10 Notable Fake Forex Brokers in South Africa
While the Forex market, which is the world’s largest decentralised financial market, has come a long way in terms of gaining sound regulatory oversight, there are still scams and ploys which beginner traders should watch out for.
Fake forex broker sites are particularly worrying, as these non-existent firms set themselves up as working brokerage operations which accept trader deposits into fake trading accounts, going on to essentially misappropriate your funds.
There are several signs of potential scam Forex brokers which traders should watch out for. These include:
- The broker blocked your trading account
- The broker froze your trading account all of a sudden
- Funds have been deducted or taken from your account without your knowledge
- The broker’s website is no longer online or is blocked from your location or IP
- You call the broker via phone and no one answers your calls or keeps you on hold indefinitely
The broker requests that you activate an online sharing screen and steals money from your account
The broker repeatedly asks you to deposit more money with guaranteed unbelievably high returns
The brokers ask you to pay via Bitcoin and you never hear from them again
The broker address location is not a real office
The broker has bad reviews about them online
The broker asks you to pay a high fee to withdraw your money
The broker is shown on financial regulators websites with a trading warning.
In this article, we list 10 of the most nefarious fake Forex brokers in South Africa for which potential traders should watch out.
1. PorterFinance
According to the Australian Securities and Exchange Commission (ASIC), PorterFinance is an unregulated financial institution that operates out of Israel.
Forex Peace Army has classified PorterFinance as a scam many times and all connected companies of Greymountain Management have been found to be fraudulent by the FPA.
PorterFinance engages in illicit operations, such as trading Forex on weekends, and traders are unable to withdraw their monies even if they meet all of the conditions.
In a report by the SEC, PorterFinance was found to have secretly profited from investors’ trading losses and operated as unincorporated brand names that operated through a combination of websites, contact centers, and straw firms that held bank and credit card processing accounts.
The Porter Brokers, websites, call centers, and straw companies never registered with the SEC as a broker or dealer or were ever associated with an SEC-registered broker or dealer.
2. Bexplus
Bexplus is a company that cannot be trusted. Customers must make significant financial commitments to Bexplus in the form of $800 in minimum trading volume.
Bexplus lures traders in with competitive market indicators such as 1:100 leverage and no spreads, as well as introductory bonuses, speedy transaction options, and a straightforward website.
The SVGFSA licence awarded to Bexplus should be revoked, as it is entirely ineffective in regulating the broker’s malpractice in any case.
3. Option.fm
Option.fm has a long history of defrauding investors of their money and preventing them from withdrawing their funds.
On Forex Peace Army, traders may read about several scams that have been reported by victims, and the company has also been linked to a number of other scams.
A client member of the Option.fm website received an email from the company with the signature of an officer from Banc De Binary, and the Forex Peace Army has contacted both organizations for comment on the matter but has not received a response as of this writing.
The company has also been involved in illicit trading, resulting in large losses that have completely depleted customer account balances.
As such, the Option.fm scam is well-known as a broker who manages to concoct an enticing investment opportunity through deception. However, by the time investors discover the truth about the situation, their money is vanished.
When it comes to making a rapid investment in the markets, binary options can be extremely rewarding. Unfortunately, the market is extremely unpredictable, and there is a great deal of uncertainty in the international arena.
4. HFX
HFX has been identified as a confirmed scam by the Forex Peace Army. HFX is also designated by the Financial Services Authority as an unlicensed firm engaged in fraudulent acts, and traders are advised to exercise extreme caution when dealing with them or to avoid doing so altogether.
The HFX platform is well-known for using user funds to execute trades without first obtaining authorization from the account owner, resulting in massive losses and the entire depletion of the assets amassed in the account.
Traders may be certain that they will have difficulty withdrawing their funds, and there have been instances where the platform has falsely accused users of unethical trading and has consequently closed their accounts.
5. MaxCFD
Following a warning from the Australian regulatory authorities, the Forex Peace Army has granted MaxCFD the status of a scam.
Because the company is involved in numerous fraudulent practices, including depositing bonuses into user accounts without authorization, traders are encouraged to withdraw any money that they may have deposited in their online accounts.
This is due to the fact that the bonuses in question will be subject to terms and conditions that, in the end, will freeze or counterfeit the entire account balance.
6. NoaFX
While initial trading may commence smoothly with this broker, when it comes to withdrawing money from their NoaFX account, things go awry for traders because they can’t get their money out of the system.
You’ll have to send hundreds of emails to the company before you get any answer from them at all, and even these responses are generic.
Users have been waiting for weeks or even months, and despite numerous attempts at communication, they have received no response. Reports from past traders who have dealt with this broker show that they have sadly never recouped their losses.
This is a blatant fraud, as the Financial Markets Authority of New Zealand acknowledged when contacted about the company’s New Zealand registration. For the time being, three members of the FPA Traders Court have found this broker to be a sham and have passed a guilty verdict against it.
7. Panamoney
After initially paying out dividends, Panamoney abruptly went out of business. As a result of the website being shut down and several people having large amounts of money in their accounts that could no longer be accessed, a large number of people were affected.
False “early fund withdrawal” requests have also been documented to result in Panamoney withdrawing money from accounts and forfeiting any gains. The site has seen investors lose up to $160,000.
Panamoney has the power to close a trader’s account at any time, and it will take all of the investor’s money with them. Forex Peace Army advises against investing in HYIPs with Panamoney, which has been blacklisted.
As such, these ‘too good to be true’ high-yield investment programs have proven to be just that. These schemes have been labelled “con artists” by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) since 2010.
8. Tradorax
Traders have found Tradorax to be a scam after receiving four guilty votes in the FPA Traders Court. When a senior trader lost £60,000 on Tradorax, he couldn’t get the money back since the platform freezes accounts and blocks users from withdrawing their funds.
Similar incidents of the corporation refusing to pay out and stealing account funds can be found by traders all over the internet.
Tradorax has also been known to fraudulently charge customers’ credit cards without their knowledge. If you’re a trader, you should avoid Tradorax at all costs because it’s known for encouraging customers to deposit additional funds that end up being frozen or stolen.
9. RFXT
It appears that RFXT broker, with its great trading conditions and sound regulation, is a creditworthy organization that a trader can rely on – but this is only to lure users onto its platform and later threaten their financial stability.
Companies in Australia, Cyprus, and Lebanon have issued licenses to the company, but these licenses have no legal weight, and the corporation can operate its brokerage services without fear of legal repercussions from any of these nations.
10. UFX Market
Negative reviews and complaints have been written about UFX Market and UFX Bank by their customers.
In addition, the Forex Peace Army has blacklisted the company due to its extensive reputation for creating fake customer ratings on many websites.
As the scam goes, your specially designated trading manager persuades you to deposit more and more money into their accounts, with the requests for fund withdrawals never being executed, to name a few abnormalities in the company’s practices.
In addition, UFX recommends riskier transactions to its customers, which could result in a potential loss. An investor who wants to close their account is then coaxed into a “final deal,” which results in a significant loss and completely wipes out the investor’s assets.
As such, the UFX scam works by tempting customers with some of the better offers on the Forex market, such as a dedicated manager, which is then simply used as a vehicle to trick customers into risking almost all of their funds.