the Netherlands but without any financial regulations. Thus, your funds are not safe as they’re exposed to a third party.

As a matter of fact, WebTrader itself is less secure and less reliable investment software.

All About MarketsOcta Accounts

You can choose among 5 MarketsOcta account types:

• Micro – 2,000 EUR
• Standard – 10,000 EUR
• Pro – 50,000 EUR
• Premium – 100,000 EUR
• VIP – 200,000 EUR

The initial deposit is 250 EUR and you get no perks. Also, If you upgrade to any of these account types, you will have access to lower commissions, more trading instruments, and different leverage.

MarketsOcta Broker – Countries Of Service

According to our research, broker mainly targets European residents from:

• Greece
• Italy
• Albania
• Spain
• Germany

MarketsOcta Range of Trading Instruments & Markets

MarketsOcta provides investors with access to all 5 major markets, including:

• Currency pairs – EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY
• Commodities – natural gas, crude oil, silver
• Indices – NASDAQ, FTSE100, DAX30
• Shares – Amazon, Google, Apple
• Cryptocurrencies – BTC, ETH, XRP

In the meantime, avoid scammers like WealthsailingForex, FavorTrades and Uni-Co. If possible, tell us about your scam experience.

Bonuses And Promotions – As A Method Of Fraud

The company offers a 50% welcome bonus, 3 EUR cash back per lot, and refer a friend bonus. All of these are later used to prevent you from withdrawals. While the employees will claim it’s because the firm is generous and wants to participate in the market with you, the truth lies in the malicious Bonus Policy.

According to it, you cannot request a withdrawal before reaching the minimum trading volume. In addition the minimum volume is equal to $4 million per every $100 you have received.

MarketsCore Minimum Deposit

The broker requests a typical initial deposit of 250 EUR. However, this deposit gives no perks. As you can see, the minimum account starts at 2,000 EUR, so you will quickly be prompted to upgrade or be left on your own. That is to say, there’s no reason to accept these terms. With regulated brokers, you will get education and support regardless of the initial deposit.

MarketsOcta Trading Conditions

The main issue is the lack of trading conditions. For instance, there’s nothing about the spread, nor can we figure it out without a Demo account.

High Leverage

On the other hand, leverage is listed and incredibly high. While CySEC-regulated firms can offer up to 1:30 for the Forex market, MarketsOcta enables leverage of up to 1:1000. And that’s another proof that this broker is illicit.

MarketsOcta Deposit, Withdrawal Methods, and Fees

The company accepts the following payment methods:

• Wire transfer
• Credit/debit card
• E-wallet
• Crypto

Also, e-wallets are not specified and we got no information upon choosing this payment method. However, the safest option is your credit card, as you’re entitled to a chargeback within 540 days.

Scammed by MarketsOcta Broker? – Let Us Hear Your Story

If you are scammed by MarketsOcta broker, let us know. Book a free consultation with our chargeback specialists, and let’s evaluate your case.

But What Is A Chargeback?

This is a way for your bank to recover stolen funds directly from the merchant. Contact us via online chat for more details about this investment firm and your refund options.

What Is MarketsOcta?

MarketsOcta is an unregulated Forex and CFD trading provider.

Is MarketsOcta a Scam Broker?

Absolutely, the broker is a scam. Cyprus regulator CySec blacklisted MarketsOcta broker.

Is MarketsOcta Available in the United States or the UK?

The company operates in the UK but not in the US.

Does MarketsOcta Offer a Demo Account?

No, MarketsOcta doesn’t offer a Demo account.

Every once in a while, a less scrupulous web developer will create a template for a fraudulent platform. This will then serve as a base building block for a multitude of online hoaxes, until it is superseded by the next one.

Our YLCHAT review will focus on a relatively new template that has been making the rounds recently. Learn how to recognize this pattern of online fraud in our article.

Not A Real Company

As we’ve already mentioned, the ylchat.com website was created using a pre-made template. It is constructed to confuse visitors and obfuscate corporate information. We’ve already encountered this type before, and we can navigate it with confidence this time. We found out that, in this case, the forex platform is purported to be the property of YLCHAT FOREX EXCHANGE LTD.

The holding company is allegedly registered in the UK and the US. However, if you check with Companies House and the SEC, you’ll never get any results. This tells us that we’re not dealing with a legitimately registered business.

Debunking the Regulation Claims

As a broker-dealer operating from the US and the UK, the YLCHAT trading service should be one of the most heavily regulated companies on the planet. Some of the regulatory conditions include segregated bank accounts and compensation schemes. Leverage is limited to 1:30 and 1:50 in the UK and US, respectively. The UK additionally imposes a negative balance protection plan.

Now, it’s easy enough to check the UK FCA and the US NFA registries and find out if a firm is a licensed entity. The swindlers also claim to have an MSB registration in the US, which is a blatant lie as well.

Seeing Through the Deceit

This fraudulent scheme is using an old and tested method to deceive their clients. It operates a boiler room with numerous agents who work mostly by phone and online chat. These agents contact each mark individually, and pitch a get-rich-quick scheme. This usually includes some high overnight profit potential, allegedly identified by finance experts. The agents act as account managers and will make this profit come to pass – all you need to do is cough up the cash.

Of course, it’s all a ruse to part you from your money. If this story sounds familiar to you, contact our legal team to start a fund recovery procedure.

Younger Than You Think

While the website says that the firm has been in business since 2000, the WhoIs register clearly shows that ylchat.com was created in 2021. Furthermore, it was listed as a site for sale until late 2024. Much of the website traffic originates in these areas:

• United Kingdom
• Australia
• Canada

The site itself doesn’t have many visitors, which is one of the reasons for the lack of any YLCHAT reviews.

Available Account Types

The broker does not offer any selection when it comes to different account types. There is a Real Fund Account (yes, that’s what they call it), and a Demo Account.

The demo is available with $500,000 in virtual currency which is more than enough for evaluation. However, in most cases, the demo with these illicit companies does not correspond with the actual market conditions. This is a strategy XTrader uses to encourage larger deposits.

Overview of the Trading Environment

The YLCHAT app is your bare-bones WebTrader. It works through charts and pricing imported from TradingView. As for the functionality, you get the basic asset selector, buy and sell orders, as well as take profit and stop loss functions.

Investors should be aware that although the app may seem sophisticated, it serves to advance the fraudsters’ agenda. Central Markets Invest and many other cons purposely edit the market data shown in the app to manipulate their marks.

Available Trading Assets

It’s difficult to talk about trading instruments when we know that the company is not licensed to participate in the securities markets. Still, the con artists do emulate trading in their WebTrader.

Here are a few examples of what is shown in the app:

• Forex – EUR/USD, AUD/NZD, GBP/CHF
• Crypto to FIAT pairs – BTC/USD, SOL/USD, DOGE/USD
• Indices – S&P 500, Nikkei, Nasdaq
• Commodities – Natural gas, Soybean, Gold

Nobody Mentions Trading Fees

The YLCHAT Forex trading scheme doesn’t disclose any information pertaining to fees or other costs. Still, we have managed to dig up some info from the trading floor. In it, we see that the maximum leverage is set at 1:500, many times over the legal limit. Spreads, which you’d expect to see with your buy and sell orders, are never stated, nor are the swaps or commissions.

The website doesn’t contain a Terms and Conditions document, so you won’t be able to find any info on fees either. This lack of transparency is another violation of the regulatory conditions.

Problems With Payouts

Funding is not openly discussed on the website, not even in the FAQs section. Again, we had to refer to the trading app to learn anything about financial channels.

The client dashboard contains separate forms for YLCHAT withdrawals and deposits. The methods that are made available are bank wire transfers and direct crypto wallet transfers.

From the dashboard, it becomes clear that the firm does not have automatic payment processing. Clients are urged to screenshot any transactions and send the picture file to the staff.

I Have Lost Money To Scammers, What Now?

After a thorough analysis, the YLCHAT legit status hardly remains an open question. It’s a horrible online scam intended to steal your hard-earned money.

The stolen money did not disappear into thin air, and it is possible to recover. You can rely on the help from our experts in this matter. We are available around the clock for your convenience, so don’t delay – book a free initial consultation as soon as possible!

FAQ Section

How Can I Recover Stolen Crypto?

Stolen cryptocurrencies can be recovered through the use of specialized blockchain analysis software. Book a consultation with our recovery experts to learn more.

This scam brokerage stalks its prey while hiding behind a defunct legal entity. Everything you see on the con’s website, from trading apps to account types and instruments, is just a charade to keep the victims complacent.

The trades may be fake, but the risk of loss is very much real. Find out more about online fraud in our Ecofix review.

Liquidated Parent Company

Finding anything about the Ecofix broker was a difficult task. For a company that claims to operate from Europe, this is almost unheard of. This is because European regulators, particularly those that operate under the strict MiFID ruleset, must be completely transparent.

A single clause in the Terms and Conditions document clearly mentions Estonian governing law as having legal precedent. The next step was to check with the Estonian authorities. The only clue about the company’s name is a logo that says Ecofix Finance Investment. There is a company named Ecofix OÜ in the E-Business register, but it is currently marked as in liquidation, pending deletion.

Never Had a Forex License

The only company that we’ve been able to remotely match with is closed down. But was Ecofix legit at any point in time? According to the Estonian main financial regulator, an agency called FI, the answer is no.

When dealing with an online broker, regulation is the most important part of the deal. MiFID-compliant nations impose client safeguards that include negative balance protection, segregated bank accounts, and compensation funds.

Dealing with an unlicensed company means you can’t benefit from any of these. Additionally, your money is more likely to end up stolen.

How Fraud Works

There’s no way an illegal company can use an advert in the newspaper to attract new clients. Instead, fake brokers like this one or Rommode operate a scam call center instead.

These boiler rooms, as they are called, employ persuasive people to basically harass people and pressure them into investing. Agents will contact their mark directly, usually by phone, and try to sell their fake expertise.

If the victim shows interest, the agents start asking for more money, usually by citing various benefits or higher profit margins. 

Younger Than They Claim

The con artists claim that their company has over 10 years on the market. A quick check with the WhoIs database, though, and we see that the ecofix.io domain was actually launched in November 2024. The hoax has been around for a short enough time that there are no Ecofix reviews yet. It seems that the cons are particularly fond of these areas:

• France
• Belgium
• United States
• Canada

If you or someone you know has been a victim of an online scam like this one or HiBT, feel free to contact our legal experts for help.

Poorly Defined Trading Accounts

Looking at the selection of account types, we see a tiered structure similar to that of other internet scams. The names aren’t exactly imaginative:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold

In this case, there is no information about different benefits or costs. One thing is common for all of them, though: They come paired with free management software. Remember—these account managers are the same boiler room agents who solicit the service. Their financial gain relies solely on the total loss of your investment!

Deceptive Software Names

One of the things that this fake broker seems really proud of is their two distinct trading applications. Golly, we thought, a schemer with actual trading software! This excitement quickly turned into another disappointment, though. The main Ecofix app is your basic WebTrader that uses the free TradingView charts to track pricing.

The other app is MT4, but wait – this is not the MetaQuotes MetaTrader 4. No, instead, the MT4 is, in this case, abbreviated to MobileTrader4, and it’s identical to WebTrader but running on a mobile device browser.

Selection of Tradable Instruments

The application might be ramshackle, but it does actually contain some trading assets. Still, the company is not licensed and does not have actual market access.

All of the most popular groups are available:

• Forex – EUR/USD, USD/JPY, CHF/GBP
• Crypto – BTC, ETH, XRP
• Stocks – BASF, LLOYDS, CISCO
• Commodities – Brent, Cocoa, Wheat
• Metals – Silver, Gold, Platinum
• Indices – S&P 500, Nikkei, Hang Seng

Trading Terms – Leverage and Fees

We can see that the swindlers are trying to appear transparent in some cases, but only for the things that concern them directly. For instance, you won’t find any trading information such as spreads, swaps or commissions.

Withdrawal fees, however, are extremely precisely defined. For instance, payouts through bank wires are billed 50€, and 25€ for bank cards or ePayments. There is an additional processing fee of 7€ and a levy of 10% for accounts that did not execute 200 trades. Additional transaction fees are also present, set at 50€.

The leverage ratio is set at 1:200, much above the EU maximum of 1:30. This ensures that nobody can make 200 trades on a single deposit.

Problems With Payouts

There is a great disparity of information when it comes to financial channels. The website advertises bank cards and bank wires, while the withdrawal policy adds ePayments as well. The client dashboard is, again, a different story. In it, users can’t even decide on the funding and payout channels, as the form that should deal with these does not contain such information.

The minimum payout amount is set at 250€ for wires and 100€ for other methods. Ecofix’s withdrawal policy may be well-defined, but swindlers will not consider it legally binding. Many people have already complained about the company denying withdrawals. If you’ve had any such experience, feel free to get in touch with our chargeback experts.

We Can Help You Get Your Money Back!

This faux broker is just another one of tens of thousands of con schemes on the internet. Everything about this company is illegal, from its alleged owner to the unlicensed service they provide.

The con-circle that runs the whole charade has taken steps to maintain anonymity, but that doesn’t mean they can get away with theft. With the help of our recovery experts, it is still possible to recover the lost funds. You may reach out via live chat or book a free consultation at any time.

FAQ

Who Owns The Ecofix Broker?

The alleged parent firm, Ecofix OÜ, is in liquidation. The con artists are likely using this company as a quasi-legal basis for their fraudulent scheme.

How To Recover Money From Scammers?

Depending on the payment methods utilized, the recovery procedure varies. Book a consultation with our experts to learn more.

One of the first details that could be noticed with this company is that security is taken seriously. Yet, they don’t reveal any legal information that would indicate ownership, addresses, or some legitimate contact options.

Fairly, that’s enough to prove the company is misleading traders from the beginning. So, what can we expect? Let’s find out in this unbiased InvestoSea review.

Legal info: Is InvestoSea Legit or Scam?

To ensure that nothing on the platform is manipulated, traders need to trade with licensed brokerages. But it appears InvestoSea is not one of those. If you check the registeres of top-tier regulators worldwide, such as FCA, BaFin, SEC, or similar, you won’t find this broker.

Even though they might provide encryption and security measures for accessing trading accounts, there are none for your money. To get access to compensation schemes and fully secured funds with top-tier banks, you’ll have to find another trading firm. If you don’t trust us, then check the warnings from trusted European authorities, such as FSMA, CNMV, CONSOB, and IOSCO.

Who are InvestoSea’s Victims?

The worst of all is that the company was registered in 2023 according to their domain age. In less than one year of existence, they were exposed. Also, website analytics show that besides traders from countries regulated by the authorities mentioned above, they also target:

•  United States
• Canada
• United Kingdom

Since the InvestoSea reviews practically don’t exist, we invite you to break the ice. Let us know your experience with this broker in the comments below. Ultimately, if there are any issues, especially regarding withdrawals, our experts can advise you about further steps. 

Also, if you are a fan of prop trading, make sure not to skip our Apex Trader Funding review.

Leverage, Commissions, Spreads, Fees and Taxes

When it comes to trading conditions, you will realize more tricks coming from this broker. Firstly, to get closer to attractive spreads, traders must deposit at least $50,000. Anything before that will be a pure rip-off with spreads. Not to mention, commissions and fees are not disclosed anywhere. But at least the company mentions swap fee discounts. Fairly, 50% of the over-expensive fee is still expensive.

Secondly, and even more importantly, there’s a high leverage of up to 1:100 offered. Yet, authorities in the US and Canada allow a maximum of 1:50, while in the UK, it’s even lower, at 1:30. So, that’s another sign that this company is ruthlessly scamming you.

Bonuses

Another trick you can expect comes together with the company’s bonus offer. Bonuses often sound good to inexperienced traders. Yet, they don’t realize if they accept them, withdrawals are impossible. 

Every time you get a $200 bonus, you must reach 50 standard lots in trading volume. Before that, withdrawals are not possible. Keep in mind that a standard lot is $100k.

InvestoSea Trading Features

Even though the revolutionary InvestoSea app is advertised, there are literally zero advanced features available. To be fair, the only notable option might be the VPS, which is also available only if you deposit $50k. 

To start recognizing more and more trading traps, check also our AiFX Markets review.

Trading Platforms Available

Once traders complete the InvestoSea login procedure, they should be prepared for disappointment. Instead of trusted third-party platform options, the company offers primarily web-trader. 

Also, you can download the app for desktop use, but only from their suspicious website. Keep in mind that those files might include malware for stealing personal information, such as banking details.

Available Trading Assets

Tradeable assets with this broker won’t make a big difference to traders. After all, it’s all fictive. However, opening an InvestoSea account will give you access to:

• Forex – USD/NZD, EUR/ZAR
• Indices – NASDAQ, DowJones
• Commodities – gold, silver
• Shares – Netflix, BMW
• Cryptos – ETH, XRM

Account Types

With four account types offered on the InvestoSea platform and progressively higher deposits required, you can quickly realize what to expect. That’s a lot of pressure to upgrade your accounts rapidly. 

Anyway, the options are: 

• Bronze – $250
• Silver – $2.500
• Gold – $10.000
• Platinum – $50.000

Mobile Trading App

Another suspicious detail with InvestoSea Forex company is its mobile app. Instead of downloading options from the App Store or Play Store, you must get them from the company’s website. Yet, the same as with desktop apps, the files might be corrupted. So, watch out what you’re doing.

Demo Account

One of the easiest ways to expose a company’s flaws is through a demo account. But, of course, demo accounts are not on the table when a company wants to hide those flaws. That’s the case with this broker as well.

Education

When it comes to proper trading education, traders shouldn’t be looking for it with unregulated brokers. 

However, this company doesn’t even offer any. But be sure their fake dedicated account managers will try to teach you how to trade properly.

InvestoSea Withdrawal

The company smartly mentions that InvestoSea withdrawal doesn’t include any fees if done by card. However, for all other methods, they don’t mention anything. Therefore, watch out for a non-existent fees trap.

Also, the company mentions they process withdrawals within the first 30 days of opening the account. After that, it all becomes a mystery. If you still think you will get any withdrawals from this broker, read this review again.

Customer Support

Another reason to avoid the InvestoSea scam broker can be found on their contact page. There is only an email address and web-contact form available, without operating hours disclosed. Such support surely doesn’t represent reliability.

Key Information To Consider About InvestoSea

Whatever you get in the offer from this brokerage, know it’s all fake. Primarily because they are not regulated and can manipulate traders as much as they like. Also, there’s a highly suspicious trading platform, hidden fees, and high leverage. Not to mention zero funds protection features.

Luckily, refund options are available to combat bogus scammers. Send us a message right away to book a free consultation with our chargeback team today!

FAQ Section

What is InvestoSea?

InvestoSea is an FX and CFD trading company operating since 2023 from an unknown location.

Is InvestoSea Legit?

Definitely not. Without regulations and with multiple warnings, starting from FSMA, CNMV, and CONSOB, it’s clear what this company has been doing.

Who Owns InvestoSea Broker?

InvestoSea ownership is anonymous. With this in mind, we suggest you contact our refund specialists to start the recovery process on time.

Countless branches, a range of services, and several warnings, as well. This firm will, at the same time, impress and confuse you. What we certainly don’t recommend is doing any kind of business with them. 

Read more about how this firm got into regulatory scrutiny and what you can do to recover stolen assets.

 People Operating the Site

It may seem like the Belfrics blockchain services provider is transparent about their history and ownership. However, don’t be deceived. While several important people like the CEO and other founders are mentioned, there are no links to their social networks. 

We simply couldn’t run these people through any database and were forced to learn about them from other sources. Praveen Kumar is introduced as the company’s leader, but this person is extremely little known online besides for his X account that’s been inactive for more than 2 years. We also found Maya Kumar on Crunchbase as the company’s co-founder, but nothing about this individual is known.

Warnings From Authorities

Allegedly incorporated in Malaysia in 2014, you’d expect the Belfrics Malaysia branch to be fully licensed and legit. However, that is not the case. 

Not only that this platform hasn’t obtained a license, but the leading regulatory body in that country has also blacklisted them. MAS has included this business on its list of unapproved digital asset service providers.

LFSA (Labuan) has restricted Belfrics International Limited’s activities as a money broker because it is not compliant with regulatory standards and/or lacks minimum capital.

Business Targets

The business physically operates out of regulatory gray zones like India, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Kenya, but mostly targets investors from the following nations:

• Canada
• Netherlands
• United Kingdom
• Australia

Although the company claims to have existed since 2014, we see that its main domain, belfricsgroup.com, has only been operational since 2019. If you find yourself unable to cash in your profits on this crypto portal, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our recovery experts.

Revealing Fraudulent Tactics

The fraudulent group that operates the Belfrics scam is divided into several branches, each having control over a separate domain. The predominant strategy of Southeast Asian con schemes is so-called Pig Butchering. It is a romance con, where a boiler room agent pretends to have romantic interest in the target.

Agents lurk on dating sites like Badoo or Tinder and look for victims. If someone shows interest, the agents will start pitching a fake forex platform as a means to “ensure the financial future of the relationship.”

To make the platform seem popular, tricksters also run various social profiles. These include company accounts on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn, as well as those of numerous scam promoters.

Broken Platform Links

A proprietary trading app, which users are directed to download in order to invest and trade, is not currently available. Both links for the Android and iOS versions of the software are inactive, so clicking them leads to nowhere.

If you want to explore the web app, you will have to join the portal first. Alas, clicking that link leads to belfrics.io. This page is entirely in Indonesian and advertises betting and online lottery!

Overview of Trading Fees

To further the idea of legitimacy, the structure of Belfrics’ fees is outlined in a somewhat transparent fashion. Maker and Taker fees are 0.5% and 1% respectively. Deposits do not incur any fee but the withdrawals incur a fee of $5, albeit in the countervalue of the withdrawn cryptocurrency.

Unfortunately, without a demo account or access to an actual trading platform, it was impossible to verify any of these claims. Hidden or deceptive fee structures are a staple of other hoax platforms like Winton Investment.

Payouts Trigger Identity Theft

As a cryptocurrency exchange or an entity that mimics one, Belfrics’ withdrawal process is available through crypto transfers. Deposits and withdrawals are handled at intervals, with cutoff times listed on the site.

One of the things that this scheme has in common with other similar sites like Ordinals Wallet is the idea of verification levels. It is an intrusive process masked as a regular KYC procedure.

The platform imposes payment and payout limits on its clients. To withdraw money, clients must upload ever more intrusive information about their personal lives. This ultimately allows cybercriminals to steal the identities of high-paying clients more effectively.

Unreachable Customer Support

Client support isn’t what you’d call easily accessible. Although each of the company branches has its own help desk, all email messages end up in the same inbox.

This is more than strange, considering that the company claims to have numerous clients who speak different languages. In addition to this, there is an online form option that doesn’t function as a prompt support option.

The Belfrics reviews, although few in number, complain about the company stonewalling their clients. According to them, nobody answers the phone either, so you’re left on your own.

Got Defrauded? We Can Help With Recovery!

As experienced scam investigators, our article has answered the question of Belfrics’ legit status pretty thoroughly. The platform is a global danger, targeting rookie investors from around the world. Every website this fraudulent group operates serves only to steal from their clients.

Do not trust anything these cybercriminals tell you, as the company will never let you withdraw your funds. To get the stolen money back, you need to start a recovery procedure. Our experts can help, with whom you can book a free consultation at any time.

FAQ

Where Does Belfrics Have Branch Offices?

This fraudulent entity claims to operate branches in Malaysia, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Singapore, and UAE. None of it is true, however, as the firm is not a legally registered entity.

Can I Recover Cryptos From a Scammer?

Crypto assets can be recovered, although at great difficulty. To get help in this matter, book a consultation with our expert team.

Smart Trade Group is an online trading brokerage from an offshore country established earlier this year. Like many others, it doesn’t have financial regulation, which makes it a potential fraud.

Let’s dive into the Smart Trade Group review and check everything about the company.

Smart Trade Group Regulations and Security

As mentioned, the Smart Trade Group broker has been established offshore in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The company belongs to Lencher ExPro LLC and claims to have an FSA regulation. However, FSA clearly listed that they do not provide regulations, only registration. For legally providing financial services, a company should opt for the regulation in the country of service. After careful examination of FCA, ASIC, BaFin, and a couple of other Tier1 regulators, we determined that this brokerage company is not regulated.

Beware of this since you have no guarantees for your money!

Fund Withdrawal Issues With Smart Trade Group

According to Smart Trade Group reviews on Trustpilot and other reputable websites, this broker doesn’t allow clients to withdraw their funds. Once you want to invest, you will be more than welcome to start with the minimum deposit of $250, and broker’s employees will assist you via phone, chat, email, anything you want. However, if you wish for a payout and want your profit to be in your bank, this is where the issue occurs. Suddenly, employees will become unavailable, your account manager will be too busy, and your withdrawal request will never be processed.

If you experience something similar, please let us know.

Traders About Smart Trade Group Scam

Besides withdrawals, clients are experiencing issues during their trading process as well. The broker is sending links to clients to download AnyDesk, access to their bank accounts, wallets, PayPal, and any place where you might hold your funds. Of course, none of them are pleased with such treatment.

Stay away from the Smart Trade Group scam and avoid similar brokers such as CFreserve, Global GT and AceTradeOptions.

How To Know If You Have Been Scammed Online?

If you cannot withdraw your funds, your account access is suspended, or your broker wants to access your device via AnyDesk or a similar app, you’re being scammed. Also, if you notice that you get no answer to your questions, that your account manager is not calling as often, or nobody is responding to you, it could be a sign of a scam. Nowadays, scammers are technically advanced, but you can still prevent them from accessing your computer and your trading account.

If you notice any irregularities, let us know immediately.

Scammed by Smart Trade Group?

If you were scammed by Smart Trade Group or a similar broker, let us know. Our support department will book a free consultation with your chargeback specialist. 

But What Is A Chargeback?

A chargeback is a way for your bank to reverse the funds from the merchant if you can prove that you have been scammed. Let us know what happens and our experts will find a tailor-made solution for you. Get your money back before it’s too late!

What is a Smart Trade Group?

According to our research, this is an online trading brokerage without financial regulation.

Is Smart Trade Group a scam broker?

Yes, this is an online trading brokerage reportedly conducting a scam and not allowing withdrawals.

Is Smart Trade Group regulated?

No, this is not regulated brokerage firm and provides financial services illegally. You will not be able to withdraw funds!

AreaTrading is an entirely anonymous online trading brokerage. The firm hasn’t listed the owner, and the Terms and Conditions have no relevant information about legal jurisdiction. The platform itself is a basic WebTrader, pretty much unimpressive. In fact, there’s nothing good about this investment firm.

Read our AreaTrading review and find out how the broker ended up banned in Russia.

What About AreaTrading Regulation?

AreaTrading has never mentioned a company owner or the governing law. We’re given a UK phone number for support and an email address. Thus, we’ve checked the FCA and several other Tier1 registers, looking for the broker’s regulation.

Regulated firms have no problems listing the license number on the main page of the website, along with the owner and other relevant details. If you notice a broker like AreaTrading, without any data, it usually means one thing – the firm is unlicensed and either offshore or operates as an Easter European boiler room.

In similarly to the foregoing, we highly recommend you to avoid fake brokers Crypto Lloyds, 24Trades, and FiboTraders.

Why Is It Important For A Broker To Be Licensed?

Suppose you’re dealing with financial institutions – banks, insurance companies, pension funds. You want to be sure that your funds are safe and that the institution won’t just disappear. 

The same stands for investment firms. There are strict rules to comply with if someone wants to run a legitimate brokerage. Since AreaTrading has no license, it can quickly vanish and steal all of your money. And there will be no authority that could help you recover it.

AreaTrading Warnings From Financial Regulators

After it had been reported numerous times, AreaTrading was finally banned by the Russian Central Bank. This authority body added two of AreaTrading domains to the list of fraudulent websites and warned citizens not to deal with a scheme.

Traders Reviews About AreaTrading

AreaTrading reviews are quite positive. However, you’ll notice a downtrend. It’s not uncommon for fraudsters to write their own reviews at the start. As time goes by, real customers start posting, and the truth comes out. That’s precisely what happened to AreaTrading.

Here’s an example of the latest reviews.

“they are really scammers, do not fall into this trap they will never return your money” –

Trustpilot Customer

Is AreaTrading a Legitimate Broker Or A Fraud?

AreaTrading is a scam investment company. It’s not regulated, and there is no information about the owner. The broker provides bonuses strictly defying regulatory rules.

What Platforms Does AreaTrading Offer? – Available Trade Software   

AreaTrading advertises its WebTrader as “an intuitive, user-friendly interface trading platform.” The truth is that it’s the same software we’ve seen hundreds of times with many other bogus brokers. 

The platform itself has no special features such as EAs or social trading and has fewer charts and indicators than MT4 or MT5, for example.

AnyDesk and TeamViewer – Access To Your Bank Account

We’ve noticed that the company has links to download AnyDesk and TeamViewer, and account managers usually use it as an excuse to show you the platform. In fact, they’re all about checking how much money you have in your online banking and transferring it to themselves without approval. 

All About AreaTrading Accounts

There are 3 the broker account types:

• Beginner – $250
• Intermediate – $2,500
• Advanced – $25,000

Besides the initial deposit, no other perks were listed, so we have nothing to say here.

AreaTrading Broker – Countries Of Service

The AreaTrading scheme is mainly active in:

• UK
• Canada
• Australia
• Ireland
• Sweden
• Singapore

AreaTrading Range of Trading Instruments & Markets

The firm clients can access 5 major markets, including:

• Forex
• Commodities
• Indices
• Shares
• Cryptocurrencies

The most significant accent is on crypto, as the firm presents itself as an exchange and advises clients to transfer all their crypto to AreaTrading wallet, allegedly for bigger commissions. This is another tactic to lure you into the scheme and steal your funds.

Definitely avoid VitaCapitals, Citadelex, and IndexEvolve trading scams as well! Additionally, always research the history of online trading organizations before investing!

AreaTrading Minimum Deposit

The company asks for a pretty standard minimum deposit of $250. Yet, there’s no reason to risk as much with an unregulated scheme. Regulated firms have Micro accounts starting with as low as $10. You can test the system and not worry if the company will vanish with your money.

Scam Bonus Policy – As A Way To Keep Your Money

The broker offers bonuses up to 75%. However, they won’t bother to tell you to read the Deposit and Withdrawal Policy and learn the conditions for such incentives. 

If you accept any AreaTrading bonuses, you need to roll over 25 times the bonus plus the deposit amount before being eligible for withdrawal. And that’s just a way for the broker to keep your funds and not allow you to submit a payout request.

AreaTrading Unfavorable Trading Conditions

Hiding trading conditions is worse than having bad ones. And that’s precisely what the broker does.

Leverage and Spread

There’s absolutely no information about leverage and spread, so the risks of your investment, as well as the costs, are well hidden. And you surely don’t want your funds to be exposed to these conditions.

AreaTrading Deposit, Withdrawal Methods, and Fees

The broker accepts deposits and withdrawals via debit/credit card and wire transfers.

The minimum withdrawal amount is $250 for wires and $100 for card withdrawals. Besides, there are fees of 50 units for bank transfers and 25 units for credit card withdrawals.

Scammed by AreaTrading Broker? – Let Us Hear Your Story

If you or someone close to you has been scammed by an AreaTrading broker, let us know. Our chargeback specialists are here to hear your story and assist.

But What Is A Chargeback?

This is one of the options you have to recover your funds from the merchant. Contact us via online chat to book a free consultation, and let’s get your money back before it’s too late.

What Is AreaTrading?

AreaTrading is an online Forex and CFD trading provider without a license.

Is AreaTrading a Scam Broker?

The broker has been blacklisted by the Russian Central Bank for scam activities.

Is AreaTrading Available in the United States or the UK?

The trading compnay provides unregulated trading services in both countries.

Does AreaTrading Offer a Demo Account?

AreaTrading doesn’t offer a Demo account, only Live types.

Since there is no information about the ownership, we can’t define for sure where they operate from. Allegedly they are from the UK but we don’t see an FCA license on their website. Everything looks shady.

In addition, we recommend reading our reviews about brokers EGMarkets, StellarFX and EvoCapitals.

Above all, you can only contact the company through e-mail. Which is very disappointing if you are looking to invest your money somewhere.

That’s why regulations are very important in the trading business.

Is UberChains a Scam Brokerage Company Without a License?

Certainly, when the company doesn’t have a license, the potential for a scam rises percentwise. With UberChains broker that number is maxed out. Of course, their license is missing.

This is a freshly designed website, without any integrity and its goal is to lure clients into fake investments. Be careful when handing money over to strangers.

Summary: If you were looking for safety and integrity you won’t find it with UberChains. They don’t even provide ownership or licensing information. If they are hiding themselves, they are hiding many other things.

Arguments For Trading With a Licensed Broker

Licensed brokers have everything in black and white. There is no grey zone and they even give you protection. From negative balance protection, limits on leverages, funds recovery in case of bankruptcy and many more.

That’s why we always suggest you look for regulators like FCA, BaFin or ASIC. Those are Tier 1 types and the most trusted ones.

Looking for UberChains trading in their register didn’t give us any results.

Analysis of Customer Reviews Related to UberChains

Analyzing UberChains reviews didn’t surprise us. There are a lot of people complaining about their services. More than 30% of comments, out of 16 on Trustpilot were rated 1-star.  

On some other forums as well, we found negative reviews about this broker. Stay safe and don’t invest money here!

They are scamming traders from Norway, Belgium, France, Australia and Sweden.

UberChains Software – Platform Tools

Even if you were not convinced with this UberChains review so far why not trade with them, you will be now. They only offer a web-based trading platform with an insane number of financial instruments. But there is a catch.

If you want to get access to the platform and check the availability of trading tools and features, you need to make a deposit first.

Besides that, the functionality of the platform is questionable for mobile devices. Since the company doesn’t have an app, you will need to get access to the platform through the browser.

At this stage, we would only suggest you go with a licensed company and try a demo or micro account first.

What Financial Instruments Does UberChains Include?

We managed to get information about the assets that they are offering. It’s quite impressive for scamming company. You can trade on 5 different instrument classes:

• Forex                      USD/JPY, AUD/NZD, USD/MXN
• Commodities           gold, natural gas, platinum
• Indices                    DowJones, FTSE100, Nikkei 225
• Stocks                     AMD, Facebook, Alphabet
• Cryptocurrencies    Dogecoin, BTC, ETH

On the other hand, the reliability of data about the assets is questionable since the company doesn’t have regulations.

Areas Of UberChains Scam

This company is obviously reaching out to rich countries. They are not wasting any of their time. UberChains broker is mostly scamming traders from:

• Belgium
• Norway
• Sweden
• France
• Australia

The company is allegedly based in the UK but not trading with UK clients. There is something strange.

UberChains List of Account Types

As we mentioned they are targeting rich countries. That’s why their minimum requirement starts from 10.000 USD.

Available account types are:

• Bronze         10.000$
• Silver           25.000$
• Gold            50.000$
• Platinum      100.000$

For a company without regulations, these amounts are quite unreasonable. This would be logical for some licensed companies since they have some integrity.

UberChains Deposit and Withdrawal Policies

One of the worst things investment companies could do is not disclose a deposit and withdrawal policy. They don’t provide any information about payment providers or ways to make a transfer.

Above all, withdrawals that are even more important are not mentioned anywhere on their website. From the UberChains reviews, we could only find complaints that they are asking for extra fees before allowing your withdrawal.

But withdrawals never happen with these scammers. Once they get the last penny from you, they have vanished.

UberChains Terms and Conditions

After all, if you even decided to put money here, you still don’t know what you are into. They don’t disclose anywhere basic conditions. Not to mention trading conditions, which are as well important.

Once you get to the platform, expect the unexpected. The higher account you open, the higher leverage you get. To lure you for bigger profits, but in the end, you get a higher risk.

The lack of clarity and important information here is crucial. Nobody wants to deal with ghosts. This is exactly the proof of why you should always be looking for regulated companies.

UberChains Broker Scammed You? – Please Tell Us Your Story

We have done our best to show you how not to fall for these scams. In the case that you already did, don’t lose faith.

If you just knew ways how to get money back, you would do it so far. That’s why you can contact our experts to get started with the first steps.

What Is the Chargeback Procedure?

Companies like these are often charging by a Debit or Credit card. If that’s the case, you can file for a chargeback. We can assist you with the procedure.

However, if the transaction was crypto, there is a program that can trace the route of that transaction.  It’s called CipherTrace and our experts can give you more details about it.

Get back to us now!

What Is UberChains?

This is a mysterious and non-licensed trading company based allegedly in the UK.

Is UberChains a Scam Broker?

Absolutely, without any doubt. They don’t provide any ownership information, registration or license number.

Is UberChains Available in the United States or the UK?

From our knowledge, they don’t trade with US or UK clients.

Does UberChains Offer a Demo Account?

The company doesn’t offer a demo account. Only live accounts with insane minimum requirements.