How to spot forex scams

Forex and CFD trading is fast, online and unfamiliar to many people. Scammers use that. They present trading as a quick way to make money, take the decisions out of your hands, and make it hard to check who they are.

Real trading carries real risk. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money. Anyone who tells you otherwise is giving you a reason to be careful.

“Account managers” on WhatsApp or Telegram

A friendly stranger writes to you on WhatsApp, Telegram or social media, often after you joined a group or clicked an advert. They offer to trade for you or to guide every trade, and ask you to deposit through a link they send. Later they push you to deposit more, and withdrawals become difficult.

Paid signal groups and “mentors”

Groups that sell trade signals or “VIP” access often show screenshots of winning trades and hide the losing ones. Screenshots are easy to fake. Some groups earn money when members open accounts or trade more, not when members make money.

Guaranteed or fixed returns

Promises such as a fixed return every month, “no risk” or “double your money” do not describe trading. Prices move both ways, and losses are always possible. A guaranteed return is one of the clearest warning signs there is.

Fake brokers and clone websites

Some scam sites invent a licence. Others copy the name, licence number and design of a real, regulated firm, with a slightly different web address or email domain. The licence number may be real while the website is not.

Recovery scams

After a loss, people may be contacted by someone offering to recover their money, sometimes claiming to be a lawyer, an agency or a regulator. They ask for an upfront fee. Paying it usually means losing more money.

Fees to release your money

A platform shows large profits, then asks you to pay a “tax”, “unlock fee” or extra deposit before you can withdraw. Being asked to send more money to get your own money out is a classic sign of a scam.

Stop and check before you send money if you notice any of these:

• Promises of guaranteed, fixed or “risk-free” profits.
• Pressure to decide quickly, or a “special offer” that ends today.
• Someone you have never met offering to trade for you.
• Requests to pay into a personal bank account or a personal crypto wallet.
• Requests to install a remote-access app so they can “help” on your device.
• Requests for your passwords or for the one-time codes your bank or email sends you.
• A licence that you cannot find on the regulator’s public register, or whose details do not match.
• Fees you have to pay before you can withdraw.

A licence means a public authority has authorised the firm and supervises it. You can check one yourself in a few minutes:

1. Find the company’s full legal name, its regulator and its licence number. A regulated broker usually shows them in the website footer and in its legal documents.
2. Go to the regulator’s own official website by typing the address yourself or searching for it, not through a link in a message or advert.
3. Search the regulator’s public register for the licence number and the company name.
4. Check that the name, licence number and status on the register match the broker’s website, and that the website and email addresses are the ones the firm lists.
5. Check your own regulator too. Your local regulator may publish warning lists of firms that are not authorised, and rules on which firms may offer services where you live.

A licence lowers some risks, for example around how client money must be held, but it does not make trading safe. Losses on trades are still possible with any broker.

NextTrade Ltd is regulated by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius under licence number GB25204563, registration number 223260. You can read these details on the About NextTrade page and check them on the regulator’s public register, as described above.

If someone says they work for NextTrade, you can check by contacting NextTrade through the details on the Contact page of this website, not through the contact details they give you.

• Do not share your passwords or the one-time codes sent to you with anyone, including people who say they work for a broker or a bank.
• Use a strong, unique password for your client area and your trading account.
• Do not give anyone remote access to your computer or phone to “help” you trade or withdraw.
• Type the broker’s web address yourself, and check it carefully before you log in.
• Send identity documents only through the broker’s own client area, never to a stranger in a chat.

1. Stop sending money, whatever reason you are given.
2. Keep records: messages, website addresses, payment receipts and the names used.
3. Contact your bank or payment provider straight away and explain what happened.
4. Change the passwords of any account you may have exposed.
5. Report it to your local regulator and to the police.
6. Ignore offers to recover your money for a fee, even if they seem official.