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Problem I need help dealing with a situation - Ariol Investment Group

I am having an issue with a company

KarmaWins

Recruit
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5
Hi there everyone, I could really use some advice on how to manage my situation where I have lost a significant amount of money since setting up a trading account with Ariol Investment Group ariolinv-gr.com, who, FYI are an unregulated broker and despite the info on the website, are very difficult to contact unless you do this directly via your 'account manager' who provides you with a number that you can WhatsApp them on. I'm very aware of how foolish I have been so please be kind in the comments....

So, in Feb 23 I opened an account with min. balance (paid in in crypto) and made some profit. I withdrew a small amount but was pressured into trading with more (money I did not have) and somehow, my account manager persueded me to deposit $25k (which I borrowed), under the assurance of great profits. This was applied as an 'awaiting deposit', and I was told once I had paid this off, I could withdraw. In hindsight the account manager was so disrespectful of my money - leaving large trades open for days at a time, no clear strategy, high risk, large trades left open over the weekend etc etc.... I honestly don't even know if they were placing trades or if it was all a facade.

Once I paid off the deposit the first time I tried to withdraw but was told by my account manager as it was a Friday night at like 6pm (which it was to be fair to them) the financial dept. wouldn't be there to approve it, so I should wait until after the weekend.
Anyway, that weekend just so happened to be the weekend of the Silicon Valley Bank crash, so come Monday AM, all my trades that were open (and there were quite a few) had plummeted and my margin was described as very poor. At this point I was pressured into agreeing to another awaiting deposit, which I really did not want to do as I had no money to pay it off. I was told that if I didn't, I would be in danger of losing all of the money in the account. Obviously I had borrowed this money and was now very scared I was going to lose it all. So the awaiting deposit was applied...

Many things went wrong after this - obviously these are all crypto transactions and they weren't easy to make with new crypto accounts (mine) and a large sum ended up getting frozen by Binance. I eventually got it back but this meant that the deposit wasn't paid off for some time. There was an agreement from Ariol that stated that if the deposit wasn't paid off by the deadline, the account would revert back to it's state before the credit was applied (this was sent to me via email when the 2nd credit was applied). I tried to do this on many occasions, saying I couldn't pay off the credit and wanted to see how the account could be saved and reverted to how it was before the 2nd credit was applied. Only then was I told I'd had a margin call and this wouldn't be possible. I was only told this afterwards (when I owed more money due to the unpaid deposit) and was not told about the margin call at the time when the 2nd credit was applied. I communicated time and time again that I couldn't pay the second credit (bear in mind I've already 'invested' $25k at this point) and wanted to pull out and take my chances with the accout how it was. I strongly suspected a scam at this point but wanted to maintain a relationship in the slim hope I could recover some money. I was told initially I could revert the account, but then this was passed onto the 'financial department' and things started to get really ugly for me.

Now Ariol start to threaten me with a court case and AML implications. Saying I've made profit with company money and needed to repay the awaiting deposit. The whole AML reference is hilarious really, considering Ariol are not regulated and have been accused of scamming people on multiple occasions. All the while, 1 star reviews are appearing on Trustpilot saying the company is scamming people out of multiple thousands. Despite this, I was intimidated and scared at this point. My account manager then offered to pay half the deposit off if I just came up with the rest - they said they did it to help clients all the time. I'm ashamed to say there appeared to be a relationship there at this point, so I agreed. Plus, I was completely terrified and felt out of options. So we did this but then surprise surprise, they got 'caught' by the company, suposedly sacked, and I'm left still owing half the deposit amount. I was told once again that if I just paid the remaining deposit I could withdraw. But I know that's bull**** and no matter how much money I give this company, I'll never be able to withdraw the profits (if they even exist).

I need to understand if I have any options here - where can I report this? What are my best chances of getting some or all of my money back? How do I stop this from happening to other people?? This horrendous company has ruined my mental health and I have lost a ton of money. I'm extremely angry with myself for allowing it to happen but it has and now I need to do whatever I can to try and sort it out!! I know quite a lot of info about this 'company', but like I said they are not FCA regulated and I strongly suspect they have broken the law by misleading people in order to scam them out of money. Please help!!
 
Hi there,

Really sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately this company is certainly a scam and all the so called trades they were doing must be on demo/not real and hence they can say what they want to ensure that you lost/think you lost your money on the markets.

I would have suggested a bank chargeback but that only works if you’ve paid through credit card and unfortunately in your case (crypto payments) are untraceable/can not be crawled back.

The best thing that can happen if the authorities get hold of this company and bring them down and then maybe (low chance) that they will repay some of the victims with what ever is left (most of the time is nothing left unfortunately).

Sorry to be not giving you any good news but you are doing the right thing here - expose this company and submit any evidence to all the authorities that are locally to you and internationally.

Finally, what ever you do don’t be lured further by so called recovery companies - they will not get your money back and they will only take more money from you and you end up at a worst place.

Thanks and you will make it out of this (stay strong).
 
I'm very aware of how foolish I have been so please be kind in the comments....
The first step to recovery is to admit where mistakes have been made.

...but was pressured into trading with more (money I did not have) and somehow, my account manager persueded me to deposit $25k (which I borrowed), under the assurance of great profits. This was applied as an 'awaiting deposit', and I was told once I had paid this off, I could withdraw.

First Mistake (4-in-1): depositing money that you couldn't afford to lose.
And not knowing the real odds of making the money back.
And not studying the business model of the company you were depositing with.
And not having any control over your greed/gambling impulses.

Despite this, I was intimidated and scared at this point. My account manager then offered to pay half the deposit off if I just came up with the rest - they said they did it to help clients all the time. I'm ashamed to say there appeared to be a relationship there at this point, so I agreed. Plus, I was completely terrified and felt out of options.
I want to clarify...you deposited another $12.5k, on top of the $25k USD you already deposited?

This horrendous company has ruined my mental health and I have lost a ton of money. I'm extremely angry with myself for allowing it to happen but it has and now I need to do whatever I can to try and sort it out!!
Mental health crisis? Check out this case here: https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/comm...tolen-275k-euro-and-is-ruining-my-life.77218/

And really most cases on FPA. You case isn't really unique.

There is not much that can be done but for you to be taught how to gather the evidence together and some techniques so that you will avoid making a similar mistake moving forward (you'd be surprised how often people make similar mistakes). I will send a DM shortly.
 
Hi there,

Really sorry to hear about your situation. Unfortunately this company is certainly a scam and all the so called trades they were doing must be on demo/not real and hence they can say what they want to ensure that you lost/think you lost your money on the markets.

I would have suggested a bank chargeback but that only works if you’ve paid through credit card and unfortunately in your case (crypto payments) are untraceable/can not be crawled back.

The best thing that can happen if the authorities get hold of this company and bring them down and then maybe (low chance) that they will repay some of the victims with what ever is left (most of the time is nothing left unfortunately).

Sorry to be not giving you any good news but you are doing the right thing here - expose this company and submit any evidence to all the authorities that are locally to you and internationally.

Finally, what ever you do don’t be lured further by so called recovery companies - they will not get your money back and they will only take more money from you and you end up at a worst place.

Thanks and you will make it out of this (stay strong).
Thank you so much for your comment and I have already reported to the FCA and will also do so to the fraud police. Even though I have accepted that I probably won't get my money back, I still need to push on and do what I can to help others and hopefully in the process bring myself some closure and forgiveness. It's mind blowing that people can do this kind of thing to others. I honestly don't know how they don't drive themselves crazy with guilt.
 
The first step to recovery is to admit where mistakes have been made.



First Mistake (4-in-1): depositing money that you couldn't afford to lose.
And not knowing the real odds of making the money back.
And not studying the business model of the company you were depositing with.
And not having any control over your greed/gambling impulses.


I want to clarify...you deposited another $12.5k, on top of the $25k USD you already deposited?


Mental health crisis? Check out this case here: https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/comm...tolen-275k-euro-and-is-ruining-my-life.77218/

And really most cases on FPA. You case isn't really unique.

There is not much that can be done but for you to be taught how to gather the evidence together and some techniques so that you will avoid making a similar mistake moving forward (you'd be surprised how often people make similar mistakes). I will send a DM shortly.
Thank you @4evermaat, I appreciate your time taken to comment. I am acutely aware of the mistakes I have made and now, even if I cannot recover my money, I need to raise awareness and hopefully stop this from happening to anyone else. I also need to expose this in the hope it helps me to get some closure. This has been a very harsh lesson for me and it saddens me to learn that this is not unique and similar things have happened to others. What a horrible waste of money, time, effort and a dreadful impact on many honest people. If I ever try trading again I will approach it in an entirely different way!

To clarify - I actually deposited a further $15k after the initial $25k as the 2nd awaiting deposit was for $30k.
In terms of evidence, I have company registration docs that I was sent when I was challenging them on their legitimacy, an address in Amsterdam, phone numbers, names (likely fake), and a few other company documents like the deposit confirmation. My account is still live on the Ariol webtrader site and I can log in and see my details/trades etc.

Thanks again for your comment and I'll check out your DM too.
 
Have a chat with Binance and let them know about this company.

Since Crypto is involved, reporting them to the US Secret Service is a very good idea:

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/community/threads/secretservice-gov-for-scams-involving-crypto.77194/

And if you go through the instructions, you'll find even more places to file reports:

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/community/threads/it-looks-like-youve-been-scammed-are-you-going-to-help-the-scammers-or-fight-back.77205/

The more reports, the better the chance some agency will take action.
 
Have a chat with Binance and let them know about this company.

Since Crypto is involved, reporting them to the US Secret Service is a very good idea:

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/community/threads/secretservice-gov-for-scams-involving-crypto.77194/

And if you go through the instructions, you'll find even more places to file reports:

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/community/threads/it-looks-like-youve-been-scammed-are-you-going-to-help-the-scammers-or-fight-back.77205/

The more reports, the better the chance some agency will take action.
Thank you! I appreciate the comment, advice and your time.
 
The website is not even 2 months old!! File an IC3 report, FINRA report and a US Secret Service Report.

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Website IP
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