Forex is one of the largest financial markets in the world – in April 2019, the market was trading at around £6.6 trillion per day. With such large amounts of money being traded on a decentralised market, which means that there is no physical location where people can buy or sell and instead, it is all done online. It also means that it is not supervised or controlled by a single entity or institution. As a result of this, as is the case with other forms of cryptocurrency, there are also a number of Forex scams that many traders fall for.
It has never been easier to be able to access the Forex trading market and in just a few clicks, you can access trading platforms with a number of different currencies. In Forex trading, money is the commodity and currency is traded in pairs. When you buy a currency, you then simultaneously sell another and vice versa. With proper education in the market and an understanding of the risk involved, it can be a lucrative way to boost your investment funds. However, there are unfortunately many criminals looking to scam investors and traders through Forex scams, targeting traders with a lack of knowledge and industry experience who make easy targets.
Exaggerated Return Claims
One of the most common signs of a Forex scam is a trader offering exaggerated return claims, where the returns on your original investment seem too good to be true, which they often are. The success of your Forex investment is largely dependent on the volatile market in which the trade occurs. There is no guarantee that you will receive a return on your investment when trading in Forex. Traders or companies that contact you offering high returns are giving you false claims and shouldn’t be trusted.
Use Of Complicated Terms and Jargon
Forex scammers take advantage of traders who have little knowledge and experience in the trading market. They know that, due to their inexperience, traders might be unaware of all the terms used within the trading market so often these scammers will use lots of complicated, unclear jargon to confuse investors. This then makes their trading decisions clouded and can contribute towards their loss of funds through a scam.
Restrictions on Withdrawals
In some cases, scammers will ask for you to transfer funds into their wallets so that they can “manage” trades on your behalf, or they may ask for your details to manage your wallet. If, at any point, you attempt to withdraw funds from your account and cannot do so, or the trader requests more funds to deposit in order to withdraw, then this could signal that you have been the victim of a Forex scam.
What Next?
If you believe that you have been the victim of a Forex scam, then you may feel as though your funds are lost for good. Luckily, with the growth and expansion of Forex scams, there have been improvements in the way in which these scams can be traced and funds can be recovered. It’s important to contact an investment fraud lawyer if you believe that you have been scammed so that they can begin the recovery process.