2011 Forex Broker Scam of the Year Nominees

[AsstModerator]

2011 Forex Broker Scam of the Year Nominees
(in chronological order)​

Like in the non-broker category, there are fewer nominees this year. The FPA Traders Court has helped to resolve issues and also has kept companies from being labelled scam for some lesser issues. There are 3 nominees in the Broker category this year...


Prime4x.com

Technically, they got their Scam Finding in December of 2011. When the poll was set up last year, there were still some negotiations to try to salvage the situation, so I saved them for this year.

Prime started making withdrawals more and more difficult. The number of excuses varied wildly. At first, if the promised the FPA they'd pay someone, they usually did. Later, they kept breaking promises over and over again. I'm proud to say that the FPA had a hand in putting these scammers out of business.


Discussion Thread for the Scam Finding against Prime4x.com

Call for Prime4x to pay clients or go out of business

Original warning message sent about Prime4x.com

FPA Scam Finding against Prime 4x

FPA Review Page for Prime4x


JadeFx.com

In March 2011, the complaints started. Jade's trading server went down. Before any formal complaints were placed with the FPA, the company ended up being charged by the CFTC. Client money wasn't segregated and was spent for other purposes.

Discussion thread for FPA Scam Finding against JadeFx.com

Original complaint against Jade Fx

CFTC Press release regarding JadeFx

FPA Scam Finding against Jade Fx

FPA Review Page for JadeFx.com


InvestTechFx.com

Like Prime4x, InvestTechFx had a long history of excuses for not paying money owed to traders. Like Prime4x, InvestTech did cooperate with the FPA at first, but eventually stopped paying withdrawals. ITFX had some of it's own unique methods. Traders who's balance exceeded $25,000 were automatically declared to be VIPs and were told that they couldn't withdraw any money for a full year. Other traders would be accused of "illegal" trading, but be told that this could be overlooked if they made no money for a year. They also had some very interesting claims about how their insurance provider could block withdrawals. I ran the insurance story by a manager at another broker and he thought it was a very creative piece of fiction.

ITFX had some of the first traders court cases. Suddenly, brand new forums accounts were being created just to vote innocent. They tried to cheat, but it wasn't enough to avoid a string of guilty verdicts that eventually led to a SCAM finding.

The latest reports are that InvestTech Fx is filing small claims court cases against traders. It seems that successful trading is somehow costing the company money and they are suing to collect damages. In some cases the damages are more than the amount in the account.

If you are still owed money by InvestTechFx.com, please post an update in this thread...

InvestTechFx Problems? Post here.


Other InvestTechFx links...

Discussion Thread for the Scam Finding against InvestTechFx

FPA Scam Finding against Invest Tech Fx

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


Voting will remain open for about 3 months.

 

[seravitae]

Been a member of FPA for a while. I fully support the concept of FPA as such, however, are we not getting a tad pompous if we actually start to get our members involved in nominating 'awards' for bad behavior? Most of us are here, if not all, not because this is a 'game'...

From a certain angle, in my opinion, this 'light heartedness' actually detracts us from the serious elements of fraud. And yes, I do understand it's satirical/sarcastic, but am I the only one who thinks it's not appropriate?... What's next.. nominations for murderer of the year??

S.

 

[FreddyFX]

Been a member of FPA for a while. I fully support the concept of FPA as such, however, are we not getting a tad pompous if we actually start to get our members involved in nominating 'awards' for bad behavior? Most of us are here, if not all, not because this is a 'game'...

From a certain angle, in my opinion, this 'light heartedness' actually detracts us from the serious elements of fraud. And yes, I do understand it's satirical/sarcastic, but am I the only one who thinks it's not appropriate?... What's next.. nominations for murderer of the year??

S.

Agree with you on above 100%.

Maybe it is nowadays also about ratings, like the big networks.

 

[Zealot]

MF Global wins hands down. I can't believe it's not up there for voting.

 

[Laurie Gold]

Like Zealot, I think Mf Global should be a candidate as well as a company that got me and other FPA Members, Intelfx.

 

[Pharaoh]

I personally think the Scam of the Year awards are a good idea. It's a review of which companies got those very well deserved scam ratings and also brings more attention to the ones that are still in the business of scamming people. If even one trader ends up avoiding getting scammed because of this, it's worth it.

 

[seravitae]

I personally think the Scam of the Year awards are a good idea. It's a review of which companies got those very well deserved scam ratings and also brings more attention to the ones that are still in the business of scamming people. If even one trader ends up avoiding getting scammed because of this, it's worth it.

another way to ensure that even one trader doesn't get scammed is by bringing good brokers and managers to their attention. But we do not have an award for best/honest/fair broker of the year? Just seems ultra-negative to me.

For a forum with 'peace' in the name, we sure are looking for a fight.

 

[Pharaoh]

i can see some possible issues with that.

1. Not every broker is suitable for every client.

2. Keeping the voting for such a thing honest would be a very difficult task.

3. Some very well rated brokers have gone bad and made client money disappear.

 

[Romeo]

I can realize the problematic in having a negative voting, but as Pharaoh wrote, if a brokerage is nominee as Scam Broker of the Year, a potential new Victim will most probably not go for it and choose a better broker.

On the other hand, having a positive vote as the best broker of the year brings a lot of problems. Most important I can think of are:

1. Fake voters
2. Some "friends" will start accusing FPA for helping brokers increasing their popularity
3. Conflicts between members