Many are trying to maintain their faith in humanity, which can be a challenge. Even for those of us who look for the best in people, we must be aware that dishonest and deceptive individuals roam the world. We can protect ourselves against their plans to take our money.

We know these people are there because interpolate entered a location in Southeast Asia in 2023, arresting 3,500 people involved in Internet cybercrime and seizing $300 million in stolen funds.

This corner of the globe is notorious for promoting financial schemes, of which the above case is just a drop in the ocean. Recently, one of the most typical forms of attack involves contacting victims through social media channels such as Telegram and including them in online groups that offer financial advice directly from the mouths of “professionals”.

Once part of these groups, victims are informed of financial secrets with the power to uncover great wealth. All that is required is a quick deposit of money, either fiat or crypto, to a designated address.

Cyber ​​attacks

Another nefarious form of attack is done through dating apps, where victims are made to believe that a stranger has developed a romantic interest in them. Finally, they are encouraged to sign approval for their love interest to take control of their funds, which they never see again.

Alternatively, you may find yourself opening a URL with a very plausible-sounding name that appears as a genuine trading platform. Thinking that you are trading the markets, you can deposit your money on the platform without knowing that your funds are they go straight into the thieves’ pockets. All in all, we know 4.6 billion dollars stolen by commercial scams in the US in 2023, making the scam “again the costliest type of crime pursued” by the FBI that year in their own work. wORDS.

Good Broker

On the other hand, a lot of legitimate trading sites provide their customers with a really good app experience. This refers to the user-friendliness of the interface, the graphics technology and the educational offerings. Indeed, the advent of online trading platforms has opened the doors of financial markets to tens of thousands of people who were previously barred from participating.

This was the time when financial trading was reserved for professionals working for large institutions. Now equipped with the power to open and close trades, monitor asset prices and analyze price trends, retail traders are beginning to make their mark on the markets themselves.

The first step for those interested in participating in the financial markets is to remove and discard the bad seeds. In this article, we will focus on three red flags that help you distinguish the bad from the good in online trading platforms.

FOMO

Advertising a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to double your money can be very tempting, especially for someone in financial difficulty. It’s common for scammers to use language that implies that a one-time deposit will almost certainly lead to huge winnings. The only catch is that the deposit must be made immediately. Thus, the spread of FOMO (fear of missing out) is promoted, and the weaknesses of vulnerable people are shamelessly exploited.

FOMO doesn’t just affect financial hardship. For many people, the lure of such a scheme lies in its elegant solution to the problem of the cost of an upcoming wedding.

Besides, no one likes to be left in the lurch while everyone else seems to be living the high life. In addition, many psychologists spy symptoms of addictive behavior in overmotivated online traders. This is evident when they experience ongoing depression, anxiety and social withdrawal due to the suffering of their loved ones.

A finger of blame can be pointed at the media, who devote endless hours to covering new cryptocurrency tokens with the potential to “shoot the moon”, not to mention the stream of stories they peddle about the early crypto believers who have become fabulously rich. Until 80% of ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) are scams, and most crypto traders never join the ranks of the rich and famous.

The sheer volume of new information made available through the media creates the impression that the old rules of finance have become outdated, that the world works differently today, and that there is no longer a necessary connection between hard work and financial success. These suggestions find plenty of ready ears, especially among the less financially literate.

If the trading platform you’re considering uses language designed to instill FOMO in you, that’s red flag number one. Legitimate online brokerages will never pressure you to deposit funds within a certain time limit. Anyone who tries to put that kind of pressure on you should immediately become suspicious in your eyes. Financial decisions are quite a bit easier, as you can expect to put large sums of money on faith alone.

“No risk!”

“The potential for high return on investment usually comes with high risk,” write Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It follows that when you are bombarded with ads for astronomical earnings with little or no risk, their reliability is seriously questioned. This principle applies whether or not you know the adviser behind the scheme.

If you’re discussing finance in an online group you’ve become intimately familiar with, a member may claim to be, or know, a highly qualified financial advisor with insider knowledge of the markets. You are told that this person is offering a unique opportunity to a select group of associates that you can join and the profits are guaranteed to beat anything else. Another member of the group confirmed that he took advantage of the opportunity and was able to pay off all his debts.

A bit of healthy skepticism is in order at this point. All members of this group may have been working together to ensnare you for months, deliberately building a friendship with you to gain your trust. “Ah!” you argue: “But they sent me a video of several satisfied customers who testify that this scheme made them millionaires.”

In reality, they could all be actors hired by fraudsters to lend credence to their stories. It can be difficult to go back and second guess those you think are your friends, but that’s what it takes. One way to respond might be to formulate a series of simple questions about the proposed agreement and present them to the group. If the answers seem vague or inconsistent, your suspicions should increase.

forgery

Get into the habit of taking a close look at email addresses and website URLs associated with financial platforms. You may have the strong impression that you are on a well-established site, but an inconspicuous character may be added or deleted. Cyberthieves make it their business to clone respected websites to give victims the impression they are in safe territory, but one thing they can’t accurately clone is a company’s email address or URL.

Spoofing attacks are often used to set up phishing attacks, which occur when criminals impersonate legitimate entities by contacting you via phone, text, or email. You may even be called by a purported representative of an institution you subscribe to, and that person will claim to be doing a routine check on your private information.

This is a red flag. Legitimate businesses don’t usually ask customers for personal information via phone, email or chat. First, they should already have it registered on their computer. On the other hand, they know to avoid running their business this way because of the same security issues that worry you.

Wrapping things up

When you select your brokerage of online trading, the first thing you should do is check whether an official regulatory body regulates it or not. Not every unregulated firm will necessarily scam you, but the chances of this happening increase when you deal with such entities.

Follow this up by looking for some online reviews of the platform. However, take them with a grain of salt because even the best brokers have made their share of enemies in the form of disgruntled customers. Most of the time, the fault lies with the clients, not the brokerage.

iFOREX Europe fits the bill in every possible way, having a loyal customer base across Europe. iFOREX Europe clients can trade CFDs on shares, currency pairs, commodities, stock indices, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. Visit iFOREX Europe website to learn more.

About iFOREX

iFOREX Europe is the trading name of iCFD Limited, which is licensed and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license no. 143/11. The materials in this document were created in cooperation with iFOREX Europe.

They should not be construed, either explicitly or implicitly, directly or indirectly, as investment advice, recommendations or suggestions regarding an investment strategy relating to a financial instrument in any way. CFDs are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money quickly due to leverage. 73.2% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

It would help to think about whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to risk losing your money. Please note: calculations of past performance movements may represent futures contracts, not the underlying asset. Full disclaimer: