Forex4you referral scam alert

Amin EL-HAKIM

Master Sergeant
Messages
306
Hello
I've been scammed by this company which suddenly decided not to pay me my referral commissions claiming I violated their KYC rules but not disclosing any other information. Noting that I have been their client since 2008. I guess they found it's cheaper just to use this trick, although I had a bit less that 100$ in as referral commissions, it's certainly not about the amount, but about the rudeness I was treated with. If they're treating an 11 years client this way, you can imagine how they will treat newcomers. I've been a reputable FPA member for over 11 years and submitted countless scam findings. To be fair, I've never ever had a problem with this broker neither did my referrals, but it seems like their strategy is changing. At least a little professional courtesy would have been appreciated, but such rudeness raises high alerts. And it seems I'm not the only one with such experience but other active traders as well (ForexFactory). The following is a chat transcript:

Full Name: Amin
Email: a******@gmail.com
Staff: Ilya C.
22:04:58 Your Question:
22:04:58 Please wait, an operator will be with you shortly.
22:05:07 You are now chatting with Ilya C.
22:05:12 Amin: hello
22:05:15 Ilya C.: Hello, how may I assist you?
22:05:41 Amin: I received an email that my account got disabled. I need to know why please.
22:05:48 Amin: a******@gmail.com
22:07:17 Amin: I have referral commissions and I believe that forex4you doesn't want to pay me. So I decided to try live chat before posting on all public forums
22:07:27 Amin: since I'm not receiving email replies
22:08:03 Ilya C.: The answer was provided in the email.
22:08:06 Ilya C.: In accordance with the KYC policy (Know Your Customer) and clause 4.7 of the client agreement document, your account has been blocked. You can find a complete list of documents on our website, in the section "Regulatory documents" - https://www.forex4you.com/en/legal-documents/
22:08:30 Ilya C.: If you check those documents, you will find out the reason of blocking.
22:08:35 Amin: I have read it, and still I can't see what did I violate
22:08:46 Amin: I checked them
22:08:58 Amin: and I have provided valid information
22:09:10 Amin: not to mention I'm a client since 2016
22:09:26 Amin: and I have made several deposits and withdrawals
22:09:53 Amin: I provided a passport copy which was approved and then refused
22:10:07 Amin: then my national ID which was accepted
22:10:12 Ilya C.: Unfortunately, I cannot disclose any other information.
22:10:13 Amin: and a bank statement
22:10:15 Ilya C.: Thank you for contacting us!
22:10:17 Ilya C. has left the conversation. Click here to leave a message.
Support Center: https://support.eglobal-group.com/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1) in your account login where you upload docs, what is the reason for the rejection?
1b) what country are you a resident in currently? id that matches?

2) have you sent an email to their support? If so, what was their reply?

3) do you have screenshots of their chat, email reply thread, and/or the referral commission? Or a short screen video record clip.

4) if you also trade with them, do you have a copy of your account history?

5) @Forex4you can you address these claims please?

This case is interesting as I know someone who is client of forex4you also and recently re-verified their account without any issues.
 
1. I reside in Lebanon and as mentioned, I've been their client since 2006. And yes I uploaded the documents several times throughout the years but the latest uploads were as the following sequence:
Passport rejected.
Bank statement rejected.
Passport accepted, then rejected.
National ID accepted.
Account blocked.
No clarification.

2. Yes several emails and total silence.

3. I have a screenshot proving I was a client but no screenshot of the balance as being a client for over 13 years doesn't give you any hints of problems. By the time I took a screenshot, the balance couldn't be seen. And the don't send a report for referral commission s, however I can provide several neteller screenshots proving previous payments, one of them is several months ago.

4. I have included the chat and of course it can be as a screenshot

5. Awaiting response and verification documents available.

Indeed as a broker with no problems for such a prolonged period raises many questions.
 
This could be an attempt to steal commissions or it could be sheer stupidity. Upload again. Also, send copies to their partners/Introducers email and request to know if this copy is good enough, and if not, why.

You can also ask your clients to start cutting back on their trading and to test the withdrawal process for themselves.
 
Some more observations/questions:

1) Re-familiarize yourself with new trader's court rules. Basically this public thread is your case thread.

2) You've already left a review of your experience. @Forex4you do seem to respond to these. and @FPA Forums Team will connect the review to this thread shortly.

3) you can also send an email to info@forex4you.com (and have one of your referrals send a similar email if they are ignoring your email) with your complaint along with a link to this thread.

4) Can you check with any of your referrals that are actively trading? are they having any problems? What country do they all reside (list all of them or as many as you remember)?

if any of them have issues, have them come and open a separate scam alert thread.

5) After 96 hours, formally invite broker to this thread with these instructions: https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/comm...how-to-invite-a-company-to-your-thread.58438/

The invite button will not appear until this thread is 96 hours old.
 
As an update, they are just using copy/paste for the same answer over and over in forexfactory and in the review page, without any further clarification. The following is their answer:

Reply by Forex4you submitted Feb 7, 2020:
Greetings!

Full information regarding situation that you have faced was already provided to your email address. Your account was blocked due to violation of KYC policy (Know Your Customer) and in particularly clause 4.7 of Client’s agreement document. Full clause and policy descriptions are provided on our website.


I'm attaching the following documents:
KYC
Client agreement

To summarize, the client agreement requires me to upload a scan of:
  1. ID: I attached a valid passport scan, and later on, a translated scan of my national ID (notarized) with the original national ID scan.
  2. Utility bill: I uploaded a fresh bank statement graying out my my transactions and balance on that statement knowing that the address matches the address registered on the account, which has been my address for over 10 years.
I'm attaching 2 screenshots below proving my claims that they first accepted my bank statement by refused my passport, and later on, I uploaded my national ID and they accepted it, but revoked my previous approval of address confirmation. Noting that I have emailed them with good intentions, as sometimes it is confusing that my name sometimes misses the term "EL", which stands as a middle name in Arab countries and banks don't use it in Lebanon, with no answers. But that's irrelevant as they have accepted my national ID which holds the exact same name.
As a side note, I have maintained the same address and the same bank account for over 10 years, and of course same name since birth.
I have no problem sending my documents as upload to Pharaoh or AsstMod to view them proving authenticity.


Address confirmed.JPG
ID confirmed.JPG
account block.JPG

I apologize for taking much time to answer as I have a family and a day job, which actually what lead me away from financial markets trading.
 
invite-opc.png
The OP has invited the company to this discussion on Feb 16, 2020 at 11:03 AM
 
1) before did you ID documents match exactly (with the "EL" in the name)? Or they accepted not having the "EL" before without any problems.

2) Does the name on your ID match the name on the utility bill (address proof) exactly?

3) anyone you referred or other people you know that trade with forex4you have this problem? Can you get any of your referrals or friends to write in to their support rep and try to get some insight? Lets see if it is just you or if your whole group is having an issue. Particularly if they have an Arabic name (transliterated into English)


4) quick story: I recently sent someone in Turkey some money using world remit (like Western Union meets TransferWise). But her passport said "Miss Jane Doe". Obviously Miss is a title of an [legally] unmarried female, I'm guessing similar to EL in Arabic. Not strictly part of her legal name. I sent the money as "Jane Doe" They would not let her collect it until I updated the name to "Miss Jane Doe". As the money sender, I was able to contact customer service and get it changed. I wasn't sure if it was that exact location where the pickup was attempted or all places.

I mention this story to see if it is just a matter of one part of the name not lining up. In which case, not sure why Forex4You doesn't just say so. The fix should be easy at that point.


they are just using copy/paste for the same answer over and over in forexfactory

Do you have a link to that post?
 
1) before did you ID documents match exactly (with the "EL" in the name)? Or they accepted not having the "EL" before without any problems.

2) Does the name on your ID match the name on the utility bill (address proof) exactly?

3) anyone you referred or other people you know that trade with forex4you have this problem? Can you get any of your referrals or friends to write in to their support rep and try to get some insight? Lets see if it is just you or if your whole group is having an issue. Particularly if they have an Arabic name (transliterated into English)


4) quick story: I recently sent someone in Turkey some money using world remit (like Western Union meets TransferWise). But her passport said "Miss Jane Doe". Obviously Miss is a title of an [legally] unmarried female, I'm guessing similar to EL in Arabic. Not strictly part of her legal name. I sent the money as "Jane Doe" They would not let her collect it until I updated the name to "Miss Jane Doe". As the money sender, I was able to contact customer service and get it changed. I wasn't sure if it was that exact location where the pickup was attempted or all places.

I mention this story to see if it is just a matter of one part of the name not lining up. In which case, not sure why Forex4You doesn't just say so. The fix should be easy at that point.




Do you have a link to that post?
1. Documents were always in the same form, noting that I have always verified with a passport copy, so no earlier problems. Same bank and same account number as well.

2. No and it has always been the same. Banks here don't use prefixes like "EL".

3. Not that I was informed of.

4. Hopefully it's a matter of misunderstanding.
 
Greetings!

In accordance to Company’s internal regulations, actual documents from all our Clients must be requested with determined periodicity. Your documents, which were uploaded in 2014 were rejected in 2019 in order to get from you up-to-date information. Notification about documents rejection was sent to the registered email address 2 weeks before documents were declined by the system.

According Company’s internal rules, all uploaded documents by the client, must be reviewed by Verification department. In case, if Verification department make a decision to decline the document, the reason of rejection always specified in client’s Trader Room in “Verification” section and send by email.
Provided proof of address (bank statement) by you was rejected several times with following commentary: “Please mind that name and address on your Utility Bill must match the information provided in your Forex4you account”. Unfortunately, you did not followed by mentioned commentaries and we were forced to block your account in accordance to violation of KYC policy, clause 4.7.

Company made a decision to review your case one more time. Please upload new certified proof of address, which will be issued by government authorities or Bank (official note from the Bank about client’s residence address). Issued document must include the stamp of the institution and the signature of responsible person. Received document can be sent to the following email address: info@forex4you.com. We would like to remind, that details of document changed by graphical editor cannot be accepted by Verification department.
 
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