category: Unregulated Brokers

Is Investrader Scam or Legit Broker?

Investrader is not a safe broker. The broker is located in Cyprus, yet it is not regulated by the local regulatory body – CySEC, which means that the broker is not reliable and signing with it might be very dangerous. 

What is Investrader?

Investrader offers a range of binary options types with 180 tradable assets sure to suit any type of trader, from the popular 60-second expiries and for more aggressive traders looking for a rapid return all the way up to end-of-the-day expiries through advanced trading tools. The broker mentions its location and address in Nicosia, Limassol, as well as owning company Hottrade Investments Limited.

• However, in our earlier reviews, we did face that this company speculates about the information it presents on the official website and has a relation to other trading brands, as well shows absolutely fake data. While discovering Invest Trader, one of the pages mentioned registration of the broker and its legislation: “As one of the few CySEC licensed and regulated online binary options trading sites (Find Binary Options Brokers List here), Investrader fully ensures the privacy and security of your data as well as maximum transparency in your trading experience.”
• Of course, we checked the data and found out that there is no such registration existing. Furthermore, the CySEC included the InvestTrade domain as an unregistered and non-legitimate one (check by the link). So all the questions we had found their answers while concluding that there is no trust in InvestTrader broker. Therefore our readers and traders should avoid InvestTrader and be alerted in case they see any mention of Hottrade Investment Limited.

Investrader Review Conclusion

Trading itself is a risky business that requires knowledge and a trustful broker. It is better to trade with a regulated broker that is registered either with CySEC, FCA, or ASIC and of course, in order to avoid misleading and typical scams you should check carefully the registers first on the official website of a particular authority. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as FP Markets and BlackBull Markets.

Investrader Update

We found the Investrader website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come. 

Is OptionExpert Scam or Legit Broker?

OptionExpert is not a safe broker. The broker is located in Cyprus, yet it is not regulated by the local regulatory body - CySEC, which means that the broker is not reliable and signing with it might be very dangerous. 

What is OptionExpert?

OptionExpert is a binary options trading platform (Read about Best Regulated Binary Options Brokers by link), offering a simple and intuitive way to earn money on the leading financial markets, as the broker claims on their website. The company office is located in Cyprus and its launch date goes back to 2015, also the firm mentions its local authority CySEC authorization and license that ensures the upholding of all laws governing Cyprus and the rest of the EU. There are other numerous claims describing that the broker is a Premium Quality, with the Limited Edition offering, and is a Perfect Choice.

• However, all that is very far from what reality shows. First of all, there is no license or regulation from the CySEC, there is no even history mentioning their suspended license. Therefore, it all shows that the company presents the data they want to show, but not the truth. Going even further, the company was warned by CySEC as their domain is not authorized to deliver the service. Check the listing at the official CySEC link.

OptionExpert Review Conclusion

In conclusion, of course, we advise avoiding OptionExpert and choosing only among the regulated brokers. The Regulated Forex Brokers are obliged to deliver not only the safest trading condition but to comply with international requirements. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Cyprus and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and BlackBull Markets.

OptionExpert Update

We found the OptionExpert website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come. 

Is 24tradeRush Scam or Legit Broker?

According to our research and our finds, 24TradeRush is not a secure broker because is based solely in an offshore zone and does not guarantee its trading environment. 

What is 24TradeRush?

24TradeRush is an innovative binary option and Forex trading platform provider owned and operated by B.O. Tradefinancials Ltd, a Cyprus Investment Firm located in the Republic of Cyprus, as stated on the official website. Broker’s trading platform offers a user-friendly trading experience and allows to follow rapidly shifting trends in the financial markets worldwide, to trade Forex/CFDs and Binary Options (Check Best Binary Options Brokers Reviews).

• Since the company is located in Cyprus, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission granted B.O. Tradefinancials Ltd License and permits to provide the investment service within Cyprus and other cross-border counties in 2013, License Number 216/13. However, currently, the license is suspended by the company’s Voluntary renunciation, without its clear vision of taking action. (Check the status at the CySEC official website, by the link)

• Obviously, the company didn’t meet the regulatory requirements, as well received negative feedback from the clients about their performance of trading conditions, thus the license was gone. Yet, the 24TradeRush still offers its service, still states its regulatory obligations, and performs as if everything is legal and smooth. That’s why we always advise checking carefully the broker before any investment or deposit is done if the company still complies with the requirements or even if the regulatory state is true. The regulatory agencies publish information through their official web pages, that’s why every client can easily check the status and find vast of useful information.

24TradeRush Review Conclusion

As it became obvious, there is no trust in the 24TradeRush, due to their confusing statements and it is better to choose among regulated brokers either by the CySEC or any other respected authority. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

24TradeRush Update

Based on our research, the 24TradeRush 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 FXBTG scam or a safe Broker? 

FXBTG claims to be located in Auckland, New Zealand, however, the company is not regulated to provide its services in the country. So we conclude it as not safe to trade. Moreover, the FXBTG broker has been blacklisted by The Central Bank of Ireland in October 2018:

"The Central Bank of Ireland today 8 October 2018 published the name of an unauthorized investment firm, FXBTG Financial Ltd (Ireland and New Zealand). FXBTG Financial Ltd (Ireland and New Zealand) is not authorised by the Central Bank as an investment firm, investment business firm, or to provide investment advice."

What is FXBTG?

FXBTG is a Forex broker, owned and operated by FXBTG Financial Limited. The company doesn't provide any information about the trading conditions, it doesn't even look like a trading platform, it just states to be a provider of trading instruments on the global financial markets include currencies, precious metals, crude oil and so on.

FXBTG Review Conclusion

Regulation is very important for the safety of the funds in the sector and well-established financial authorities like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to provide sufficient security to traders. Check the list of the ASIC-regulated brokers.

FXBTG Updates

As we found on our research FXBTG Website is inactive. It is unclear whether the broker change its name and operate another fraud Forex activity or just no longer active at all,  since money safety goes first we recommend to avoid any non regulated proposals.

Is Easy Line Pro Scam or Legit Broker?

Easy Line Pro is not a safe broker as it does not hold any license. This means that the broker does not provide protection and signing with it might put the trader's investments at risk. In forex trading tight regulation and reliability are of great importance, thus it is recommended to choose only regulated brokers with favorable conditions. 

What is Easy Line Pro?

Easy Line Pro is a forex broker, owned and operated by Solutions CM LTD., a company based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Although it claims to be registered in Bulgaria, it is not regulated in the country by local Financial Supervision Commission and there are no records about it being regulated by any other authority.

• Also, the website interface is very similar to Britonprice's, the broker that is also operated by Solutions CM LTD. We have previously written about Britonprice/Solutions CM LTD being blacklisted by Spain's regulator CNMV. It seems like Solutions CM LTD has quite a bad reputation because Easy Line Pro has also been banned by Spain's regulator in February 2018:
  "EASY LINE PRO (www.easylinepro.com) is not authorised to provide the investment services detailed in Article 140 of the Securities Markets Law, which include investment advice, or to provide the auxiliary services detailed in letters a), b), d), f) and g) of Article 141 of the said Law in relation to the financial instruments detailed in Article 2 of the said Law, including, for those purposes, foreign currency transactions."

Easy Line Pro Review Conclusion

As a general rule, dealing with unregulated brokers is risky and we recommend that clients choose properly licensed and supervised brokers regulated by UK's FCA or the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as FP Markets, HotForex, and Infinox.

Easy Line Pro Update

We found the Easy Line Pro website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come. 

Is FX Merchants Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with FX Merchants. The broker states to be regulated and safe, however despite the fact that it is based in England, it is not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  In reality, the broker does not hold any license, which is the biggest red flag. Signing with unregulated brokers means putting your investments at risk.

What is FX Merchants?

FX Merchants is a forex and cryptocurrency broker, owned and operated by FX MERCHANTS LTD. that claims to be based and registered in the United Kingdom. They also provide contact phone numbers with the London address. The terms and conditions state the company is under the jurisdiction of the UK, but it is actually not regulated in the country.

• Moreover, the company has recently been blacklisted by the UK's FCA:
  "FX Merchants firm 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."
• It is quite dangerous to trade with unregulated brokers, especially in the case of FX Merchants when it has no license and also were banned by one of the most respectable regulators.

FX Merchants Review Conclusion

We always encourage traders to deal only with regulated brokers, as those operating without a proper forex broker license such as FX Merchants are most often frauds. Besides, when investing with a licensed broker, traders' funds are protected. For example, the UK regulator FCA provides a Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Check the list of FCA-licensed brokers. Traders should choose only trustworthy and regulated brokers, such as FP Markets and BlackBull Markets.

FX Merchants Update

We found the FX Merchants website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come. 

Is Trades.com Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Trades.com. The broker does not hold any license. Moreover, it pretends to be another regulated broker (TRADE.COM). Evidently, the names of the two brokers are almost identical, and Trades.com tries to benefit from this.

About Trades.com

🗺️ Registered in	No Registration
🗺️ Type of License	No License
🛡️ Is Trades.com safe to trade	No
🗺️ Recommended Licenses	FCA in UK 🇬🇧 & ASIC in Australia 🇦🇺
🖥 Alternative Broker	GO Markets - licensed by ASIC in Australia

What is Trades.com?

Trades.com as mentioned on the official company website is the global forex and CFD provider that gives the possibility to build a varied and robust portfolio. “Diversify your trading and minimize any potential risks, with a broad choice of financial trading products. Trade with no commission, and benefit from highly advantageous trading terms, including versatile leverage (Also read our review on MEX Exchange to know more about its leverage), low margin and tight spreads (Low Spread Forex Brokers), along with employed strictest measures to ensure the safety and privacy of account. We also regularly submit financial reports to the regulators to prove that we hold sufficient capital to cover all client balances.”

• All that, of course, sounds good, but the main issue is that the broker’s name and offering are creating confusion since there is a well-regulated and quite big broker TRADE.COM. This broker is internationally recognized and known, while trades.com changes only a letter and is, in fact, a non-legal, non-licensed entity that strives only to attract clients. What the broker can do after we can just guess, but definitely it seems to be a fraud. Unauthorized firms promoting hardly Forex and the trading investment itself, however, traders should be careful since that company concert is just to take money from the public.
• This is actually a common practice among scam brokerages to use the tactic to pretend another, authorized firm so traders should be especially wary while deciding to deposit funds or engage in trading with a particular company. The first and major step is to check the registration of the company, while mostly all respected authorities publish an online listing with open access to all users, with the purpose to check the current status of the firm or another.

Trades.com Review Conclusion

One of the most essential steps when choosing a broker is whether it is licensed or overseen by any of the financial authorities. Generally, we recommend trading with financial services providers licensed by one of the most respected financial regulators – the Financial Conduct Authority. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets, HotForex, etc.

Trades.com Update

We found the Trades.com website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert if any proposals come. 

Is TopTrader Scam or Legit Broker?

At first glance, TopTrader seems to be a legitimate broker (See the list of best forex brokers), as the company presents itself as one of the leading global Forex and CFD trading providers. The firm opens access to opportunities across thousands of financial markets through its intuitive platforms and helps to trade financial markets. 

What is TopTrade?

The broker assures that the implemented strictest security measures ensure the strength and stability of the trading and integrity to the safest trading account. However, the trademark TopTrade is used by the company, which is not showing clearly its location, therefore regulatory status, while the only fact they reveal is their payment provider PayPeq OU based in Estonia. For that reason, all the states may not be a fact, as simply none of the authorities confirm this status.

TopTrade Alternative Brokers

Due to our finds and issues with the safety of TopTrade here are much better Alternatives with good regulations and excellent trading conditions. Besides, there are so many attractive offerings among the Forex industry, so we always ask why to involve yourself into the risk to lose funds and trading with a non-regulated entity.

Of course, it is much safer to choose among the brokers that located and regulated in jurisdictions alike UK, Cyprus or Germany. We select Good Brokers and trustworty options for your comparison below: 

• AvaTrade – Good for Currency trading
• FP Markets – Good for CopyTrading
• Go Markets– Good for Beginners

TopTrade Review Conclusion

Considering all the information found on TopStep Trader, it shows that the company definitely not well regulated (See forex scammer list here), has no legal license to deliver its financial service, therefore might be just another scam. Moreover, after looking at the TopTrade reviews on several review websites we found nothing but complaints or the negative experience faced by the traders. In our conclusion, we would advise avoiding TopTrade company and their proposals by any means, as it’s not the business to trust.

TopTrade Updates

We found TopTrade website is no longer active so the broker probably ceased its operation and does not provide access to trading anymore. We recommend staying alert and better choose trustworthy brokers with proven records of operation. 

Is TeamFX Scam or Legit Broker?

No, TeamFX is not safe to trade with. Obviously, the broker is located in some offshore zone and presents itself as a legal financial service entity. This, of course, puts a red flag on the TeamFX company, as most probably it is just another scam or fraud firm that targets worldwide traders with its aggressive marketing tactics.

What is TeamFX?

TeamFX is an online trading provider with access to various assets including Forex and CFD trading. The firm offers an easy trading experience with the support of educational materials, courses, daily insights, analysis groups, and other additional services that are designed for the trader to succeed, as claimed by the broker.

• However, the broker's reliability should be confirmed by the legal sources and other data that secure traders from the investment with the fraud company, which gives many promises. While it seems that TeamFX is a new player among vast of trading offering since simply there is a lack of information about the company, nor reviews from the traders or even clear info about the company location. The domain address of the website is located in the UK, while the firm misleads about the real fact of their registration. After the research, we found that the broker is nor registered in the UK or regulated by the mandatory licensor and regulator of the financial investment firms in the UK, FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).

Overall TeamFX Ranking 

With our finds and issues with the regulations and safety of TeamFX, we do not rank positively TeamFX, within our Expert Opinion and over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading since there are brokers with much better safety and trading conditions.

• TeamFX Overall Ranking is 2 out of 10 based on our testing and compared to 500 other brokers, see Our Ranking below compared to other popular and industry Leading Brokers.

TeamFX Alternative Brokers

With our finds and issues with the safety of TeamFX, there are much better Alternatives to TeamFX Broker with good regulations and excellent conditions. We select Good Brokers and trustworthy options for your comparison below: 

• Dukascopy – Excellent for Shares, Futures Trading
• AvaTrade – Good Instrument and CopyTrading
• FXTM – Good for Beginners

TeamFX Education

Since 2018 TeamFX has been providing its services, educational courses, and products to beginner traders around the UK. They specialize in training complete beginners and converting them into independent traders. We offer a variety of online and in-person courses as well as subscriptions to access their trading and discussion channels.

Here are the main programs they offer:

• FX Analysis & Discussion Group
• Beginner to Independent Trading Course
• 1-1 Sessions & Group Courses

TeamFX Review Conclusion

We always advise trading with regulated brokers only, as the legal status of the company, the service it offers, and further reliable trading environment should stay the paramount priority of any trader. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FBS and BlackBull Markets.

• The overall ranking and trading experience for TeamFX is Negative