Been scamed by Option.FM

[Melato]

Hi All,

I signed up with Crunch-tech auto trader on the 3rd of August and they assigned me Option.FM as a broker I should trade with using their software. I deposited $250 and supplied my verification documents to these broker so that I can start trading on the same day.

I was told that to get documents verified it takes only two working days, but on the 5th of August I noticed that my account was not verified still, and when I enquired I was told the back side of my bank card could not be found. I did not object or anything I simply uploaded the picture again and informed the support team.

On the 7th of August I received a mail from Compliance team saying they could not get the requested picture on their system and they prefer if I sent the picture via mail, again I did not object, I sent the picture again to them and I expected my account to be verified as soon as they received the picture of the back side of my bank card. Today its the 10th of August and my account is still not verified and when I asked why these is still the case I am being told the same story of the back side of my card that can not be found.

I failed to mention that I have been losing most of my trades and I have been bleeding my investment away even though I am using a well tested auto trader. Crunch-tech has a reputation of providing 85% percent winning rate, but with me I only managed to win 2 trades out of seven trades I took with Crunch-tech.

After noticing that the auto trader is not doing what is supposed to be doing I started doing manual trades and I was being hammered also, losing even the well placed trades. However Last night on the 9th of August I placed two manual trades simultaneously and I decided to follow their status. To my surprise both were way of the mark by about 25 pips on their opening rate. I started to investigate what went wrong and then I started to notice that both my trades were manipulated by the broker software. If I do a Call trade the broker software would add extra 25 pips on my trade and for a Put trade they would make sure the opening rate is 25 pips below were is supposed to be. These was done since they assumed I am only using an auto trader and I might not see these discrepancy.

Crunch-tech never had a chance from the begining. And the delay to verify my account was just a way to keep me from withdrawing my remaining funds while my trades were being manipulated to loose.

After seeing these I decided to call it quits, and I asked to have my remaining funds processed for withdrawal and the account to be closed. However, after all I read about Option.fm I am not sure if my request to get funds withdrawn and the account to be closed will be successful.

Please assist.
Melato

 

[tolly]

Hi Melato-
I have copied this from my thread Option Fm(OFM) scam-
Yes you feel bad-yes you feel stupid-but don't blame yourself -There are many, many victims of these professional scammers.
You are lucky that you have found this FPA while every thing is still new!

Crunch-tech is just one off hundreds of different bots or aliases to suck you in. They all seem harmless-It's the so called brokers and the firms they work for that are corrupt!-You see you never had a chance! -As you get more experienced, you'll find that all the praise you heard about the software is just lies- the adds are made using professional actors and fictitious names!

In one way you are very lucky in that you haven't let the broker talk you into investing thousands. They trap you by giving a bonus and before you know it you've lost it all!!!!

If you deposited your money through use of a credit card - use the details below

Speak to the people at your bank, explain your situation and ask for a chargeback form to be sent to you-better still google your bank and see if they have a FAQ sheet with the download link. Basically the chargeback form is a form that gives you the many reasons why you can apply for chargeback. Example being- faulty goods, fraudulent use of you credit card and so on.

In your case it would probably be OFM not supplying the basic right of withdrawal as promised in their advertising.

Make a folder on your desktop and do a snapshot of your trades, your banking, particularly when and how much you invested,-and copies of your emails to and from OFM.

Also you'll need proof that you have tried to withdraw your investment. Do snapshots on the OFM banking platform. It will be there-withdrawal refused!

Stay calm and think your way through all this-You'll find within a week or so you'll get some really good pointers from some of the bigs guns on this sight -Follow their advice to the letter and you'll find that the exercise will empower you -strengthen you for the future.
Hope this helps -take care -Tolly

 

[Melato]

T

Hi Melato-
I have copied this from my thread Option Fm(OFM) scam-
Yes you feel bad-yes you feel stupid-but don't blame yourself -There are many, many victims of these professional scammers.
You are lucky that you have found this FPA while every thing is still new!

Crunch-tech is just one off hundreds of different bots or aliases to suck you in. They all seem harmless-It's the so called brokers and the firms they work for that are corrupt!-You see you never had a chance! -As you get more experienced, you'll find that all the praise you heard about the software is just lies- the adds are made using professional actors and fictitious names!

In one way you are very lucky in that you haven't let the broker talk you into investing thousands. They trap you by giving a bonus and before you know it you've lost it all!!!!

If you deposited your money through use of a credit card - use the details below

Speak to the people at your bank, explain your situation and ask for a chargeback form to be sent to you-better still google your bank and see if they have a FAQ sheet with the download link. Basically the chargeback form is a form that gives you the many reasons why you can apply for chargeback. Example being- faulty goods, fraudulent use of you credit card and so on.

In your case it would probably be OFM not supplying the basic right of withdrawal as promised in their advertising.

Make a folder on your desktop and do a snapshot of your trades, your banking, particularly when and how much you invested,-and copies of your emails to and from OFM.

Also you'll need proof that you have tried to withdraw your investment. Do snapshots on the OFM banking platform. It will be there-withdrawal refused!

Stay calm and think your way through all this-You'll find within a week or so you'll get some really good pointers from some of the bigs guns on this sight -Follow their advice to the letter and you'll find that the exercise will empower you -strengthen you for the future.
Hope this helps -take care -Tolly

Thank you Tolly, I am waiting for the withdrawal of the remaining funds in my account to be processed back to my account before taking any drastic steps.

I did collect all the necessary information and I will keep it save incase I need to use it.

Thank you for advice and from now on I will focus on education myself with all the necessary education courses offered by FPA.

Kind regards,
Melato

 

[Pharaoh]

Was $250 all you put in, or did they manage to convince you to add more?

 

[Melato]

Hi Pharaoh,

I only put $250 in my account with these broker, I refused to have my account managed by their broker and I refused to put in more in my account.

 

[Pharaoh]

Good.

Go ahead and have a talk with your credit card's issuing bank. Verify way the deadline is for requesting a chargeback. Don't let the broker delay you anywhere close to the deadline.

 

[Melato]

Hi Pharaoh,

I have received the funds that were remaining in my account. Even though I feel scammed, I am happy that I did see it before my entire investment was gone.

 

[tolly]

Good on you Melato!-
the point is this, without FPA you may or may not of received your investment back. One thing I know-
I'm sure you felt the empowerment that this forum gives, not in just this matter, but for problems that you and us will have in the future.
You are wise, to have sufficient caution in your investing.
Take care and be sure to spread the word because the forum is putting a lot of heat on people like OFM. Just recently Belgium banned Binary Options all together-certainly take the load of their fraud squad , hey!
take care-Tolly

 

[Pharaoh]

It's good that you didn't give in to any attempts to pressure you into more deposits, and it's great that you finally got back what was left.

Now's your big chance to avoid more scams. Avoid binary brokers like the plague. 99% of them are nearly always deposit-only. There are forex brokers like this, but those are a much smaller percent of the total.