GUILTY Case# 2011-071 | Amran Sulaiman vs www.premierfx.com

[Hermes Leao]

G.u.i.l.t.y.

 

[PistolDave]

Agree with that.

One of the recurring patterns we see is the failure of the offending company to maintain honest, open and timely communication with the client. Here once again, the familiar pattern is evident.

So far I can not recall a single instance where a company was found innocent when they behaved this way. But I can recall instances where companies (eventually) did the right thing, and settled the accounts honorably, by maintaining reasonably open communication.

When evidence like this comes up, you can pretty much be certain you are dealing with a criminal scammer. And these criminals need to be put out of business as soon as possible.

None of us like regulation, or being told how to run our affairs, but I can tell you, that if silly traders keep handing over sums of $10,000 to unregulated scam brokers, then eventually the Currency Market Regulators will be forced to step in and regulate not only EVERY broker who applies to act as an ECN, but it will eventually come to pass that traders will be required to show they have a brain, by having to pass an examination to earn the right to trade.

Is that what people want???

So far FPA is doing a good job in chasing up these scammers, but very little is happening to educate traders about avoiding such criminals to begin with.

It is highly likely that many of us belong to other forums, and it is a part of the responsibility of all of us to bring to the attention of all traders, the risks of going with unregulated scam brokers.

I have not been all over this FPA site, so I ask the question ... Is there a template-post that we can copy/paste on to our forums, with a link back to FPA, that warns people about scams? The template should also include information about the kind of questions to ask a broker, as well as the places to look to prove that the broker is in fact correctly registered and regulated.

I think this would be and should be the logical next step for FPA.

Traders who want to submit funds to a broker need a check-list of questions to ask and facts to uncover, before sending their money anywhere. The golden rule is NOT to deal with ANY broker registered in a tiny country.

There is a reason they do that.

Think about it ... why would a Russian/American/Canadian broker get themselves registered in the British Virgin Islands, Corfu, or Greece, Malta etc, when there are perfectly capable and excellent administrators available in their own countries?

Another good rule is to deal only with reputable brokers, registered in your own country.

I am beginning to lose patience with some of these cases. While it is deplorable that complainants have been scammed, I think there is enough evidence out there these days, that using fringe brokers is going to be very risky when you want either your profits, or your capital returned.

Think, people!

I will be voting "guilty."

I second that.

Everything you are saying is true and correct. So why are so many people still getting scammed? Because wherever there is big money involved there will be a criminal element involved that will step in and attempt to profit by deception, trickery, and fraud.

The lure of easy money is just too great to expect everyone to play by the rules, especially when there are no rules to speak of. The forex markets (retail) are, due to their decentralized nature, much harder to bring under the umbrella of governmental regulation and oversight which has long been the standard in the equity markets. This "wild west" environment and lack of organized and regulated exchanges creates a perfect opportunity for the fraudsters to ply their craft on the gullible and less than worldly traders.

I suggest doing some reading about the history of the stock market in the US prior to the crash of '29 and you will see some similarities then with the present forex environment. Fraud, trickery, and market manipulation ran rampant for many years in a supposedly organized market and countless unsuspecting "investors" were relieved of their life savings by hype and lies promoted by shady dealers, market manipulators, and bucket shops. Eventually, due to many factors, the government finally stepped in and created regulatory bodies that put a damper on the blatant and more obvious foul play, but as you know did not eliminate it and never will.

The way I see it, the retail forex markets are so new that they are just now beginning to attract the attention of the mainstream trader and public. When that happens the "real" con men will take notice and the wholesale slaughter will truly begin. It will probably take a few more years, but by then I expect there will be a strong regulatory presence in this market -- if trading is allowed at all by anyone other than high net worth individuals ($1,000,000 or more). The way things appear to be headed, the market may remain open to small players but may be so restricted that it may be pushed back into the domain of large banks, hedge funds, etc. It would seem to depend on how much "self-regulation" or enforcement we are able to apply to our own domain.

This is why it is up to us to take action to bring these fringe operations and bucket shops to light and police our own back yard, or the government will do it for us when the general public's howling gets loud enough. And that will not be good.

Alright, I'm down off my soapbox now. I just felt I needed to say that. I hope it helps some of us start using our heads a little more.

 

[Pete B]

Another Scammer Found Out

They just keep coming...one forex scammer after another. As someone has already mentioned, a trader should not have to ask more than once for a withdrawal. After repeated attempts to contact premierfx (by Mr. Sulaiman and FPA) and to no avail, it has become clear that these people are plain, out-in-out scammers, fraudsters, and they should given all the 'hell' that FPA can dish out and more. By the way, I checked out their site and there is no reference to being regulated. Canada has one of the toughest regulation bodies (the IIROC) in the business and the reputable Canadian firms are regulated by them (The IIROC also has insurance, which covers traders up to $1 million Canadian). You also do not have to be Canadian to be covered. As Long as the IIROC allows you to open an account with one of their Canadian firms, you are covered. It is the best coverage in the world.

 

[Don Quixote]

Guilty

I dont know how many times I say this on these forums, but before handing over your money just read through their website! On the "about" page for example, there are numerous spelling errors, in addition they are clearly an asian org behind this, what kind of Canadian broker has affiliates only in Asia? and the english translation is about as good as you would get on google translate. In short it is a low spend site, with false claims (try googling the founders for example). I dont care how much youre investing, do your due diligence folks, and if English is not your first language, get help from someone, better still ask FPA forum members to give it a once over. This site just smells wrong.

 

[Don Quixote]

Beware

Folks please be aware there are numerous cases of Asian organisations setting up broking sites claiming they are NZ/Canadian/Aus. Do your due diligence and note they seem to have the following in common;
1. Badly translated websites, English spelling mistakes, and grammar is akin to someone speaking english, where english is not their first language.
2. False claims, which can be verified on web search (eg re; founders achievements, awards received).
3. A long list of affiliates which are just email addresses (not physical)
4. Physical addresses almost always not that of a physical office with staff (eg; registrar office, friends office, etc). Always check on google/google maps, if the office is in a weird location (eg; outer suburbs).
5. Phone numbers that dont work, contact numbers that are mobile phones.
6. Beware of any retail broker claiming to have worked for institutions or hedge funds.
Unfortunately there is little authorities can do to stop these sites and companies being setup, so its up to you to use your common sense.

 

[Sylvie O.]

they are guilty!!

 

[Wayne C]

There is no reasons why a broker delay or ignore a request for withdrawal...I would rate Premierfx as an untrustworthy broker and stay away from them!