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Most Forex scams and commodity scams is
committed by either firms located in South Florida (Boca Raton
was voted by CNBC the telemarketing scams capital of the world
in 2000), Southern California or outside the United States.
Russia is currently a major source of investment scams.
Never make a check or bank wire payable to ANYONE other that a FCM registered with the NFA. In the majority of cases Forex
scams is perpetrated by firms located in the United States and
the principals and brokers of the firm and were at one time
registered with the
National Futures Association (800) 621-3570
and have had their licenses revoked.
There is a lot of scams from boiler rooms
that are telling there clients to make the check payable to a
offshore FCM or in many cases a Bahamas FCM.
THERE ARE NO BAHAMIAN
FCM's that I am aware of PERIOD, with the exception of major World
Banks. The Bahamas are the country of choice for scams
and to steal your money because the Bahamas are a half
hour from South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm
Beach) and one and one half hours by private boat. 100% of the
money you invest in Forex in the Bahamas will be stolen and will
NEVER be placed into ANY trade. If you have been victimized in
this manner of scams or contacted to invest in Forex in
the Bahamas call the FBI in Miami at 305-944-9101.
Please keep in mind that most of the law
enforcement agencies and regulatory agencies are fully aware of
who is perpetrating investment and Forex scams and where they
are located. Due to the great burden and lack of funding placed
on Law Enforcement and the Regulatory Agencies action is only
taken when there is pressure from the public. Only by contacting
EVERYONE that you can will get results. The paperwork you signed
when opening your account means nothing in a Court of Law when
there is scams involved on the part of the broker.
In recent years
there has been a sharp
rise in commodity, foreign currency - Forex trading
scams and fraud. Consumers should be alert
to investment scams, fraud and companies that sell
Forex currencies and commodity brokers based on
sales pitches claiming that customers can
make a lot of money with little risk. Sales solicitations
appearing in newspapers, telemarketing, radio or television
promotions, or attractive Internet websites,
touting high-return, low-risk investment
opportunities in foreign currency trading
more often than not are scams or a fraud. If
it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
The
United States
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC) is the federal agency that
regulates the trading of Forex currency,
commodity futures and options contracts in
the United States and takes action against
firms suspected of illegally or scamsulently
selling Forex currency, commodity futures
and options. The CFTC has jurisdiction to
investigate and prosecute Forex currency
scams and fraud and commodity scams and
fraud occurring in its registered Forex and
commodity firms and their affiliates.
Off-exchange trading of Forex, foreign
currency futures and options contracts with
retail customers by a counterparty that is
not a regulated financial entity as set
forth in the CFMA is unlawful and may be a
scams or fraud.
Although
Forex and commodity dealers who are
regulated by NFA must disclose their charges
to retail customers, there are no rules
about how a dealer charges a customer for
the services the dealer provides or that
limit how much the dealer can charge. Before
opening a Forex, currency trading or
commodity account, you should check with
several dealers and compare their charges as
well as their services. Some firms charge a
per trade commission, while other firms
charge a mark-up by widening the spread
between the bid and ask prices they give
their customers. Some Forex and currency
firms may charge both a commission and a
mark-up. In my opinion any firm selling
Forex, commodities or foreign currency
charging more than $50 is either a fraud or
scams.
Some
Forex and currency dealers guarantee that you will not
lose more than you
invest, which includes both the initial
deposit and any subsequent deposits to keep
the position open.
There are two significant differences
between buying off-exchange Forex currency options and buying options on futures
contracts. First, when
you exercise an option on an exchange-traded
futures contract, you
receive the underlying exchange-traded
futures contract. When
you exercise an off-exchange Forex currency option,
you will probably receive
either a cash payment or a position in the
underlying currency.
Second, NFA’s options brochure only
discusses American-style
options, which can be exercised at any time
before they expire.
Many Forex currency options are European-style
options, which can be exercised
only on or near the expiration date. You
should understand
which type of option you are purchasing.
Retail off-exchange Forex
currency trades are not
guaranteed by a clearing
organization and are the most sustainable to
scams and fraud. Furthermore, funds that you
have deposited to
trade Forex currency contracts are not insured and do
not receive a priority
in bankruptcy. Even customer funds deposited
by a dealer in
an FDIC-insured bank account are not
protected if the dealer
goes bankrupt.
There is no central marketplace
unlike regulated futures exchanges in the
retail off-exchange. Forex currency market
there is no central marketplace with many
buyers and sellers. The Forex currency
dealer determines the execution price, so
you are relying on the dealer’s integrity
for a fair price. This is one of the major
areas where scams and fraud occur in Forex
an currency trading.
The Commodity Exchange Act (CEA)
allows the
sale of OTC Forex currency futures and options to
retail customers if, and
only if, the counterparty (the person on the
other side of the
transaction) is a regulated entity. These
regulated entities include
the following: financial institutions, such as banks and
savings associations registered
broker-dealers and certain of their
affiliates,
registered futures commission merchants (FCM's)
and certain of their affiliates,
certain insurance companies and their
regulated affiliates,
financial holding companies, and
investment bank holding companies.
Under the CEA, the CFTC has the authority to
shut down any
unregulated entity that acts as a
counterparty to Forex currency futures or
options transactions with retail customers.
The CFTC also has
the authority to take action against
registered FCMs and their
affiliates for violating the anti-scams and
anti-manipulation provisions
of the CEA in connection with OTC Forex
currency transactions involving retail customers. The CFTC
cannot adopt rules to
regulate Forex without additional
Congressional authorization.
NFA has rules to protect customers
from scams and fraud in the
retail off-exchange Forex currency market. Firms that
introduce
customers to Forex currency dealers do not have to be
regulated entities.
NFA’s rules provide, among other things,
that a Forex currency dealer
FCM must take responsibility for the
activities of unregulated
entities that solicit retail customers
including and scams or fraud perpetrated by
the introducing broker and the brokers of
the firm that introduced the account.
Additionally, NFA’s rules
require Forex currency dealer FCMs to
supervise their employees and agents and any
affiliates that act as counterparties to
retail Forex transactions to ensure the
public is protected from scams and fraud by
its introducing brokers. NFA’s Forex rules do not apply to all FCMs
and their affiliates,
however. Therefore, you should ask the
dealer if NFA regulates its Forex currency activities.
You
should ask the dealer
how it is regulated and check with the
dealer’s regulator about the
dealer’s registration status and background
to ensure they have not had any complaints
of scams or fraud.
You should also ask
the dealer if its regulator has adopted
rules to regulate its retail Forex currency activities.
Unlike Forex
currency dealers, firms and individuals
that solicit retail
accounts for Forex currency dealers and manage those
accounts do not have
to be regulated or affiliated with a
regulated firm. Therefore, you
should find out if the person’s Forex
activities are regulated and
by whom. If the person is not regulated, you
may be exposed to
additional risks of scams.
Just as you wouldn’t
consider buying a house
or a car without carefully reading and
understanding the terms of
the contract, neither should you establish a
Forex currency account without
first reading and understanding the Account
Agreement and
all other documents supplied by your dealer.
Both the CFTC
and NFA offer programs that may be available
for resolving monetary disputes involving
your Forex currency account. Information about NFA’s arbitration program is available by
calling NFA at 800-621-3570.
The CFTC offers a reparation program for
resolving disputes.
If you want information about filing a CFTC
reparations
complaint, contact the CFTC's Office of
Proceedings at 202-418-5250
Don't
become a victim of Forex scams commodity
scams or other types of investment scams or fraud. |
