Pharaoh
Brigadier General
- Messages
- 20,307
CFTC.gov - The US Commodities and Futures Trading Commission
IMPORTANT - Like the SEC, the CFTC accepts reports without regard to whether any person or company involved is connected to the USA. They know the best way to keep international scams away from the US is to collect and share information with other countries.
The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is second of the 2 primary regulators in the USA for trading and managed account issues. The other is the SEC. If you believe you have been scammed by a broker or any form of managed account (including Ponzi schemes and HYIPs), go ahead and file a complaint with the CFTC. Go here:
https://www.cftc.gov/complaint
From here, you can blow the whistle on companies violating commodities laws, file general complaints, or (if you suffer a lose due to misdeeds of CFTC registered professionals) you can seek reparations.
Whistleblowers who submit information that results in the CFTC successfully collecting penalties can get a cash reward. I'm skipping past that for 2 reasons. First, your typical offshore scammer that is hit with orders to pay money back to victims often won't have enough cash to fully repay those the victims. Penalties are only collected after all victims are paid and whistleblower rewards come out of penalties. So, in many cases no cash will ever reach the whistleblower. Second, the Whistleblower form requires a lawyer to cosign it. If you are on to something where you think there is the CFTC will have a chance to collect a penalty after all victims are repaid and you have a lawyer, go for it. The lawyer can answer any questions you have. I'm going to focus on the general complaint, since that doesn't require a lawyer and is designed for providing info on typical kinds of onshore and offshore scams that an FPA member will want to complain about.
Click the File a Complaint button.
The next page basically warns you to not try to mess with CFTC computers or to submit false information in your complaint. I hope anyone who's read this far has no issues with either of those and will click I Accept and you will see:
There are 4 steps (and 4 pages) to the submission form. You are also asked to gather your information before beginning. Uploads of evidence files can be done after completing page 4. You have 65 minutes to complete all pages and uploads or else all data will be lost.
Very Importantly, note the part that says "However, subsequent to your submission, the CFTC cannot provide information such as the existence or status of an investigation. If there are questions about the information you provided, someone will contact you." Do NOT harass the CFTC. Do NOT demand instant updates or instant action. Instead, if you are truly curious about what is going on, try sending a message to questions@cftc.gov or calling the CFTC at 202-418-5000 or 1-866-366-2382 and ask if there is anything else you can do to gather more information. Never do this more than once per month. If you want to help your complaint move along, instead, seek out others with the same problem and show them these instructions on how to file reports.
Now that I've hopefully convinced you not to harass the CFTC investigators and you have all your info ready, go ahead and click the Continue button.
The next screen just gives you another opportunity to file the whistleblower version of the information. If you are curious or think that might fit your case better, go ahead and check it out. Otherwise, click Start your tip.
The next screen is just some info on the purpose, authority, and routine uses of the form. Do note the Effect of Not Providing Information section. It points out that some information is required to be able to submit the form, but that there is no penalty for skipping other info. Of course, the more info you provide, the easier it is for your case to be investigated. The penalty for deliberately providing false information are also mentioned a second time. Go ahead and click Continue to go to Step One.
Step Two asks for information about the person/company you are complaining about. If you have email or social media accounts for them, there's a place to put it. There's also a place for their bank accounts, digital wallets, and more. Plus, if more than one person was involved, there's a + Add Individual button at the bottom. This will make it easier for the investigators to know what accounts go with what people.
Step Three wants to know what type of contract the scam involved. Here's the list.
If the scam that got you was forex, check forex (#4). If it was cryptos (and if in the USA, it crossed stated lines), use #7. If it was binaries, check #9. If it involved leveraged metals or CFDS, I believe #5. A commodity transaction is your best choice. You can select #10. I don't know, but if you select #11. Other, a box opens up to let you describe what happened. I personally think a description is superior to just saying I don't know.
Step Four only asks if you are submitting anonymously (please don't - you want your money back and you want to be available if the investigators have any questions) and if you have a lawyer for this complaint. If you do, maybe a whistleblower complaint would be better.
After Step Four, there is a File Uploads screen (for some reason not labelled as Step Five).
If you have a file that is too big or is the wrong file type, you can describe it in the text box.
After you hit submit on the FILE UPLOADS page, you get a chance to review everything. You can edit anything that needs editing and then click Continue to submit your report to the CFTC.
IMPORTANT - Like the SEC, the CFTC accepts reports without regard to whether any person or company involved is connected to the USA. They know the best way to keep international scams away from the US is to collect and share information with other countries.
The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is second of the 2 primary regulators in the USA for trading and managed account issues. The other is the SEC. If you believe you have been scammed by a broker or any form of managed account (including Ponzi schemes and HYIPs), go ahead and file a complaint with the CFTC. Go here:
https://www.cftc.gov/complaint
From here, you can blow the whistle on companies violating commodities laws, file general complaints, or (if you suffer a lose due to misdeeds of CFTC registered professionals) you can seek reparations.
Whistleblowers who submit information that results in the CFTC successfully collecting penalties can get a cash reward. I'm skipping past that for 2 reasons. First, your typical offshore scammer that is hit with orders to pay money back to victims often won't have enough cash to fully repay those the victims. Penalties are only collected after all victims are paid and whistleblower rewards come out of penalties. So, in many cases no cash will ever reach the whistleblower. Second, the Whistleblower form requires a lawyer to cosign it. If you are on to something where you think there is the CFTC will have a chance to collect a penalty after all victims are repaid and you have a lawyer, go for it. The lawyer can answer any questions you have. I'm going to focus on the general complaint, since that doesn't require a lawyer and is designed for providing info on typical kinds of onshore and offshore scams that an FPA member will want to complain about.
Click the File a Complaint button.
The next page basically warns you to not try to mess with CFTC computers or to submit false information in your complaint. I hope anyone who's read this far has no issues with either of those and will click I Accept and you will see:
There are 4 steps (and 4 pages) to the submission form. You are also asked to gather your information before beginning. Uploads of evidence files can be done after completing page 4. You have 65 minutes to complete all pages and uploads or else all data will be lost.
Very Importantly, note the part that says "However, subsequent to your submission, the CFTC cannot provide information such as the existence or status of an investigation. If there are questions about the information you provided, someone will contact you." Do NOT harass the CFTC. Do NOT demand instant updates or instant action. Instead, if you are truly curious about what is going on, try sending a message to questions@cftc.gov or calling the CFTC at 202-418-5000 or 1-866-366-2382 and ask if there is anything else you can do to gather more information. Never do this more than once per month. If you want to help your complaint move along, instead, seek out others with the same problem and show them these instructions on how to file reports.
Now that I've hopefully convinced you not to harass the CFTC investigators and you have all your info ready, go ahead and click the Continue button.
The next screen just gives you another opportunity to file the whistleblower version of the information. If you are curious or think that might fit your case better, go ahead and check it out. Otherwise, click Start your tip.
The next screen is just some info on the purpose, authority, and routine uses of the form. Do note the Effect of Not Providing Information section. It points out that some information is required to be able to submit the form, but that there is no penalty for skipping other info. Of course, the more info you provide, the easier it is for your case to be investigated. The penalty for deliberately providing false information are also mentioned a second time. Go ahead and click Continue to go to Step One.
Step Two asks for information about the person/company you are complaining about. If you have email or social media accounts for them, there's a place to put it. There's also a place for their bank accounts, digital wallets, and more. Plus, if more than one person was involved, there's a + Add Individual button at the bottom. This will make it easier for the investigators to know what accounts go with what people.
Step Three wants to know what type of contract the scam involved. Here's the list.
If the scam that got you was forex, check forex (#4). If it was cryptos (and if in the USA, it crossed stated lines), use #7. If it was binaries, check #9. If it involved leveraged metals or CFDS, I believe #5. A commodity transaction is your best choice. You can select #10. I don't know, but if you select #11. Other, a box opens up to let you describe what happened. I personally think a description is superior to just saying I don't know.
Step Four only asks if you are submitting anonymously (please don't - you want your money back and you want to be available if the investigators have any questions) and if you have a lawyer for this complaint. If you do, maybe a whistleblower complaint would be better.
After Step Four, there is a File Uploads screen (for some reason not labelled as Step Five).
If you have a file that is too big or is the wrong file type, you can describe it in the text box.
After you hit submit on the FILE UPLOADS page, you get a chance to review everything. You can edit anything that needs editing and then click Continue to submit your report to the CFTC.
