InvestTechFx, how many more excuses can you think of?

InvestTechFx, how many more excuses can you think of?

InvestTechFx already had a colorful history with the FPA's reviews and Scam Investigations. In 2009, they posted fake reviews for themselves. In 2010, they got so bad about demanding that negative reviews be removed before sending money owed to traders that the Review Moderation Team had to add warnings to their review page.

After much negotiation, on April 4, 2010, InvestTechFX, Canada posted this pledge to the FPA's reviews...

We would like to make an official statement from InvestTechFX regarding the reviews stating that our company will never demand that negative reviews be removed before sending money owed to traders. This would go a long way towards preventing future problem. Thank you.

In the last couple of months, we've seen several attempts to withdraw reviews before money was sent. We also have a copy of one agreement sent to a trader by InvestTech that requires a review to be removed before money owed to a trader is sent.

If your bank locked up your account and it took months to get them to agree to let you withdraw any of your money, no court in any civilized country would allow the bank to say “We won't send you your money until you delete all negative reviews and postings you've made about us.” We truly doubt that any court would require removing even a single truthful word even after your money was sent. Instead, regulators would step in and deal with any bank or other regulated investment firm that tried to force clients to remove factual information from the web while holding money that belonged to those clients hostage.

The number of complaints continued to climb. InvestTech finally hired a lawyer to deal with all withdrawals from Hungary. As far as we can tell, her real assignment was to permanently not send any money to Hungarian clients. Subsequently, she's started dealing with clients from other countries and appears to have written at least one agreement sent to a client in clear violation InvestTech's pledge to the FPA. She promised one FPA member that she'd get back to him shortly – on February 14th. He's still waiting.

InvestTechFx has two primary methods we've seen to keep a trader's money.

Method 1 is to tell the trader that the account has reached VIP status. For some reason, InvestTech FX VIP status is uniquely different from anything we've seen at any other brokerage. There are supposed to be some benefits, but the drawback is that you can't withdraw anything from your trading account until a full year has passed.

Method 2 is to accuse the trader of some sort of rules violation, and offer to overlook this if the trader agrees to keep all or most of the money in the account for a full year. If the trader clearly shows that the rule quoted wasn't violated, then a new rule is pulled out. The most common one is to accuse the trader of somehow forcing Invest Tech's trading platform to give favorable offmarket prices by overloading the platform with orders by utilizing high frequency trading. From the experience of Scam Committee members, using an EA that sends in too many pending orders and order changes just results in an increase in unfavorable slippage and requotes for all traders using that server.

This excuse fails another simple test. ITFX claims that the orders really didn't make it to the liquidity provider, so should be canceled. We would believe this if the orders were canceled in a day. We might believe it if the orders were canceled in a week. We could even consider believing it if they were canceled in a month, if it was a very small number of orders on any one account. Instead, it seems to be virtually all the orders on an account, and it's usually noticed after a promised withdrawal doesn't arrive.

There are a couple of other issues. If a client manages to really corner InvestTech and demands withdrawing all of the money, the next common tactic is to try to settle for only half of the account – while making the client agree to withdraw all public comments and make no future comments or claims.

Complaints have continued to pile up. There have been 8 FPA Traders Court Cases filed against InvestTech. One of them was resolved when they paid. Seven have not been. Very suspiciously, a large number of brand new forums accounts were created, apparently for the sole purpose of voting Not Guilty on InvestTech cases in the FPA Traders Court.

Now there is a report of these one year commitments automatically being extended for a year if the trader doesn't give InvestTechFx 30 days notice. This is supposed to be a trading account, not an apartment rental agreement.

There are other issues. One InvestTechFx employee named Alan has been named as making threats and behaving in other unprofessional manners towards traders trying to withdraw their money. He seems to prefer to pressure the trader into agreeing to his terms, and only then sending the terms in writing to be signed while always never putting anything along the lines of “or else this will happen” in writing. On trader who told Alan that he would report the company to the FPA, the CFTC, and the Toronto Fraud department reports that Alan's response was, “If you report us to any regulatory agency you will not see any of your money, this I promise you.” Alan, any normal, honest, regulated broker would have either sent the money owed or welcomed a report to a regulator of the money wasn't owed.

Currently, the CFTC is suing InvestTechFx over what appear to be some registration issues. With reports like this coming in, we assume that this investigation will expand into other areas of InvestTech FX's business soon enough.

As of now, no reviews for InvestTechFx.com will be removed from their review page at the FPA. Factual errors may be corrected. History of delayed payments and other issues will not be removed, but updates about getting money later will be added. If InvestTech later agrees to all of the FPA's terms for lifting the scam finding against the company, this policy may be reexamined after 2 full years have elapsed. We won't even make InvestTech give the FPA 30 days advanced notice before asking about having the policy changed after 2 years are up.

For now, failure to return money owed to traders is the FPA's First Definition of Scam. InvestTechFx is hereby blacklisted by the Forex Peace Army and we consider the company to be a Scam.

We advise all clients of InvestTechFx to try to withdraw their funds immediately. If you have an account there and encounter a problem withdrawing your funds, we recommend that you contact the appropriate authorities immediately. We strongly urge other traders not to open accounts there.


FPA Scam Finding against InvestTechFx.com

FPA Review Page for InvestTechFx


Complaint threads about InvestTechFx

ArnieFX's original complaint against InvestrechFX

Fabiano's Original Complaint Thread (Issue resolved)

Louis F's original complaint against InvestTech

Monkata's original complaint against Invest Tech

Gonzzo's original complaint against InvestTech

Ali Nadoom's original complaint against ITFX

Robert Li's original complaint against InvestTechFx

PipBiker's original complaint against InvestTech (received partial payment as settlement)

Pharaoh's complaint that ITFX appears to be trying to cheat in the FPA Traders Court

CFTC Sues 14 Forex Companies (including InvestTechFx)

And there are more. Dig through the Scam Alerts Folder to find them.


FPA Traders Court Verdicts regarding InvestTechFx

RESOLVED: Fabiano vs. InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: Alex Kanuck vs. InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: ArnieFX vs InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: Monkata vs. InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: Loius F. vs. InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: Ali Nadoom vs. InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: Robert Li vs. InvestTechFx.com

GUILTY: Gonzzo vs. InvestTechFx.com
 
I have only praise for the job done by FPA investigators and I myself have received help from them in the past regarding a couple of broker issues. But what I find hard to believe is that it took so long for the scam finding against InvestechFX. This has been one of the more obvious cases of scam from a broker for may be 2-3 years but somehow InvesttechFX managed to slip through the net. You've got to give it to them that they have been a slippery and cunning broker for that long, hiding, ducking, threatening, then making only 10% payment of client's profit to resolve a case. A real swindler.
 
Last edited:
I have only praise for the job done by FPA investigators and I myself have received help from them in the past regarding a couple of broker issues. But what I find hard to believe is that it took so long for the scam finding against InvestechFX. This has been one of the more obvious cases of scam from a broker for may be 2-3 years but somehow InvesttechFX managed to slip through the net. You've got to give it to them that they have been a slippery and cunning broker for that long, hiding, ducking, threatening, then making only 10% payment of client's profit to resolve a case. A real swindler.

I personally have a problem with the way FPA deal with these kind of brokers/software vendors!

If the broker/software vendor returns their clients due monies, they are then classed as NOT GUILTY!

Clearly they have been guilty all along and paying up under pressure, to me, does not desreve a not guilty verdict!

I think there should be another categary under which these cases should be filed after such a payment.

As it is at present, they just say there was a complaint but they have been cleared by the FPA and they then carry on as before.
 
If they return money for an individual case, that case is considered to be resolved. At this point, it looks like the FPA is done allowing their games and just paying the 7 traders with guilty verdicts wont get the scam finding lifted. Read the scam finding and you'll find there are 9 conditions to get it lifted.

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/fore...solved-scam-cases/14704-investtechfx-com.html

Many of those conditions will require major TOS changes that will prevent any further BS of the types this company is famous for.
 
If they return money for an individual case, that case is considered to be resolved. At this point, it looks like the FPA is done allowing their games and just paying the 7 traders with guilty verdicts wont get the scam finding lifted. Read the scam finding and you'll find there are 9 conditions to get it lifted.

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/fore...solved-scam-cases/14704-investtechfx-com.html

Many of those conditions will require major TOS changes that will prevent any further BS of the types this company is famous for.

The FPA procedure here is, in my opinion, fair and just and designed for the best outcome.
 
What should we do?

What should we do? Can FPA help to hire lawyers to sue this company? Someone can work out the details?
 
Frankly speaking I didn't feel like leaving a comment here when I realized that the case is all about INVESTTECHFX. I have voted them guilty in all cases they have with traders here but what bothers me really is that they are still operating!

Is there not anything that can be done to STOP THEM?:unhappy:
 
If they return money for an individual case, that case is considered to be resolved. At this point, it looks like the FPA is done allowing their games and just paying the 7 traders with guilty verdicts wont get the scam finding lifted. Read the scam finding and you'll find there are 9 conditions to get it lifted.

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/fore...solved-scam-cases/14704-investtechfx-com.html

Many of those conditions will require major TOS changes that will prevent any further BS of the types this company is famous for.

Clearly with the higher class of lowlife scammer, it is not enough!

Perhaps something like 6 months of no complaint trading after a case is settled, is needed before a qualified acceptance of a broker/vendor back on the straight and narrow.

Then after 12 months, they are given the all clear.

Obviously, with some, a tougher stance is required!
 
Last edited:
Oh my God, they were actually my very first broker up until 9/10/2009. Great start to forex trading huh? I had may problems with them and also threatened to report them. I was dealing with a guy named Uri back then. I knew something wasn't right about them when after every weird spike & margin call, they would offer to fund my account if I would keep trading with them, instead of allowing me to withdraw my balance and close my account. Withdrawing what I had left to close the account was a real ordeal. My emails to them numbered in the dozens. Why am I not surprised to hear they would end in such disgrace? My heartfelt sympathy goes out to their clients. Great work FPA.
 
Back
Top