category: Unregulated Brokers

Is Empire Option Scam or Legit Broker?

No, Empire Option is not safe to trade with. The company is not regulated by any of the authorities. Being located in an offshore zone - St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the fact is the firm is not overseen and regulated by the strictest international rules that confirm the sustainable status of the company. In addition, the firm also appeared in warning lists of several authorities that include EU regulators and beyond.

What is Empire Option?

Empire Option is a trading name used by Baumann and Kraus Enterprises Ltd, which is located in the offshore zone of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The broker promises a new way to invest in the world’s leading financial markets through more than 1,000 assets with advanced tools.

• The reviews about the company consist of mainly negative ones, with a history back to 2015. As the reputation of the broker widely spread among internet sources, the broker decided to change their target strategy to those regions that may not find their negative information. And that region includes mainly Spanish-speaking countries and clients, especially from Latin America, as well as the Middle East regions. However, the fraud of the Empire Option performs already revealed through numerous sources while clients still facing the same problems with withdrawals, manipulations, and malicious trading itself.

Empire Option Review Conclusion

In conclusion, of course, the traders should avoid Empire Option brokers and any contact with them, as well as not to involve in any non-regulated sites or entities. The first step to protect funds and engage in reliable investment is to check on the authorization status of the company which confirms the legal status of the entity. We recommend choosing among the recommended FCA Regulated brokers, ASIC Regulated Brokers, or similarly regulated brokers.

Empire Option Update

Based on our research, the Empire Option website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is BeAlgo Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with BeAlgo. BeAlgo is owned and operated by B.A.X LTD and claims to be located in Sofia, Bulgaria. According to our research, BeAlgo is a total scam. The broker is not regulated and has no legal right to provide financial services to the public. Moreover, BeAlgo has been suspected of fraud, when pretending to be another company with a better reputation.

What is BeAlgo?

BeAlgo is a forex broker that offers a variety of currency pairs, CFDs, and cryptocurrencies. B.A.X LTD claims to be incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria and registered in the country. However, the broker is not registered with the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) and doesn’t have a license to provide its financial services in Bulgaria.

• Also, we looked through the terms and conditions presented on the website to find a bit different information about the jurisdiction the company belongs to. It says the broker is under the laws of England and Wales, although it is not regulated in the UK.

• All the brokers operating in a particular country should be licensed by its local regulator/authority (Financial Supervision Commission in Bulgaria and Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, for instance), otherwise, the broker’s actions will be considered as illegal. It is clear that brokers like BeAlgo should be avoided at all costs.

• BeAlgo has also been banned by several regulators, such as Financial Conduct Authority in the UK:

  "Bealgo is not authorized by us and is targeting people in the UK. Based upon information we hold, we believe it is carrying on regulated activities which require authorization."

• There's one more warning from the Financial Market Authority in Austria:

  "Bealgo (B.A.X. LTD) is not entitled to carry out banking transactions in Austria that require a license. The provider is, therefore, neither permitted to trade on a commercial basis."

BeAlgo Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid BeAlgo and other unregulated brokers. The lack of information about the broker’s regulations, trading conditions, and contact details should be the biggest red flag for those who plan to invest with the entity. Usually, such companies run investment scams. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as BlackBull Markets and XM.com.

BeAlgo Update

We have found that the BeAlgo website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is Noble Capital House Scam or Legit Broker?

No, Noble Capital House is not safe to trade with. The company is not regulated by any of the authorities. 

• The company is located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is a known location for its liberal requirements towards financial firms and their maintenance. That means the reliability requirements are minimal and do not meet international standards that truly protect clients and what is more that none of the authorities check on every step of the company. Therefore, any offshore firm cannot be a safe option due to the lack of regulations.

What is Noble Capital House?

Noble Capital House offers convenient trading conditions on a range of trading instruments throughout various account types and education with support from the company. The broker also promises the safety of funds by using separate bank accounts and compliance with international standards of service.

• In addition, authorities of reputable forex and trading hubs supervise offerings among their jurisdictions and warn the companies that are not set in accordance with the protective rules. Thus, Noble Capital House appeared on blacklists of the UK’s FCA, while other partner regulators followed the necessary actions.

  “We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorization. We strongly recommend being especially wary of dealing with this unauthorized firm and to protect yourself from scammers. We advise to only deal with financial firms that are regulated and authorized to perform financial business.”

  FCA, UK. April 2018.

Noble Capital House Review Conclusion

In order to establish a successful trading carrier and process, it is a paramount and first priority to choose a broker to trust, that’s why we advise avoiding non-legitimate companies and to choose only among the recommended FCA Regulated brokers or similar regulated entities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

Noble Capital House Update

We have found that the Noble Capital House website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is SoarFX Scam or Legit Broker?

No, SoarFX is not safe to trade with. The company is not regulated by any of the top-tier authorities. There is no mention of the company address, location or any information that can indicate the broker's reliability. Thus, it seems that SoarFX is operating without a license which makes its offerings unreliable and risky. 

What is SoarFX?

The potential client of SoarFX gets an opportunity to trade on the currency market (FOREX) and in CFDs, shares, and indexes through an MT4 platform. SoarFX is a trading name used by Bluestar International Acquiring Ltd and that is all information available about the broker. There is no any mentioning on the official website about an address, registration, or whatsoever, while the only address mentions a payment provider Hermes Solution DOO in Montenegro.

• Therefore, the broker’s operation and provision of services are in question, and definitely, it means the broker is non-regulated while targeting clients just by attractive proposals and conditions. And this is exactly the reason we always advise trading with a regulated broker only, as these firms are constantly overseen and reported.

• As the industry grows, the market authorities issue regular warnings against those companies that use targeting tactics without legal permission to do so and seem to be scams. Moreover, a non-regulated firm means that no one ever checks the company's sustainability, ability to deliver financial service and what stands behind the firm.

• In regards to SoarFX, of course, we recommend avoiding their proposals by any means. Also, the European authority CONSOB, Italy issued an alert against SoarFX, while further EU regulators followed the issue. 

  “The soarfx.com website, registered in an anonymous form by a user whose identity is not known. Considering that the SoarFX company, with an alleged registered office in London, is not authorized to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the register we recommend avoiding trading with them”

  CONSOB, Italy. April 2018.

SoarFX  Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid SoarFX and other brokers from Vanuatu. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets, BlackBull Markets, and HYCM.

SoarFX Update

Based on our research, the SoarFX website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is OPCompany Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with OPCompany. The broker states about its MFSA regulation, however, the broker seems to use fake information to conceal the fact of not being regulated. 

What is OPCompany?

OPCompany is a Forex broker that seems to be offering its financial services mostly to Italian customers as the first language supported on the website is Italian. The broker is owned and operated by OPC Services and claims to be regulated and located in Malta. There is even a license number and the text of the agreement with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) provided on the website.

• We took a look at the MFSA's register and didn't find the license number or broker's name mentioned there. It seems like OPCompany is just another broker that uses fake regulation/license from a reliable authority to get people's trust and make them invest. We highly recommend avoiding such entities, who try to delude investors as usually all the invested money is gone for good with the fraud broker.
  In addition, the Italian Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) issued a warning against OPCompany on 29th of October:
  "The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange, has also prohibited, pursuant to article 99, paragraph 1, letter d), of the Consolidated Law on Finance, the offer to the Italian public of standardized units of "managed accounts" through the www.opcompany.net website."

OPCompany Review Conclusion

We advise traders to avoid not licensed brokers and choose among the regulated ones. The most reliable regulators are the UK's FCA, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC). These regulators require a certain amount of capital from the brokers to guarantee the compensation of funds and a certain level of safety of clients' money. Traders should sign in with reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

OPCompany Update

Based on our findings, the OPCompany website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. Anyway, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is Dax-300 Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Dax-300. St. Vincent and the Grenadines is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. Due to the setup cost being low it does not regulate forex trading. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as Capital TradeFX, Traderia, and more. You can read our detailed article about the risk of trading with brokers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

What is Dax-300?

Dax-300 is an offshore Forex and CFDs broker. DAX-300 is operated by ELRICS Brothers Ltd, with the legal and physical addresses in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

• According to the website, Dax-300 claims to be a leading currency and stock exchange broker in Europe, South Africa, and more. Also, it claims to have offices in over 12 countries including Poland, UK, France, and Germany. After researching, we couldn't find any mentions of this broker in any regulator's register.

• Moreover, Dax-300 has been blacklisted by Italy's regulator CONSOB:

  "the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange has ordered Elrics Brothers Ltd and Sanata Partners Eood, through the website www.dax-300.com to cease the infringement of art. 18 of the TUF consists of providing unauthorized investment services and activities to the Italian public".

• Also, Austrian Financial Markets Authority has issued a warning against Dax-300:

  "Dax-300 is not entitled to carry out banking transactions in Austria that require a license. The provider is therefore not permitted to trade on a commercial basis."

Dax-300 Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Dax-300 and other brokers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as AvaTrade and XM.com.

Dax-300 Update

Based on our research, the Dax-300 website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is XECrypto Bank Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with XECrypto Bank. The broker is suspected of being a scam. On its website, it offers unclear information about its location and regulation, clearly trying to conceal the fact of being not regulated. 

What is XECrypto Bank?

On its website, the broker states that traders enjoy the safety and security of a regulated environment, through the implementation of consolidated and harmonized sets of compliance controls and a team with over 25 years of Fintech and Brokerage experience. That’s how the XECrypto Bank firm describes itself, yet let's check if the states are true.

First of all, there is no clear information about anything, or even if the company is legit in general, since the address is mentioned in Bulgaria, Sofia yet it says that the office is in London, while headquarters are in Monaco with a second branch in London. Seriously we couldn’t understand anything, these states are not just confusing but presenting absolute unprofessionalism.

• Obviously, the broker just uses different attractive terms while in fact might be just a standard scam, even without a normal address of the firm. And of course, the XECrypto Bank offering caught the attention of the authorities while the firm received warnings and was blacklisted.

“The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) has ordered the following companies to cease infringement of art. 18 of the Italian Legislative Decree No. 58/1998, consisting of the provision of unauthorized investment services and activities to the Italian public”  

MFSA, Malta. November 2018.

“The CMVM is warning the public against the activities of XECrypto Bank followed by the alert received from the CONSOB (Italy) and other authorities, as the mentioned company proposing investment services without being authorized to do so”

CMVM, Portugal. November 2018.

XECrypto Bank Review Conclusion

We advise you to avoid signing with XECrypto Bank, or any other unregulated or offshore broker, and not to put your investments at risk. Instead, we advise choosing only among regulated brokers that hold licenses from world-known authorities. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets. 

XECrypto Bank Update

We have found that the XECrypto Bank website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. However, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is Pearson Investments Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Pearson Investments. The broker does not hold any license and is suspected to be a scam.

• According to the provided information, Pearson Investments is located in China. However,  the local law obligates financial investment firms in Hong Kong to be authorized by the financial regulator the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Pearson Investments does not hold a license from the authority, thus being engaged in unauthorized activities. 

What is Pearson Investments?

Pearson Investments is a brokerage company with a claimed office in China and Hong Kong with a boutique-style reputation established in 1978 while offering a range of financial services. Moreover, beneath the broker's website, it is stated that Pearson Investments is a limited liability company incorporated under Hong Kong law and is fully independent.

• However, according to local law, every financial investment firm in Hong Kong should be authorized by the financial regulator the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), yet Pearson Investments is not. Actually, SFC updated Alert List features the name of Pearson Investment businesses as unlicensed in Hong Kong with an address there, but it is not located there.

“The Alert List includes Pearson Investments entity, which has come to the attention of the SFC because they are unlicensed in Hong Kong and are believed to be, or targeting Hong Kong investors or claim to have an association with Hong Kong.”

SFC, Hong Kong. April 2017.

• In addition, the Australian authority ASIC issued a warning as well, as the broker was detected offering their service to the residents.

“The business Pearson Investments has made unsolicited calls or sent emails about investing, financial advice, credit or loans and does not hold a current Australian Financial Services (AFS) license or an Australian Credit license from ASIC.”

ASIC, Australia. September 2017.

Pearson Investments Review Conclusion

Overall, we never advise trading with an unregulated brokerage regardless of its offerings. Traders should only invest with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

Pearson Investments Update

Based on our findings, the Pearson Investments website is inactive. This means the broker has muted its trading offering and does not operate. Anyway, we recommend avoiding and staying alert in case of any proposals. 

Is Dubai FXM Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Dubai FXM. Dubai FXM is owned by Dubai FXM Limited, an offshore company registered in Vanuatu.

Vanuatu is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. The setup cost is low and it does not regulate forex trading. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as LiteFinTech, Emporio Trading, and more. We have a detailed article explaining the risk of trading with brokers from Vanuatu.

What is Dubai FXM?

Dubai FXM was launched in 2012.  The broker offers a wide range of products, including CFDs in crypto and forex. Dubai FXM states its authorized status and compliance with the international financial standards of service by the authorization from The Financial Commission. In fact, this organization is self-regulated and does not strictly regulate or oversee the companies. From our source, it costs €24,000 per year to become a member. However, there is no handbook or guidelines for brokers to run their businesses. Therefore, there is zero protection for traders.

• In addition, the latest list of Italian watchdog CONSOB included Dubai FXM on their warning list, since the firm is not licensed and permitted to offer their services within Italy or the EU.

  “The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange has implemented a precautionary suspension, on the following company Dubai Fxm Ltd. As the company is not authorized to provide investment services and activities in Italy by any means”

  CONSOB, Italy. November 2018.

Dubai FXM Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Dubai FXM and other brokers from Vanuatu. We strongly advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities and comply with the required set of rules,  such as UK brokers or Brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and BlackBull Markets, as financial safety in forex trading is essential.

Dubai FXM Update

We found that Dubai FXM is no longer active. The broker’s website is unavailable to reach. Besides, there is no evidence of whether the broker operates or not. We recommend avoiding any offshore-based brokers due to their instability and lack of serious regulations.