Be careful when choosing a broker!

Police identified scammers who extorted money through cryptocurrencies

In Moldova, several criminal groups were identified that defrauded people under the pretext of investing in cryptocurrencies or shares of major international companies.

This was announced on December 3 by the General Police Inspectorate. The attackers operated through social networks, publishing ads about the opportunity to receive fabulous income in the shortest possible time.

Victims were convinced that they needed to deposit a certain amount into foreign accounts. After the criminals obtained the funds, a personal account was created on fake websites showing the amount deposited, as well as false information about the income received.

By imitating income 4-10 times higher than the invested amount, the suspects additionally requested payment of "mythical" fees or represented themselves as lawyers who could help with the procedure of canceling the received income.

Currently, police have identified several fake websites used by scammers: GoldenClub, Aegis, Phoenix, InvestCorp, Simpleway, BTG-Capital Ltd, ZMedia.

In this regard, ISU recommends that citizens avoid registering and completing surveys on social networks and dubious websites. If you have become a victim of criminals, it is recommended to contact the police and the bank that services your card.

How can you understand from the start that you are dealing with scammers?

Considering that one of our services is consulting about everything related to stock exchange activities, people who have suffered losses with such scammers also contact us. Unfortunately, we want to mention that fraud cases are much more numerous than what is circulated on the internet and television. The previous case in the media was: https://trading.md/22-de-retinuti-in-dosarul-tranzactiilor-suspecte-pe-forex/ In most cases we have encountered, victims described approximately the same tactics used by scammers, and we want to warn you what they may be.

Signs that indicate possible scams:

• The broker (or the person with the proposal) found you without you contacting them. This can be the first signal that you will be deceived! Our company has been active in the field of stock exchange activities since 2012 and, cooperating with approximately 20 brokerage companies and banks, throughout this period we learned, observed, and found that a legal broker will never contact you first! They only call back if a person has registered on their own or has requested the broker's services.
• The broker (or the person with the proposal) guarantees you monthly, daily profits... On the stock exchange, as in many other fields, there are no guarantees that you will make a profit. Successful traders make money, in some months more, in others less, and sometimes they lose. So the future result will depend only on the synchronization between the trader's strategy and market evolution. And what the market will be like tomorrow, nobody can know for sure! Therefore, there may be probabilities of profiting, but no guarantees! From a legal point of view, brokers regulated by strong financial conduct authorities are not allowed to use the word "guaranteed", because they will be penalized. Offshore brokers do whatever they want, because nobody controls them...
• The broker (or the person with the proposal) offers you super convenient deals. Starting in 2018, ESMA - European Securities and Markets Authority prohibited brokers licensed in the European Union from offering large bonuses or any bonuses at all, and set maximum leverage of 1:30 for European residents. The same applies to UK residents, according to FCA - Financial Conduct Authority, which has the highest status among global financial regulators, excluding those in the USA. ASIC - the Australian Financial Conduct Authority, which is considered the second strongest after FCA, later did the same. In other words, you must know that regulated brokers do not offer super bonuses when you open an account with them. Therefore, when you receive offers with bonuses of hundreds of percent, or other types of offers that look grandiose at first glance, be very careful who the broker is and what is being proposed to you!
• The broker (or the person with the proposal) offers you trading signals and/or an account manager who helps you trade. These things are categorically forbidden! Financial conduct authorities do not allow brokers to interfere in trading on clients' accounts. Brokers can provide educational materials, market news and analysis, but not trading signals! Offshore brokers are not checked and use such deceptive offers because people like to hear that they will be helped. In the end, however, the signals of these brokers have an unpleasant purpose for traders...
• The broker (or the person with the proposal) proposes that you deposit cash, through crypto, or by methods other than a bank. Regulated brokers are not allowed to receive/release cash. The basic method by which traders deposit and withdraw money from trading accounts is using cards or bank accounts. Only offshore brokers, who do not want to leave traces that they will ultimately not return your money, tell you to deposit cash (which is illegal) or through cryptocurrency sites, and justify it with different stories believed by uninformed people.
• The broker (or the person with the proposal) prevents you from withdrawing money from your account. With regulated brokers, deposit and withdrawal procedures work automatically, so clients can do this whenever they want, quickly and without explanations. If you try to withdraw a sum of money from your account, but then a broker representative calls you and tries to convince you not to withdraw, for example because there are good market prospects right now and you could profit more, or because you need to pay a tax on accumulated profit, or for other reasons, then this is a sure indicator that you have ended up with an offshore broker and it is possible that you will not be able to withdraw the money, or they will return a small part of your investment to make you believe everything is fine and later deposit even more.
• And most importantly: the broker is not regulated. A broker's license is the first thing that must be checked! To be authorized to operate legally, a brokerage company must hold at least one license and be regulated by at least one financial conduct authority in some country. If the broker has several licenses received in different countries, then the strongest one is the main license, and the company establishes its headquarters in that country. About licenses and regulation: In any country, only the national bank or financial conduct authority can issue a license to provide brokerage services. For example, if you founded a brokerage company in Moldova, the license would have to be obtained from CNPF or BNM, which would then constantly check whether you operate correctly and penalize you if you have violations, or perhaps even cancel your license so you can no longer operate. Top brokerage companies establish their companies and obtain licenses in economically highly developed countries, where the regulator and national bank are very strict and prestigious on the global arena of stock exchange services. These brokers provide the highest quality brokerage services and do not deceive their clients, which is why large and skilled investors/traders work with them. But around the world there are also regions called "offshores". These are usually islands where a brokerage license is offered for money and very quickly, and the so-called "broker" will not be regulated after that!!! In other words, the broker can then do whatever it wants (including not returning clients' money), and will not be penalized in any way for this. But when you talk to these brokers, they say they have a license. Yes, they do, but they do not mention that it is a purchased license!) From this point, financial market participants use 2 terms:Regulation - legal activity with transparent services. Trusted broker. License - represents a purchased piece of paper with no value for traders. Unregulated broker. Unsafe company.

Here are some examples of regulators and licenses, separated by their status among experienced traders globally:

• strong ones: FCA from the UK, ASIC from Australia, FINMA from Switzerland, BaFIN from Germany, CBI from Ireland, …
• have no value provide no financial protection for investors: FSA from the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, BVI from the British Virgin Islands, IFSC from Belize, ....

How do you check if the broker is regulated?

Offshore brokers do not say they are not regulated, they lie that they are good. But you should not believe everything you are told. The information can be checked easily:
On each broker's page (usually at the bottom, at the end), the company's legal address, the licenses and regulations it holds, and their identification numbers must be indicated.

1. If the legal address is on some islands somewhere in the middle of the oceans (St. Vincent and the Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Belize,..), then the company is offshore.
2. If the address indicates a strong country and respectively a strong regulator, go to that regulator's website and check in the list of regulated companies whether this company exists, by its name or identification number.
3. If the address is not familiar to you, check where this address is located on Google Maps, then verify according to point 1 or 2.
4. If information about the broker's legal address and licenses is missing at the bottom of the website, it is clear that the company is hiding them, so the broker is possibly offshore. Because if it had serious regulation, it would surely boast about this status.

ATTENTION!
Money recovery companies

You have probably heard about companies promoting services to recover money from scam brokers. You should know that these can also be scammers! And in most cases, that is exactly what they are...
The problem is that these companies, which pretend to be big lawyers, are also offshore in origin and, relying on the misfortune of people deceived by offshore brokers, lie that they will help them. In fact, they trick them out of even more money, saying they have found the trail of the investments and need money for expenses to return it. And they will drain you like this until you realize it. But it will be too late again!

Therefore, you must know that if an offshore broker does not return your investments, no recovery company will help you, because it is practically impossible to get money out of offshore zones. All real lawyers know this. And pseudo-lawyers will try to deceive you further.

Do you have suspicions about your broker?

Use the Trading.md consulting service to verify together with one of our specialists what your broker represents and what you should pay attention to. Consultations are free. 060-887-887

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Trade safely!

The first thing every trader must do correctly is choose a trusted broker, and then learn a good trading strategy. A scam broker could distort your results (for the better on a demo account and for the worse on a real account), so success really begins with choosing a legal brokerage company!

Trading.md is the first and only platform in the history of our country that promotes trading and investing on the stock exchange through regulated brokers. Only through regulated brokers! We have extensive experience in everything related to stock exchange services and have compiled a list of several brokerage companies and banks authorized among the strongest globally. Analyze the list and their characteristics to choose one that suits you. If you are not sure how to choose, register for a free consultation using the form above.

List of Regulated Brokers