How To Check Is the Forex Broker Genuine Or Scam

What sort of trader would not like the assistance of a broker that he can rely on? Most new traders struggle to find a genuine forex broker who is transparent and provides a great forex trading experience. There are several reasons for this, but one of the major reasons is the mindset of the traders themselves. As most new traders are lured into the forex game through a fake forex broker as an easy way to make money, they have a wrong image about the forex market and hence do not know how to get long term success. Most of us know that forex is one of the most volatile markets in the world, and due to its floating nature, the prices of the currencies cannot be predicted. But the question of how to identify weather a forex broker is genuine or not depends on several factors. You can also check the various internet websites like forexstars and other to get reviews about the various forex brokers. Here are some ways how you can check the authenticity of a forex broker.


MAKE SURE THE FOREX BROKER IS WELL REGULATED
Only trade or invest with top tier licensed brokers/banks who are under tier 1 and 2 licenses for highest protection. For example, in the event of a Swiss broker/bank bankruptcy, traders and investors are given up to CHF100k capital protection.

Tier 1 licenses under: US NFA, UK FCA, SWISS FINMA, JAPAN FSA, SINGAPORE MAS.
Tier 2 licenses under: European financial regulators (except Cysec), Australia ASIC, Canada IIROC, Hong Kong SFC.


AVOID UNREGULATED BROKERS OR OFFSHORE REGULATED BROKERS THAT WITHOUT TIER 1 or 2 licenses. (Vanuatu, Seychelles, St. Vincent, Comoros, Belize, Indonesia etc)

Traders and investors can check with their corresponding regulatory agencies that check the credibility of the forex brokers. They include the National Futures Association (NFA) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the United States, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the United Kingdom, Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) and FINMA, Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFIN) in Germany and Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) in France.


Analyze the Website
We all know that in this age of peerless internet technology, coming across fake content is totally possible and one must first check the website first for a clear picture of the reviews. Some websites are meant not for the viewers but an organization’s attempt at getting more affiliates. In such cases you have to judge for yourself whether the reviews are real or are posted through automated software to get more viewers.

Check the Comment Box
Some sites are highly moderated along with the viewer’s comments that appear on the website due to the fear of spam. If a website allows regular users to comment on their posts that is a great sign of openness. But if your comment doesn’t appear immediately on the website and is stuck in the moderation phase forever, you certainly do not want to waste a lot of time reading your reviews on such a website. Several times unanswered comment boxes also indicate the website’s poor activity.

Only Promote Genuine Reviews
There are several websites that post a review and also refer the viewer to a broker’s website as several broker’s pay the sites to promote themselves. While there is nothing wrong in referrals, the viewers must also use their full discretion when it comes to judging whether the reviews are genuine or not. Try to avoid websites that also provide a referral link in a review that also redirects the user to the broker’s webpage.

Transparency Is A Must
The best way to know whether your forex broker is a fake one or not, is to look for his list of clients. While several fake brokers might tell you that it is against the law to disclose such information, the reality is the total opposite and no genuine broker would be afraid to share the list of his clients. Genuine brokers use their network of traders more as their work portfolio and you can always judge the authenticity of a broker through the profiles of the various clients and traders that he deals with. More transparency in a broker’s activities will instill more faith in the clients.

Look At How The Broker Works
While this would be like judging a book from its cover, forex brokers can be judged based on how they deal with their clients. If the forex broker holds each client’s funds in a segregated account approved by the traders, then it is quiet likely that you’re working with a genuine broker. Make sure that the broker has a valid proof of operating under a government regulation.

Check the Broker’s Portfolio
After you have checked how the broker works and the long list of his client’s, you still need to see if the clients are earning regular profits or not. Doing a short background check on how the various traders are performing with a particular broker is one of the best ways to know a broker’s authenticity. Forex is a highly fluctuating market and to ensure profits one requires having a really keen eye and a really honest forex broker.

Forex trading is a risky business and requires a lot of experience and skills, to earn profits over a long term period. Hence it is highly important that the new traders must check the genuineness of a broker to experience a non-stressful forex trading environment.

Indication of SCAMs:
1. FIX RETURN (SCAM)
2. Unregulated, offshore regulated or white label(AR) brokers (Potential SCAM)
3. Lucrative upfront commission (SCAM)
4. Without live report/statement access or Myfxbook (Potential SCAM)
5. Fix exchange rate for deposit and withdrawal (SCAM)
6. Cash payment
7. Lock up period (Potential SCAM)
8. Hold good license but fund being transfer to different country or offshore bank
9. High monthly return with illogical low drawdown
10. Capital guaranteed
11. Fixed payout schedule or cycle
12. Funny story like ROI from rebates or arbitrage.


Any FX companies matched at least 2 of above indications, it is a potential SCAM. If matched 3 of the above indications, then it is definitely a SCAM!

__________________________________________________________________________

List of Genuine Forex Brokers
1. IC Markets
2. Pepperstone
3. equiti
4. Forex.com (Gain Capital)
5. CFI
6. Axi
7. Tradeview Markets
8. Interactive Brokers
9. Finalto
10. FXPro
11. Saxobank
12. IG
13. Dukascopy
14. Oanda
15. FXCM
16. Zenfinex Taurex
17. ATCBrokers
18. Velocity Trade
19. Bloomberg
20. EightCap
21. ZeroMarkets
22. Swissquote Bank
23. TMGM
24. GTCFX
25. Plus500
26. Moomoo
27. FXOpen
28. OPOFinance
29. Exness
30. Vantage
31. LMAX
32. Admiral Markets
33. Global Prime
34. Alchemy Markets
35. Infinox
36. Tickmill
37. Trade.com
38. ADS Securities
39. Markets.com
40. YCM-Invest
41. City Index (Gain Capital)
42. Hantec Markets
43. Capital.com
44. OX Securities
45. HY Markets
46. ActivTrades
47. MAS Markets
48. Varianse
49. Advanced Markets
50. ForexVox (ValuTrades)
51. Tigerwit
52. Pacific Financial Derivatives (PFD)
53. Rakuten Securities
54. GKFX
55. MiTrade
56. ValuTrades
57. Royal RFXT
58. EBC Financial Group
59. CMS Forex
60. GOMarkets
61. BlueberryMarkets
62. FPMarkets
63. ThinkMarkets
64. FXTM
65. GMI (Global Market Index Limited)
66. Aetos
67. MaxFX
68. FBS
69. Kohle Capital Markets
70. Synergy FX
71. Halifax Investment Services
72. eToro
73. AAAFX
74. Amana Capital
75. FXTrading.com
76. DOO Prime
77. ATFX
78. GBE Broker
79. AVAFX
80. EasyForex



_____________________________________________________________________________

List of SCAM Forex Firms/Brokers !ALERT!

1. LiteForex
2. GSM Financial Group
3. RCFX
4. Maxim Trader
5. ODFX
6. GM Trader (TriumphFX)
7. WFX
8. Eu Trading Group EUTG (NewTradeFX)
9. IBS
10. FXUnited
11. YouTradeFX (EUTG)
12. UFXMarkets
13. GVF
14. TP Eagles
15. Efzinitus
16. IGOFX
17. Vortex Assets and VFX Premium (Eu Trading Group)
18. KBFX
19. JJPTR
20. SFX Markets
21. FXMAC
22. Nordhill Capital
23. Otex World
24. ikoFX
25. FXcoliseum
26. FXCitizen
27. Capital Foster Advisor
28. IIB International Broker
29. PTFX
30. Falconaire
31. FIN888 (SamTradeFX)
32. Xtrade
33. iiinvestments
34. Exia International Group
35. MYS CAPITAL (SFX Markets)
36. Zurich Prime
37. VenusFX
38. WMS Capital
39. MXC Forex
40. ECM
41. Sentratama Investor Future
42. Midasama (Pruton Capital)
43. FG GLOBAL ENRICH (White Label of Fullerton Markets)
44. FCMIS
45. ODIN Management (odincapital.com)
46. BlueMax Capital
47. Questra
48. Atlantic Global Asset Management
49. FXPrimus
50. OctaFX
51. AccentForex
52. Financial.org
53. OTM Capital
54. MG Falconer (TP Eagle)
55. Starexfx
56. FintechFX (MIA)
57. SuperForex
58. Algotechs
59. Bealgo
60. FiFx Global
61. UTS (Sentratama)
62. Blue Trading
63. Midtou Financials
64. OTM Capital (Midtou)
65. MX Capital (Scrptx Portfolio)
66. EssenceFX
67. Tradesto
68. GCG Asia
69. Gold Tinkle - Genesis Business Group
70. WikiFX (fxeye.com)
71. TradeFred - BrightFX Capital Limited (MIA)
72. Smart Contract Group
73. OlympusFX
74. AIP
75. Ocean Bliss Investments (oceanicblissfx)
76. IronFX
77. Veonco Group
78. ECM Trader (ECM Group)
79. CK Ltd.
80. Daweda (Midasama)
81. HiiFX
82. HKdahui
83. Trilasia.com
84. Stone Lion Financial
85. Throne Legacy Capital 腾乐
86. Fullerton Markets
87. NARTT
88. Oribix
89. Awe SwissFX
90. CTIN (MDCFOREX)
91. MAXWISE Union (Sentratama)
92. TrealFX
93. 360coinpath
94. Jadesan Capital Investments (JCI)
95. Orion Star Capital
96. Maxi Services
97. Mahamudra (MMDFX)
98. Forex Chief
99. ATA Markets
100. Juze Investment
101. CP Markets (CooperMarkets.com)
102. FDX Capital (fdxcap.com)
103. Vextrader
104. Arotrade
105. MFM Group (MFM Securities) Union Technology Platform
106. Starling Gold Asset Management HK
107. SamTradeFX
108. Victory Trade International (VTFX)
109. Zentrade (NET89)
110. MaxGlobalFX (NET89)
111. Global Premier (NET89)
112. iAL Group
113. EOB Corporation/EOB Infinity/EOB Miles (TriumphFX)
114. GFS Asia (Janis Urste)
115. Grex Capital
116. Trivial Capital (Grex)
117. Raffles Market FX
118. GST HUB
119. Sky Markets
120. Unison Corporation
121. Jireh Trillions Berjangka
122. Quantic Venture
123. DRCFX
124. AiProFX (YunikonFX)
125. PrimaFX / Prima International
126. FVP Trade
127. Panthera Trade & Pansaka (AutoTrade Gold)
128. AMG Capital (TriumphFX)
129. Herzen (AIFC Technology)
130. Goldenaire (TriumphFX)
131. ASJ Forex Global
132. MogaFX
133. FX Winning
134. VLADO
135. OPIXTECH (RAYNAR Prime)
136. Lirunex
137. UEZ Markets
138. ULTIMATE PINNACLE (Rainmaker Quantum)
139. XAU Merlion (DymonFX)
140. Dollars Markets
141. UW Global (Sentratama - Janis Urste)
142. Tradehall (ValueEnvision)
143. Ridder Trader
144. DMT (Tradehall)
145. CCT (TriumphFX)
146. Wikifx
147. European Credit Investment Bank Ltd (Labuan)
148. Global Trade Finance (BOStrading)




List of Genuine CRYPTOS
1. Bitcoin
2. Bitcoin Cash
3. Ripple
4. Ethereum
5. Litecoin
6. Dash
7. Neo
8. EOS
9. Qtum
10. Ontology
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.


List of Suspicious CRYPTO Companies (SCAM!)

1. OneCoin
2. WoToken
3. S Block
4. Plus Token
5. Sixmos
6. Emas Fintech
7. Crypto Grand Trade FX
8.
9.
10.[/color]

In case you have invested or trading with any of the scam brokers above, try your very best to withdraw your money back ASAP. If you can't take out your money, file a report or complaint to your local regulator. In most cases, it does not help as scam brokers do not hold any licenses and end up regulators unable to trace them.

Feel free to share your experiences with any other brokers and allow us to add on to above lists.

Based on all the information we provided, i hope it helps new FX investors or traders to differentiate and identify real/scam FX.

We welcome everyone who required due diligence or advise to check the genuineness of a FX brokers. After all, it's FOC.

Moderator, please do not move this topic to join with general Forex spread as it will served as a WARNING to those new to Forex. Thank you.


LEARN THE SIMILARITY OF FX SCAMS FROM MYFXBOOK.

Priority check: Check the broker on Myfxbook top left corner. If you find the unknown broker did not hold top tier 1 or 2 licenses (UK, Swiss, US, Australia, Canada, SG, Japan), AVOID IT. Scammers will not spend millions dollar to buy a good license for the purpose of scam. All FX SCAMS operate and collect funds by using offshore firms.

Secondary check: Check the Myfxbook performance on the left which stated Monthly and Drawdown. If you find illogical high returns and low drawdown, you sense something wrong. God does not exist in the real trading world. Every trader experienced drawdown.

Third check: All the charts of FX SCAMS have pretty solid growth curve, without zip zap nor drawdown period. They cant afford to have any drawdown as this will kill the investors and marketers confident.

[After this post, SCAMMERS may start to raise their drawdown. Yet they still can't get any top-tier license.]

We have picked 5 FX SCAMS as examples for everyone to learn the skill. Please check out the Myfxbook screenshot as below.

1. MIA (James Harisson) - Game over, all investors suffered total loss.
2. TriumphFX (EOB) - Scammed several times via Hong Kong, New Zealand firms. Remain very active. Mislead by Cysec license, but in fact they are scamming with offshore.
3. SamTradeFX (FIN888) - Very active. Offshore unregulated. Use white label license to mislead investors.
4. VexTrader - Very active. Offshore unregulated. Mislead by using Canada FINTRAC and Dubai DED, both not FX license, Canada Financial license is under IIROC and Dubai is DFSA.
5. Grex Capital - Very active. Using Labuan license to mislead, it's a tier 3 license without strict requirement.

DONT LET THE FX SCAMMERS CHEAT YOUR HARD EARN MONEY DURING THIS MCO!











RULES OF THE THREAD
1. NO MERCY FOR ANYONE WHO DEFENDING FX SCAMS.
2. Never forgot rules number 1.
3: Remember rules number 1.

This post has been edited by DrFX: Jan 23 2025, 04:31 AM

how am I sure that the names on that 2 lists you had posted are genuine (as separately listed as genuine/scam) and up to date? when was the last time they are updated?
who, where, how they are verified and confirmed true?
Did you get it from statutory bodies?
can provide the links?

Even Bank Negara has this disclaimer on their list for listing something like this....
"Based on information received by BNM, below is the list of known companies and websites which are not authorised nor approved under the relevant laws and regulations administered by BNM:"
as sample of listing from BNM.....
http://www.bnm.gov.my/documents/2015/20151013_FCA_EN.pdf

BNM has this on its link too....
"This list has been compiled based on information, complaints and queries received by BNM regarding the activities of the persons and entities concerned. This list is not exhaustive and the Bank will update the list periodically from time to time. The list is intended to serve as a guide to the public.
The public is advised not to make any deposit or investment with individuals and entities that are not regulated under the relevant laws and should conduct the necessary checks with the relevant authorities if there are doubts regarding any schemes offered. The public is also advised to refer to the Investor Alert and information on enforcement actions published by the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC) which is accessible via the following links:
• SC's Investor Alerts
• SC's Enforcement Actions
http://www.bnm.gov.my/index.php?ch=en_fina...eralert&lang=en

ELSE, this thread is ......

This post has been edited by yklooi: Nov 14 2015, 08:10 AM

Come to think about it....
what is GENUINE may not be LEGAL in Malaysia....

Illegal Foreign Exchange Trading Scheme refers to the buying or selling of foreign currency by an individual or company in Malaysia with any person who is not a licensed onshore bank or any person who has not obtained the approval of Bank Negara Malaysia under the Financial Services Act 2013 or Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.

How it's done?
........
http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/fraudalert/0203_forex.htm

How to Protect Yourself?
• Deal only with licensed onshore banks;
• Check with the relevant authorities before remitting/ investing/ depositing;
• Be extra careful with investments over the internet;
• Be sceptical of any investment opportunity that is not in writing; and
• In case an investment has been made, keep copies of all the investment and communications

Licensed onshore banks to conduct foreign currency trading in Malaysia are as follows:
•Commercial banks
•Islamic banks
•Investment banks
•International Islamic banks

http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/fraudalert/0203_forex.htm

This post has been edited by yklooi: Nov 14 2015, 08:44 AM

How about exness ?

What about this?
What about that?
How about this?
How about that?
just........lor.


Attached thumbnail(s)

I thought only the ones offered by our banks are legal?
The rest are illegal isn't?

from earlier posting...
Illegal Foreign Exchange Trading Scheme refers to the buying or selling of foreign currency by an individual or company in Malaysia with any person who is not a licensed onshore bank or any person who has not obtained the approval of Bank Negara Malaysia under the Financial Services Act 2013 or Islamic Financial Services Act 2013.

also for the listed banks....
http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/fraudalert/0203_forex.htm

This is interesting because I have seen a number of private dealers advertising on business cards. Or is this allowed?

By right under the money service business act 2011 section 23, the use of the wording (as picture) can be fine up to 5million or jail up to 10 years of both

Above lists are based on international Forex regulation standard, not Malaysia BNM.

Thank you.

Indeed Forex is considered illegal in Malaysia, but doesn't mean Forex is illegal entirely in terms of globalisation. Above warning/information from BNM is purely based on BNM licensing perspective to protect themselves as well as the citizen. As long as you are trading with a tier 1 licensed FX broker, then you are completely safe.

Exness obtained a Cyprus license and it seems that they are genuine but doesnt mean they are good. Trade with tier 1 license FX broker will be safer bet. Tier 1 licensed FX brokers are those regulated and licensed under UK, Swiss, US, Japan and Germany regulators.

Indeed, if you are based on BNM perspective. We trust UK, Swiss, US, Japan and Germany regulators more than BNM, if you know what i mean.

Yes, you are right as a lawful Malaysian.

However, if you admire the international financial regulation, then you will have different point of view instead of just blindly referring to BNM. They are right in terms of protecting Malaysia citizen. As for us, we trust UK, Swiss, US, Japan and Germany regulation as the international financial standard. Furthermore, nowadays BNM integrity has become a big question in terms of dealing with recent hot topic which make Malaysia a well known country for the wrong reason.

Yes and no, depending your perspective and the kind of business activities/structure.

This company has very impressive marketing and branding. This does not mean it is not a scam. Above showed are paid either by the owner own money or worse by investors fund.

Any FX company operate and collect funds from investors without proper financial license (At least tier 1 or 2 financial license) are considered scam.
Any FX company with lucrative up front commission for agents and locked clients funds for certain period are completely scam.

Why there is a must to have a top tier license as a genuine broker?

1. Owner cannot run away with your money. The regulator will protect the clients on certain level and hunt the FX broker down if any wrong doing.
2. Well licensed FX brokers required to fulfil regulators requirements especially auditing and compliance rules & regulation.
3. Transparency and no hanky panky.

Our comparison is more on genuine FX brokers and scam FX brokers. Not common genuine FX brokers complaints.

This post has been edited by DrFX: Nov 16 2021, 11:25 PM

Perhaps they should keep it private.

Yeah that's why. But it's another to openly advertise it out there in malaysia and another to query why the law is there and our regulators ain't doing anything about it.

.....just got this from the news.....
............It said consumers should be careful when dealing with unregulated entities or individuals as there would be consequences.

“Consumer protection under the law administered by Bank Negara is not applicable, should members of the public choose to deal with illegal financial service providers.

“Those who participate in illegal financial activities could also be charged under the law for abetting operators of such illegal activities,” it added.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016...hquick-schemes/

This post has been edited by yklooi: Jul 13 2016, 08:33 AM