category: Unregulated Brokers

Is Ocean Markets Scam or Legit Broker?

Ocean Markets is not a legit broker. It is impossible to find any information about the broker’s license or its regulations.

• On the Ocean Markets website it is mentioned that it is owned and operated by Valep Ltd, Marshal Islands. In contradiction, the contact number is British which leads to doubts. Moreover, the terms and conditions of the broker are close to European regulations.
• Trading with Ocean Markets might put the client’s investment at risk since it is not a Regulated Broker and clients are not protected by any tight and reliable regulations. 

Marshal Islands is notorious for its practically absent requirements and regulations. Due to the low setup cost, there are almost no regulations and rules present. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as Millennium FX, Umarkets, and more.

What Is Ocean Markets?

Ocean Markets claims to be a developing broker in the global trading market. They boast of providing the best conditions for investment and trading, as well as the most up-to-date information on economic and political events to investors. Ocean Markets offers its users CFD, Forex trading, commodities, indices, and other assets.

Ocean Markets gives access to an array of innovative tools. It provides 24/7 customer service.

• However, no matter how attractive Ocean Markets’ offerings are, it is still an unregistered and unregulated broker, and signing in with it means putting the investment at risk.
• Besides, based on our research, we have accumulated a large number of complaints regarding Ocean Markets’ withdrawals. Clients complain that they are not able to withdraw their money even after months of trading and depositing. 

Overall Ocean Markets Ranking 

Taking into account our revelations on the safety of Ocean Markets, we do not rank positively Ocean Markets, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• Ocean Markets 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.

Ocean Markets Alternative Brokers

Based on our finds and issues with the safety of Ocean Markets, here are much better Alternatives to Ocean Markets with good regulations and excellent conditions. We select Good Brokers and reliable options for your comparison below: 

• BlackBull Markets – Good for High Leverage Trading
• HFM – Low Forex Spread Broker
• IC Markets – Excellent cTrader Broker

Account Types

Ocean Markets offers a range of account types, designed to meet traders’ expectations. For beginner traders, the broker offers Starter’s account. The minimum deposit for this account type is $500. Silver or Gold accounts have a higher entry threshold, but they offer more options and provide access to additional services. Experienced traders choose either Platinum or VIP accounts.

Ocean Markets Deposit & Withdrawal

Ocean Markets offers different funding methods, including Visa/MasterCard, Neteller, and Skrill. The minimum deposit is $500 for Starter’s account. The broker also offers different bonuses that are determined by the volume of trades.

• To get access to the earned money on the account, traders need to reach a certain limit to withdraw the funds. In case, traders decide to withdraw the money before the limit is reached, all the funds on the account will be cleared.
• It is worth mentioning that clients have a lot of complaints regarding the withdrawal process. Many cannot withdraw their money even after months of trading and depositing.

Trading Platforms

Ocean Markets offers a range of different trading platforms: xCritical online - mobile and desktop platforms, MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5.

• xCritical online offers more than 170 trading instruments, built-in technical advisor Autochartist, the ability to lock and duplicate positions, online support chat, etc.
• With Ocean Markets traders also have access to the popular MT4 and MT5 platforms, enabling access to modern development technologies and a user-friendly interface, providing the best tools and features for favorable trading.

Ocean Markets Review Conclusion

Based on our professional experience and conducted research, we do not recommend Ocean Markets. There are many questions in regard to the trust of the Ocean Markets company services and the manner they do operate the online trading itself. Besides, many traders shared their negative experiences with numerous complaints and were asking us to assist with resolving, see Ocean Markets Inquiry here. 

We strongly advise opening a trading account only with tightly regulated brokers with good standing (UK brokers or brokers in Australia), that will provide a safe and secure trading environment, such as HotForex, and BlackBull Markets.

• Overall ranking and experience for Ocean Markets is Negative

Is OneLife safe or scam?

What is OneLife?

• Moreover, Belize's financial regulator IFSC (International Financial Services Commission) has issued a warning regarding the company One Life Network Limited, stating:

"It has come to the notice of the IFSC that an entity calling itself ‘One Life Network Limited’, an International Business Company registered in Belize, is conducting trading without first obtaining the required license from the IFSC. This entity is not licensed/regulated by the International Financial Services Commission or any other competent authority in Belize to conduct any type of trading business."

• In addition, New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority has recently blacklisted OneLife along with its affiliate company OneCoin:

"We recommend extreme caution before investing with OneLife or OneCoin as we are concerned they bear the characteristics of a scam, including withholding client funds and promising unrealistic returns. We have received information indicating that OneLife and OneCoin are holding promotional events and seminars in New Zealand offering investment services in breach of New Zealand law."

OneLife Review Conclusion

OneLife Update 

Is Europe Forex Invest Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Europe Forex Invest, as it is an offshore company. Europe Forex Invest is a brand owned and operated by Terratech Ltd. Terratech Ltd is located in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

• In fact, the Marshall Islands is an offshore zone attracting various firms that for one reason or another escape from serious regulation or compliance to international service providing. However, in the case of financial investment or trading firms, the company should be a very respected entity, as the statistics show that the majority of non-authorized firms never recovered the sums of investors’ investments. Therefore, we always advise avoiding offshore or companies with no license as there are too many frauds around.

What is Europe Forex Invest?

Europe Forex Invest assists retail and institutional investors in using forex and different contraptions as an asset class and a part of their funding targets. The broker claims to offer excellent trading platforms with the right of entry to low-cost pricing, reliable buying and selling infrastructure, speedy execution, and a brilliant patron guide. 

• According to the website the broker is primarily based in Melbourne, Australia, and has places of work in Dallas, Shanghai, Bangkok, and London. Also, the terms and conditions state some other information that the company was incorporated in New Zealand under the International Business Companies. However, we couldn’t find any information about this broker in the registers of the major regulators.
• Moreover, Italian regulator CONSOB has warned against Europe Forex Invest: 

“CONSOB  availed itself of the powers deriving from the “growth decree” regarding the blackout of the sites (including Terratech Ltd (website www.eufxinvest.com)) of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as the new power introduced by Law no. 8 of 28 February 2020, regarding the blackout of the site through which the abusive bid is made.”

It is the second time that we post about Terratech Ltd. being blacklisted by CONSOB. This company operated a Swissfingroup broker, which we have mentioned as a broker that should be avoided. 

Europe Forex Invest Review Conclusion

We strongly advise all investors and traders to avoid Europe Forex Invest and other brokers from the Marshall Islands. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and eToro.

Europe Forex Invest Update

Based on our findings, the Europe Forex Invest 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 Forex Birds Scam or Legit Broker?

It is not safe to trade with Forex Birds as it is an offshore unregulated broker. Forex Birds LTD is a fully licensed and Regulated broker governed and supervised by the Saint Vincent Finance Service Authority (FSA).

• The fact is that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an offshore zone, which does register the financial investment firm, but provides very poor if none requirements for the company operation. That means, the broker is not regulated, not overseen, and does not comply with strict international rules that provide protective measures to the traders. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as CVC Markets, AAG Markets, and more. Read more about St. Vincent and the Grenadines regulation by the link.

What is Forex Birds?

Forex Birds claims to be a well-regulated, safe, and secure Forex broker with optimal trading conditions. The broker offers a wide range of solutions to trade CFDs and Forex, commodities, indices, and spot metals. It also provides clients with the leverage of up to 1:100 and user-friendly platforms with useful functionalities. However, there are some concerns about its regulation which we are going to look at in this Forex Birds Review.

• Forex Birds LTD claims to be a registered company from UK company house registration number 1203823. However, Companies House is only the United Kingdom’s registrar of companies, it is not the regulator that approves licenses for the brokers in the UK. And, of course, there is no information about this broker in the UK’s FCA register (Read the FCA-regulated Fortrade Review).
• Moreover, the Spanish regulator CNMV (National Securities Market Commission) has issued a warning against Forex Birds:

“The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (National Securities Market Commission) warns that Forex Birds is not authorized to provide the investment services, which include investment advice, nor to provide the auxiliary in relation to the financial instruments, including, for those purposes, foreign currency transactions.”

Forex Birds in India

Forex Birds allows Indian traders to open accounts and trade. However, Forex Birds has no mention of complying with any Indian regulators on its website. It is also worth mentioning that Forex trading is actually prohibited in India. The broker is not regulated by any regulatory body in India, that’s why money safety may be the issue here.

Forex Birds in the USA

The United States is one of the countries that is not accepted by Forex Birds. As per U.S. law, brokers regulated by CFTC are the only brokers allowed for USA traders. So, except for Forex Birds, you are only permitted to trade with U.S-regulated platforms.

Deposits & Withdrawals

Forex Birds offers four types of trading accounts (Also explore MEXC Global's account types): ECN, Standard, Premium, and Prime. The minimum deposit for the basic ECN account is 100 USD (See ECN Forex Brokers Reviews). The payment options include Visa, Maestro, Bank Transfers, and e-wallets Skrill and Neteller. 

Apps

Forex Birds offers an advanced mobile platform MT4 compatible with most smartphones and tablets. For the ultimate mobile trading experience, you’re invited to download our innovative, free mobile trading apps. Look for Forex Birds Trading on the App Store or on Google Play.

Demo Account

Forex Birds also offers a demo account. The Demo Account is provided to give traders a demonstration of the broker’s trading platform and to offer traders the opportunity to trade on simulated real trading conditions. This further allows the trader to gain more experience prior to trading with real funds and facing actual risk. Traders may test their trading strategies and become familiar with the trading platform at their own pace.

Forex Birds Review Conclusion

Overall, there are many questions in regards to the trust of the Forex Birds company services and the manner they do operate the online trading itself. 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 AvaTrade and XM.com.

Forex Birds Update

Based on our findings, the Forex Birds 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 Blackstone500 Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Blackstone500 as it is not regulated. The broker doesn’t disclose the company behind the brand’s name. It claims to have headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, but at the same time provides the UK contact number. In addition, according to the terms and conditions, Blackstone500 operates under Estonian Governing laws. It is not clear which jurisdiction oversees the broker’s activities and after checking the registers of the major EU regulator we can say - none of them, as we couldn’t find any mentions of this broker. 

What is Blackstone500?

Blackstone500 claims to be an international trading online corporation, offering 24-hour access to a wide range of trading instruments including currencies trading in Forex, commodities, shares, indices, and Cryptocurrencies. The broker offers trading through Activ8 - a popular trading platform, with leverage up to 1:30 and risk management tools. Despite all these benefits some information on the website doesn’t actually add up because of multiple discrepancies, we are going to list. 

• Moreover, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has warned against Blackstone500:

“Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting, or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by us. This 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.”

• The pages and official sources of the international regulators’ list alert are shared with the authority directly or by other countries’ supervisory bodies or transmitted centrally. Those tools and the general purpose of the regulatory bodies operate in order to enable stability of the market offerings, protect clients from potential and numerous frauds, enable reliability rules to financial service entities, and more. As Blackstone500 got no license to operate within the EU and other regulated jurisdictions, the broker was blacklisted and alerted by the EU authority.

Blackstone500 Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Blackstone500 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 Alpari and XM.

Blackstone500 Update

Recently the Blackstone500 website remains inactive, meaning the broker has muted its trading offering and does not propose account openings. However, we still advise the traders to be alert and careful, in case they receive trading proposals. 

Is Capoinvest Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Capoinvest as it is not regulated. Capoinvest claims to be a subsidiary of a CAPITAL GROUP INVESTMENT (LUX). The broker provides a valid registration number of this broker with the FCA (reg. 747792), but the register states it is a US-based company. Meanwhile, Capoinvest claims to be located in the UK (30 Coleman Street, London EC2R 5AL, United Kingdom).

About Capoinvest

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

What is Capoinvest?

Capoinvest claims to be one of Europe’s leading financial institutions specializing in Forex/CFDs and Cryptocurrency trading. The broker offers various types of trading software and tools that allow individuals and institutional customers to trade Forex, CFDs, and Cryptocurrency online. There is one thing that remains questionable in the broker’s statements which is that it provides clients with a 100% transparent and secure form of trading. Unfortunately, after doing some research, we cannot confirm it, on the contrary, there is some information that only proves Capoinvest is not regulated and should be avoided. 

• It really seems like this broker has just been using the registration details of a regulated entity and that’s why investors should be very attentive here and check twice before investing with this broker.

Capoinvest Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Capoinvest 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 Alpari and XM.

Capoinvest Update

Recently the Capoinvest website remains inactive, meaning the broker has muted its trading offering and does not propose account openings. However, we still advise the traders to be alert and careful, in case they receive trading proposals. 

Is Royal GTX Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Royal GTX as it is not regulated. The broker does not provide any regulatory information, the company behind its name or contact details. That’s when it comes to transparency. Regulated companies keep all the information open to their clients as it is required by the law. Obviously, Royal GTX has no regulation and no authority to report to.  

What is Royal GTX?

Royal GTX was founded in 2010 and claims to be an international online trading leader, bringing closer to traders all the opportunities of financial markets. The broker provides full and free access to the MT4 platform. They specialize in leveraged Forex trading, offering every market FX, indices, commodities, shares, and cryptocurrencies. 

• According to the terms and conditions of the website, Royal GTX falls under the regulation of Estonian Governing Authorities. However, we couldn’t find any mentions of this broker in the register of the Estonian local regulator.  

• Moreover, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has warned against Royal GTX:

  “Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting, or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorized by us. This 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.”

• The pages and official sources of the international regulators' list alert are shared with the authority directly or by other countries' supervisory bodies or transmitted centrally. Those tools and the general purpose of the regulatory bodies operate in order to enable stability of the market offerings, protect clients from potential and numerous frauds, enable reliability rules to financial service entities, and more. As Royal GTX got no license to operate within the EU and other regulated jurisdictions, the broker was blacklisted and alerted by the EU authority.

Royal GTX Review Conclusion

We advise all investors and traders to avoid Royal GTX 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 Alpari and XM.

Royal GTX Update

Recently the Royal GTX website remains inactive, meaning the broker has muted its trading offering and does not propose account openings. However, we still advise the traders to be alert and careful, in case they receive trading proposals. 

Is Premium Brokers Scam or Legit Broker?

No, it is not safe to trade with Premium Brokers, as it is an offshore company. This broker is owned and operated by Premium Solutions Ltd, Incorporation number 101925, The Trust Company Complex, Ajeltake Road, Ajeltake Island, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands.

• The Marshall Islands is an offshore zone attracting various firms that for one reason or another escape from serious regulation or compliance to international service providing. However, in the case of financial investment or trading firms, the company should be a very respected entity, as the statistics show that the majority of non-authorized firms never recovered the sums of investors' investments. Therefore, we always advise avoiding offshore or companies with no license as there are too many frauds around.

What is Premium Brokers?

Premium Brokers is an international brokerage company that offers multi-asset trading to its customers and also advanced information technologies, software products for business, and various financial instruments. The broker also offers such benefits as low market spreads (Find the best forex broker with the lowest spreads, also find 0 spread brokers by link), absence of re-quotes, transparent deals, and innovative trading technologies. 

• However, Premium Brokers has been blacklisted by the Spanish regulator CNMV:

“Premium Brokers is not authorized to provide the investment services, which include investment advice, nor to provide the auxiliary in relation to the financial instruments, including, for those purposes, foreign currency transactions.”

• The pages and official sources of the international regulators' list alert are shared with the authority directly or by other countries' supervisory bodies or transmitted centrally. Those tools and the general purpose of the regulatory bodies operate in order to enable stability of the market offerings, protect clients from potential and numerous frauds, enable reliability rules to financial service entities, and more. As Premium Brokers got no license to operate within the EU and other regulated jurisdictions, the broker was blacklisted and alerted by the EU authority.

Premium Brokers Review Conclusion

We strongly advise all investors and traders to avoid Premium Brokers and other brokers from the Marshall Islands. Offshore brokers do not provide enough safety measures, thus trading with them means putting your investments at risk. Traders should trade with well-regulated brokers such as UK brokers or brokers in Australia and reliable brokers such as FP Markets and eToro.

Premium Brokers Update

Recently the Premium Brokers website remains inactive, meaning the broker has muted its trading offering and does not propose account openings. However, we still advise the traders to be alert and careful, in case they receive trading proposals. 

Is Uptos Scam or Legit broker?

Uptos 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.

• It is not safe to trade with Uptos as it is an offshore broker. Uptos LTD is registered and operates as a financial investment company under the laws of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
• However, the fact is that St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an offshore zone, which does register the financial investment firm, but provides very poor if none requirements for the company's operation. That means, the broker is not regulated, not overseen, and does not comply with strict international rules that provide protective measures to the traders. Therefore, it became an offshore zone for shady forex brokers such as CVC Markets, AAG Markets, and more. Read more about St. Vincent and the Grenadines regulation by the link.

What is Uptos?

Uptos claims to be a leading foreign exchange broker with competitive trading conditions (See the Best Regulated Forex Brokers). This multi-asset trading platform offers over 250+ products across multi-asset classes such as currencies, stocks, commodities and energies, derivatives, and many more. The broker also provides MetaTrader 5 platform (Check out MT5 brokers' list) and leverage up to 400:1, while also broker adds on new features like Uptos Token and Uptos Coin with purpose to diversify.

However, the claims are not considered serious since Broker is solely offshore firm which is not considered safe enough. Moreover, Uptos has been blacklisted by the Italian regulator CONSOB:

“CONSOB  availed itself of the powers deriving from the “growth decree” regarding the blackout of the sites (including Uptos LTD (website www.uptos.net) of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as the new power introduced by Law no. 8 of 28 February 2020, regarding the blackout of the site through which the abusive bid is made.”

Overall Uptos Ranking 

Since our research revealed multiple issues in respect of Uptos regulation and reliability, we do not rank positively Uptos, based on our Expert Opinion with over 10 Years of experience in Forex Trading.

• Uptos 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.

Uptos Alternative Brokers

Based on the Uptos regulations and safety issues we revealed during our research, we suggest much better Alternatives to Uptos with good regulations and excellent conditions. We select Good Brokers and trustworthy options for your comparison below: 

• Pepperstone – Best for Copy Traders
• XM – Broeker with Low Minimum Deposit
• Interactive Brokers – Good for Stock Trading

Uptos in India

Uptos allows Indian traders to open accounts and trade. However, Uptos has no mention of complying with any Indian regulators on its website. It is also worth mentioning that Forex trading is actually prohibited in India. The broker is not regulated by any regulatory body in India, that’s why money safety may be the issue here.

Uptos in the USA

The United States is one of the countries that is not accepted by Uptos. As per U.S law, brokers regulated by CFTC are the only brokers allowed for USA traders. So, except for Uptos, you are only permitted to trade with the U.S-regulated platforms.

Deposits & Withdrawals

The minimum deposit is $250. Traders can deposit with Credit/Debit Cards, American Express, PayPal, Skrill, and Wire Transfer. The broker does not charge any deposit fees. 

Apps

The broker offers an UpTrader platform. The platform offers advanced financial trading functions, as well as tools for technical and fundamental analysis. UpTrader can also trade automatically by using trading robots and trading signals. In addition to the desktop and mobile versions, the platform is available on the web and can be accessed from any device and is available on Windows, Android, and Apple. 

Demo Account

Uptos does not offer a demo account, which is a drawback too. 

Uptos Review Conclusion

Even though the trading offering might seem quite attractive at Uptos, the offshore status of the company does not guarantee the provision of services at the necessary level of client and fund protection. For that reason, we would advise choosing the broker more carefully and checking on at the first step the broker’s regulation status.

Reputable firms that hold FCA, FINMA, or other licenses are established in accordance with international standards, protecting clients at every step and even compensating the trader in case if the things go wrong with the company. Thus we advise to sign in with regulated brokers like Pepperstone and TMGM.

• Overall ranking and experience for Uptos is Negative