Possible Scam - Fast Options

Dazza

Recruit
Messages
8
In October 2015 I was invited by a friend to join a binary option "investment" opportunity named "Fast Options" (fast.preferredbinaryoptions.com and fast options.com). After some investigation on the web attempting to find some feedback about "Fast Options" I was unable to locate any reviews whatsoever and took that as a good sign. "Fast Options" advertises itself as a private invitation only fully managed investment platform hence the invitation by the friend who is also a client (as is his mother who originally referred my friend). "Fast Options" claim to be Cysec regulated which gave me some comfort.
At that time you needed to deposit the equivalent of $1,000 (USD) and as such I wired transferred $1,500 (AUD) to an account at Wells Fargo Bank San Francisco (the name of the account escapes me) and the account was established and commenced "trading" 27 October 2015. Subsequently deposits and re-deposits have increased to $3,000 (USD) and again increased to $10,000 (USD).
About a month later I received a phone call from the Australian Federal Police questioning why I transferred funds to "Fast Options" and whether I had done my homework. The AFP officer explained "Fast Options" was being watched and had grave doubts about it's status.
This lead to me to investigate further and I was able to ascertain that "Fast Options" appears to be part of a larger syndicate called "Preferred Binary Options" (www.preferredbinaryoptions.com). This group includes; "Fast Options"; "Options Rider" (rider.preferredbinaryoptions.com); "Option Giants" (giants.preferredbinaryoptions.com); "Instant Options" (instant.preferredbinaryoptions.com) and Elite Options Co. (elite.preferredbinaryoptions.com). The platforms and websites (except for "Options Rider") are very similar in appearance which each other which confirmed my thoughts that they are part of a group. However again while I located a couple of complaints about "Options Rider" the web was silent about the other entities.
I raised my concerns with my friend who in turn contacted his mother in the US (who has investments with a number of the entities) about the call from the AFP. He received the following email in return on 25 November 2015:-
"This is from a financial advisor, who is a long time friend in regard to my questions on the Australian investigation, withdrawals, etc. and if we should be alarmed:
“Hi xxxx, per our conversation, just been told by those in Forex trading circles there has been a significant crackdown in the international banking industry over the past 2 weeks. Global unrest inspired unfortunately. At least that is the assumption no way to check if your folks are really trading though as you mentioned they are claiming. However, I do know when this happens, the feds in any country will reach out to ‘investigate’ sums of any kind going ‘offshore’ from their country and contact those individuals who have wired funds offshore to verify what the wire transfer was for. I would be very and lay low and not be pro-active with them. Let the global situation calm down and do not give out any information on your investments, contacts there, etc. at this point unless they have legal documents to do so, then of course comply. Keep me posted as this progresses. It may be why the forex companies are experiencing some grief, especially if they are taking money out of Asia. Not that it is restricted to there. A lot of compliance regulations tightening.”
The above gave myself and my friend some sort of comfort however we both decided to withdraw our initial investments at the first available opportunity (30 days after the initial deposit) therefore on the 30 November 2015 I placed a withdrawal request for my initial deposit of $1,500 (AUD). In accordance with "Fast Options" advertising the withdrawal should take place within 3 - 5 days.
I followed up my request on 9 December 2015 and received the following reply:-

"Hello Darryl,
Due to the banking& processing problem we are experiencing delay in payouts. We are working as hard as possible to overcome this issue, but problem is that banks are not very cooperative at this moment.
Also many clients are receiving charge back to their accounts, and they are not being honest about it. So far we find very difficult to track who has what, so we will require more time before we do any further
actions. Apologize for the inconvenience and thanks for your time and patience.
Raquel"

I didn't follow up for a couple of weeks and on 18 December 2015 my friend received the below email from his mother:-
"Good morning everyone. I received the below Skype from Raquel early this morning (our Account Manager at Fast Options), updating me on the status of WD delays caused by the court order suspending activity in their banking accounts until further investigation. See the communication below and pass this on to your referrals.
I check each week on the status of WDs for all of us and wish I could share with you that we would see deposits before Christmas, but at least it is a positive communication of sorts……. Having experienced this with another company in Australia this past year, who did get things worked out with the authorities in court, my hope is that they will work this out and be able to provide proof their company is legit by providing with proper documentation satisfactory for the regulators to release the hold on the accounts. We shall see, but wanted to share this unsolicited communication from Raquel below.
FAST OPITIONS WITHDRAWAL AND GENERAL STATUS UPDATE:

Raquel Adkins: Hi...just checking with you so you know I am still here and thinking of you! Sorry for the poor communication lately. I have been assigned so many things that are not related to an AM position by any means, but as they say, desperate times, desperate measures :)
Raquel Adkins: Most likely I will have to go to Australia right after the holidays, to help with the piles of validating documentation, etc. as we are fighting the case over there. Company/owners are hoping to get it resolved once and for all.
Raquel Adkins: Anyway, I might not be able to communicate often, but I will keep in touch with YOU!
Raquel Adkins: Most likely I will have one assistant that will keep in touch with you through my Skype site.
Raquel Adkins: Take care my dear. If everything goes by plan, I will be back the first or second week in January and have updated news.


Again on 6 January this year I sent an email to Raquel (the account manager) following up my withdrawal; no response.
19 January 2015 again to Raquel no response;
19 January 2015 to support with no response.

Apparently this is the same across all the clients.
I now this has been a bit "wordy" but I wanted to give a clear explanation of the history.
What I am seeking is what steps I can now take to have my money returned (including hopefully any profits).
I am also interested in some one more learned than I investigating further the relation between all the "Preferred Binary Options" entities as I feel it could be just a big ponzu scheme.
 
I might add that it all turns out to be above board I will admit my concern was unfounded and have case marked as resolved immediately.
 
Two steps that you must follow

1st - Invite them to join this thread via email (Send email to every possible address).

2nd - Go to their website and invite them to here via Live Chat.
 
And, have your bank pull a copy of that wire transfer. If the USA is involved, the CFTC could get interested in the case.
 
Sorry for the delay in my response but I have today sent the below email to the following email addresses:-

support@fastoptions.com
raqueladkins@fastoptions.com
options.forextrading@gmail.com
withdrawal@fastoptions.com

"Raquel.
Given your delay in processing my withdrawal and lack of communication despite my numerous requests to affect the same I have been left with no option but to report Fast Options as a possible scam.
My report has been lodged with "Forex Peace Army" (FPA) an online site with over 40k members and which provides forex training, reviews and scam alerts. This will undoubtedly create bad publicity for Fast Options and will hopefully allow the public to become aware of dealing with Fast Options.
Attached is my link and I would invite you to visit for a reply to my concerns.
https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/community/threads/possible-scam-fast-options.43755/#post-229489
I had high hopes that Fast Options was aboveboard however my concerns with the continuous delay and non response to emails has unfortunately led to this conclusion and the action.
I will also consider other avenues of recourse for the return of my investment."

Unfortunately email is the only avenue of communication (or lack thereof). Fast Options have no telephones and I've been lead to believe that sykpe is also unresponsive. Let's see if the email produces any response.

Pharaoh.

You mentioned that contacting the CFTC might be worthwhile. Who are the CFTC and how do I get in contact with them? Do you think it might be worthwhile trying to contact Wells Fargo in San Francisco?
 
And, have your bank pull a copy of that wire transfer. If the USA is involved, the CFTC could get interested in the case.
Pharaoh.

You mentioned that contacting the CFTC might be worthwhile. Who are the CFTC and how do I get in contact with them? Do you think it might be worthwhile trying to contact Wells Fargo in San Francisco?
 
Two steps that you must follow

1st - Invite them to join this thread via email (Send email to every possible address).

2nd - Go to their website and invite them to here via Live Chat.

As suggested on the 14th January I sent an email (see below) to all known email addresses but unsurprisingly I have not had the courtesy of a reply.
No contact through Skype is available at the moment and as Fast Options don't have a telephone contact email is the only source of contact.

1. What are my next best steps?
2. Who can I report this mob to (claims to be Cysec regulated but how do I confirm)?
 
Go to CFTC.gov

It's also a good idea to ask the people at Wells Fargo. Banks don't like to handle money which might not be so clean. When the feds come in, the bank may get stuck with a lot of papers to fill out. The sooner they can get such an account shut down, the less paperwork.
 
Go to CFTC.gov

It's also a good idea to ask the people at Wells Fargo. Banks don't like to handle money which might not be so clean. When the feds come in, the bank may get stuck with a lot of papers to fill out. The sooner they can get such an account shut down, the less paperwork.
Hi Pharaoh.

I've attempted to open the website for cftc.gov but it's not loading. Any other idea.

Also I'm in the process of contacting Wells Fargo to report them as suspicious and I've also written to the Australian Federal Police (the officer who initially contacted me when I made the deposit).

Fast Options claim to be regulated by Cysec. How the hell can I check if that is fact or a lie? Is it worthwhile reporting to Cysec even if they aren't?

I did find the below on a website called scamadvser.com

Does this mean that Fast Options is owned by the person mentioned below?

Website: fastoptions.com
Title: Binary Options Trading | Fastoptions your Binary Option Broker
Description: Fastoptions the world's leading binary options trading platform. Trade 60 second options,
Type: Investment
Domain Age: 4 Years, 361 Days
Website Speed: Average
Website Value: $344.26
Owner: Yoni Avital
Owner Address: 17 xenopulo 17 xenopulo
Owner City: Limassol
Owner Postcode: 3106
Phone Number: 35724030065
Phone Type: geographic :Larnaca district (Larnaka)
Email:support@tradecharge.com Related to 4 sites
Owner Country : Cyprus
Website Location : Ireland

FPA Forums Team Note: Recently, all links to CFTC.gov stopped working unless www. was inserted at the beginning.
 
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