category: Unregulated Brokers

Is AlfaTrade Scam or Legit Broker?

We advise our readers, not to use AlfaTrade as it is an offshore entity. AlfaTrade is owned by Nemesis Capital Ltd., which is an offshore company registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadine. 

• St. Vincent and the Grenadines is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. Due to the setup low cost it does not regulate forex trading. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as Brokerz, TraderUR, and more. You can read our detailed article about the risk of trading with brokers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

What is AlfaTrade?

AlfaTrade is an online brokerage company that is hard to understand even where the company is located. The Nemesis Capital Limited is a company with a registered address in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which is a very liberal and easy location to maintain the company. Another additional address of the company claimed to be allegedly located in Europe, Bulgaria while the official telephone number is UK based.

• Currently, the official website claims its maintenance and promises to be back soon, while the trading and all operations are available through the AlfaTrade MetaTrader4. In addition, after some research, we found out that the company was previously registered with FCA (UK), but in 2015 its license was suspended. Overall, it seems the company performs a fishy business while pretending to be a well-established and reliable company that offers forex, CFDs, commodities, and indices to trade.

• In addition, the company's suspicious operations were confirmed by a vast number of complaints, as AlfaTrade targeted and attracted an audience of international clients from various jurisdictions. However, international authorities that regulate the Forex industry based on complaints from clients added the broker to the list of scam alerts and warnings for soliciting traders without a license.

  “The National Commission for Companies and the Stock exchange reports that the companies Nemesis Capital Limited and Nemesis Capital Bg Limited are not authorized to provide investment services”

  CONSOB, 2016

  “Nemesis Capital BG Limited, doing business as www.alfatrade.com is not registered in Ontario, Canada to engage in the business of trading in securities.”

  Ontario Securities Commission, 2016

AlfaTrade Review Conclusion

We strongly advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities that comply with the required set of rules and have a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as BDSwiss and FBS.

AlfaTrade Update

Our research showed that AlfaTrade 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.  

Is AAFX Trading Scam or Legit Broker?

AAFX Trading is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. Thus, the broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for its compliance before establishment, was never monitored in terms of its safety, and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is AAFX?

AAFX Trading is an investment company specializing in stocks, commodities, CFDs, and currency trading through its incorporated and registered office in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). However, SVG is a known area for its very liberal zone with a slight regulation of the financial companies compared to other reputable authorities that requires a way more strict compliance that ensures a higher level of clients’ protection.

• Moreover, the broker claims its incorporation and registration in Malaysia under the business solutions company SDN BHD and operation of the office in Hong Kong. Yet, there is no any other regulation that the company does comply with, therefore the company chooses the easiest and cheapest way to perform and deliver its financial services to international clients. Being unregulated in Hong Kong, the company appears in the SFC warning list that prevents clients from an investment with the AAFX Trading company (check warning here).
• Also, there are numerous negative reviews about the company's services, along with the guilty verdicts about the scam operation. The AAFX Trading clients faced typical fraud issues while trying to withdraw profits, the company gave numerous excuses why the request can not be performed. As well as the problems with trading manipulations, faking the facts of the requests, etc. All in all, problems like this prove that the company is not reliable, and clients may face capital losses, putting their investments at risk.

Overall AAFX Ranking 

Due to the regulation and safety issues, we revealed during our research of AAFX, we do not rank positively AAFX, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• AAFX 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.

AAFX Alternative Brokers

We found that AAFX has a lot of issues, mainly in respect of its safety and customer care. For this reason, we have come up with much better Alternatives to AAFX with tight regulations and great trading conditions. We select Good Brokers and trustworthy options for your comparison below: 

• HFM – Good for Currency trading
• Dukascopy – Excellent for Shares, Futures Trading
• FXTM – Good for Beginners

AAFX Deposit & Withdrawal

AAFX offers fast and straightforward deposits. The minimum deposit is 100 EUR/USD. The broker offers a wide range of funding methods, so the clients can choose one that is more suitable for them or available in their location. Deposit methods include Credit/Debit Cards, and a range of e-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, WebMoney, Fasapay, STICPAY, MoneyGram, etc. 

• For customers wanting to fund using a debit or credit card, we require a photocopy or scan of the front and back of the card, blacking out all but the last 4 digits of the card number when sending.

The withdrawal procedure is also quick and easy. For frequent withdraws some of the merchants like Neteller keep funds on hold for 7 days so this kind of withdrawal will process in 8 to 15 business days.

AAFX Deposit & Withdrawal

AAFX offers the popular trading platforms - MT4 and MT5.  Clients can trade on MT4 with no requotes, with flexible leverage ranging from 1:1 – to 2000:1. MT4 platform gives access to over 100 Instruments Including Forex, CFDs, and Futures, spreads as low as 0 pips, full EA (Expert Advisor) functionality, technical Analysis Tools with 50 indicators and charting tools.

The AAFX MT5 platform offers all the pioneering features that the AAFX MT4 has, enabling trading with over 1000 Instruments, including Stock CFDs, Stock Indices CFDs, Forex, CFDs on Precious Metals, and CFDs on Energies. Offered spreads are as low as 0.6 pips, over 80 Technical Analysis objects, and many other features. 

AAFX Review Conclusion

Based on our research results, we advise avoiding trading with AAFX. Instead, we recommend investing only with regulated brokers that are located among reputable jurisdictions and offer respective overseen investment services. Therefore, we advise trading with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as BDSwiss and XM.

• Overall ranking and experience for AAFX is Negative

Is CloseOption Scam or Legit Broker?

CloseOption is not a secure Forex broker since it does not hold a license from any worldwide serious Forex authority. Meaning the broker is suspected of being a fraud company since it was not checked for its compliance before establishment, was never monitored in terms of its safety, and simply may operate the business in any way it wishes.

What is CloseOption?

CloseOption is a trading name and brand item that belong to the Organic Tech LLC Company incorporated in Georgia and provides access to trade mainly Binary Options and additionally Forex instruments. Even though the company operates under the permission and authorization of the National Bank of Georgia, the institution, however, is not specialized in the regulation of online trading or Forex offerings. 

There are not too many reviews or feedback about the company, which can be the reason that the company is relatively young and small, thus didn’t gain its highest popularity and potential reliability. The broker also tries to attract clients through small deposit requirements and performs regular contests and campaigns to award traders. Overall, it is hard to estimate or evaluate how exactly the company will treat its clients, is it a real scam or just another company in the rows of Binary Options?

• The serious regulatory body sets numerous rules that are necessary for the broker and are turned with the purpose to protect the client at every stage of trading. Apart from the adequacy of capital requirements, and participation in schemes in unlikely events, as well as the operational standards, the serious authority constantly monitors how exactly the company operates and can find if something goes wrong.
•  In addition, generally Binary trading is an extremely risky business that requires the highest level of accuracy while trading. Therefore, since the CloseOption broker delivers a relatively competitive offering to the client, it's non-regulated as well the highest-risk investment environment revolves not the best solution.

Overall CloseOption Ranking 

Because of the regulation and safety issues, we found during our research of CloseOption, we do not rank positively CloseOption, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• CloseOption 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.

CloseOption Alternative Brokers

During our research, we found that CloseOption has a lot of issues, mainly in respect of its safety and customer care. Thus, here are much better Alternatives to CloseOption with tight regulations and great trading conditions. We select Good Brokers and trustworthy options for your comparison below: 

• HFM – Good for Currency trading
• FP Markets – Good for CopyTrading
• FXTM – Good for Beginners

Deposit & Withdrawal

CloseOption offers global payment options to serve its members best and let them pay with the most trusted and secure payment methods. Traders may choose among the following methods: Bank wire transfers, Visa and Mastercard payment cards, plus Skrill, Neteller, bitcoin, CRYPTOPayments, etc.

• It takes up to 30 minutes for a payment in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to be reflected in the CloseOption account
• Deposits through other methods are instant
• It takes three (3) business days for the withdrawal requests to be processed

CloseOption Review Conclusion

Our recommendation would be negative towards trading with CloseOption, as we always advise traders to sign only with reputable and reliable companies that are regulated by the world's respected authorities. Check our list of Regulated Forex Brokers and choose the one that suits particular needs. We advise trading with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as BDSwiss and FBS.

• Overall ranking and experience for CloseOption is Negative

Is Capitals Banks Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Capitals Banks, because it is an unregulated brokers. In addition, the company has been suspected to be a fraud. While we checked the company there is no authorization or registration of the address, therefore the company seems to be highly suspicious and might operate its services from an absolutely different location.

What is Capitals Banks?

Capitals Banks is a Forex and CFD broker owned and operated by Finbdo Ltd. The company is located in London, UK, and claims to be registered in Companies House (the United Kingdom's registrar of companies and is an executive agency and trading fund). We didn't find this company in this register, which means they provide false information about the company.

• Moreover, in order to be able to offer financial services in the United Kingdom, the company needs to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the case of Capital Banks, it doesn't just lack the license from the FCA, it even has been blacklisted by this regulator and also by the Italian CONSOB.

Capitals Banks Review Conclusion

We strongly advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities that comply with the required set of rules and have a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as BDSwiss and FBS.

Capitals Banks Update

Our research showed that the Capitals Banks 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.  

Is Wise Banc Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Wise Banc. Wise Banc is owned and operated by Orion Service EOOD and claims to be located in Sofia, Bulgaria.

• Despite its European location, the company is not licensed to provide its services in any of the European countries as well as in the countries where Wise Banc has branches. Also, Orion Service EOOD was previously banned by the FCA in the UK.

  This time the company got a warning from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI):

  "Wisebanc/Orion Service EOOD (Bulgaria) is not authorised by the Central Bank as an investment firm, or to provide investment advice."

What is Wise Banc?

Wise Banc is a Forex and CFD broker. The company is a registered brand of Orion Service EOOD. According to the details provided on the website, the company is based in Sofia, Bulgaria, and has branches in Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa.

Wise Banc Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Wise Banc 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 BDSwiss and FBS.

Wise Banc Update

Our research showed that Wise Banc 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.  

Is HiWayFX Scam or Legit Broker?

HiWayFX is a 100% fraud company. The broker is registered offshore and does not hold any proper license from a well-known reliable financial regulator. It is NOT SAFE to trade HiWayFX. We never advise trading with an offshore broker, since the financial investment service they deliver is not trustable.

• The reason is simple, the broker may promise the most ever competitive trading conditions or the trading environment, yet the trader has no guarantee from the official entities that oversee the Forex industry. Thus the engagement in trading with such a company means the trader will believe only in the broker’s words, and of course, it is a high risk. 

What is HiWayFX?

HiWayFX is a trading name of an international company, which establish its branches in an offshore known zone St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as a branch in the EU, as a Cyprus Investment Firm - Lucro Capital Ltd. The broker offers vast trading opportunities on over 60 currency pairs, indices, oil, precious metals and other instruments available through market-leading MetaTrader4.

• At the early stage of its operation, since 2014 and few years further, the HiWayFX broker operated with EU license and complied with a regulatory requirement as it was set by the CySEC. However, the owning company Lucro Capital Ltd and its subsidiaries officially announced its renunciation from the CySEC license since 2017, while the reasons remained unclear.

“Lucro Capital Ltd Company which renounced its CIF authorization and it remains under the supervision of the CySEC until it settles its obligations.”

CySEC, April 2017

• It seems that the company moves were caused by the numerous non-compliance issues that the broker couldn’t maintain, as well as a large number of the complaints received from the HiWayFX traders for its fraud operations. Further on, the broker Continues their services from the St. Vincent and the Grenadines branch while accepting clients with no documentation requirements. Moreover, the company launches a binary options trading system, which is known for its extreme height of risk, while trying to attract more clients.

HiWayFX Review Conclusion

All in all, the unclear and uncertain operation of the HiWayFX prompts to stay away from the broker. We advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities and comply with the required set of rules and a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as HotForex, and BlackBull Markets.

HiWayFX Update

We found the HiWayFX website inactive and unavailable to reach. This means the broker no longer operates. However, it is best to avoid and stay alert in case any proposals show up.

Is S2trade Scam or Legit Broker?

S2trade is not safe to trade with. It is a brand used by GoldTech Media Services OÜ established in Estonia, a Tallinn brokerage company that delivers a selection of the accounts of various level traders along with the attractive trading conditions. However, there is a serious gap in the company offering since there is no registration or license from the respected authority which oversees the Forex business. We generally do not advise to trade with the unregulated brokers, as there are plenty of scams within the industry and traders should invest wisely while choosing the safest trading conditions.

What is S2trade?

S2Trade is a broker that offers FX and CFDs on commodities, stocks, indices, and currencies. The broker is located in Tallinn, Estonia.

• Reputable industry watchdogs constantly check and monitor various offerings and alert clients in order to secure investors' money from scams. Likewise, UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning against S2trade since the company was detected in providing financial services without its legal right to do so.

“The GoldTech Media Services OU trading as S2Trade act without our authorization and some knowingly run investment scams”

FCA, UK. February 2018

• Therefore, S2trade reputation is doubtful, as well there are some amounts of negative reviews from the traders that faced typical fraud issues. Traders complain of the complications to withdraw funds or manipulation within the trading process so then it seems as if money loss is a trader’s fault, etc. Unfortunately, this is quite common among unregulated brokers as their main aim is just to attract the client.

S2Trade Review Conclusion

We strongly recommend trading only with authorized firms as the licensed companies run operations according to the set of standards and clients are covered by the Compensation Schemes. Our list of regulated brokers will assist to choose the best suitable company to trade with. We recommend traders sign in with well-regulated brokers such as FP Markets and XM. 

S2Trade Update

Our research showed that the S2trade Website is inactive. Since money safety in forex goes first we recommend avoiding any proposals from S2trade and staying alert. 

Is PBN Invest Scam or Legit Broker?

Capital Tech Ltd has been suspected as a scam broker. It operates under the brand name PBN Invest - a brokerage firm that provides online currencies and CFDs trading services. The company is registered in the Marshall Islands, an offshore zone, and does not hold any authorization or license to perform financial services. 

What is PBN Invest?

PBN Invest is a forex and CFD broker owned by Capital Tech Ltd, a company registered in the Marshall Islands. Also, PBN Trade is operated by Bulgaria-based Pbox Ltd. The company doesn't have a proper registration that would let it provide its financial services legally on the market.

• The confusing thing is the Austrian contact phone number that doesn't actually coincide with either offshore or Bulgarian locations. Moreover, Capital Tech Ltd. was mentioned in the warnings of some regulators (FCA in the UK, FSMA in Belgium) and this time PBN Invest/Capital Tech Ltd. has been blacklisted by Italian regulator CONSOB.
• As regulation is the most important factor for the safety of any investment, we strongly advice potential traders to invest only with properly licensed brokers. The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK and Australian Securities and Investments Commission are well-respected financial watchdogs that do provide sufficient security on the market.

PBN Invest Review Conclusion

We strongly advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities that comply with the required set of rules and have a good reputation through the delivered timeframe of operations. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as BDSwiss and FBS.

PBN Invest Update

Our research showed that the PBN Invest 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.  

Is FxCentral Scam or Legit Broker?

FxCentral is a 100% fraud company. The broker is registered offshore and does not hold any proper license from a well-known reliable financial regulator. It is NOT SAFE to trade FxCentral. We never advise trading with an offshore broker, since the financial investment service they deliver is not trustable.

• The reason is simple, the broker may promise the most ever competitive trading conditions or the trading environment, yet the trader has no guarantee from the official entities that oversee the Forex industry. Thus the engagement in trading with such a company means the trader will believe only in the broker’s words, and of course, it is a high risk.

What is FxCentral?

FxCentral was established in 2007 while attracting clients with a claim to offer Direct Market Access on a variety of trading instruments to retail and institutional clients through its offices in the United States and the Arab Emirates.

• However, being allegedly located in reputable locations the company does not hold or comply with any registrations or strictest authorization to perform financial services. This is a serious fault within the trading industry since the reliability and trust of the broker along with the clients' safety goes first. As the broker’s operation and services are not overseen by any authority, there is no guarantee how exactly service is provided, thus the risk of fraud is extremely high.
• In addition to this, the FxCentral reputation is covered by negative reviews about numerous issues during trading, or managing the positions and, of course, trying to withdraw funds.
• Also, it was a case that many traders received a message that the company is closing, therefore, all operations should cut-off which caused also further issues with withdrawals which are not received even yet. However, if you go to the official company website, you’ll find an alert about its active operation status and non-association with any other forex brokering company, from which the traders received the message, while the broker pretending to be a very legit firm with no spots on its reputation and sustainable trading environment.

Overall FxCentral Ranking 

Based on our revelations about the safety of FxCentral, we do not rank positively FxCentral, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• FxCentral Overall Ranking is 3 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.

FxCentral Alternative Brokers

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

• AvaTrade – Good Instruments and CopyTrading
• Dukascopy – Excellent for Shares, Futures Trading
• BlackBull Markets – Good for High Leverage Trading

Deposit & Withdrawal

FxCentral offers different funding methods for deposits and withdrawals. However, the broker does not provide detailed information about the deposit and withdrawal processes.

• The maximum deposit size isn’t limited for all account types.

FxCentral Review Conclusion

We advise opening a trading account only with brokers that are regulated by respected world authorities and comply with the required set of rules and a good reputation. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as HotForex, and BlackBull Markets.

• Overall ranking and experience for FxCentral is Negative