Read our Options Fxtm review to see if this broker is a scam or legit. Just to clear doubts, this is a optionsfxtm.com review.
The first step every trader takes when they decide to begin trading online is to look for a brokerage. Like everything else on the internet, you will find an abundance of brokers offering their services, with each claiming to offer better services than the rest.
But, this is the internet, which means you take nothing for granted because there are also plenty of scams happening as well. Not all the online brokers are up and up and shady companies are doing a great job of hoodwinking people. This Options Fxtm review is a perfect example of one such company.
The problem is that even though people are aware that these platforms exist, it still has not stopped them from falling into their trap.
Every day, there are stories of people who are tricked by these scammers and this is because they have done quite a good job of presenting false fronts. Some of the fraudulent websites are so well-designed and have all the right ingredients that even an expert would have a hard time telling them apart from a legitimate one.
But, you have to bear in mind that no matter how good the front may be, it is still false and all you have to do is look underneath it to see the truth. It is necessary to do so because no one wants to see their hard-earned money go down the drain.
You want to profit from the financial markets, like so many others have done, and the brokerage you sign up with is vital in this journey. Therefore, you have to be smart about it and never just believe what you see. The same should be done in the case of Options Fxtm that comes off as a solid brokerage at first glance.
It claims to be regulated in the EU and Australia and Options Fxtm also says that it has won numerous industry awards. Plus, it goes as far as being known as one of the most trusted forex and CFD brokerages in the world. All of this sounds great, but you have to look beneath because it could be a false front. Once you do that, you will realize that Options Fxtm is indeed trying to lead you on. How? Let’s take a look:
Lies about regulation
The license and regulation of an online brokerage is going to tell you a lot about the company. It is issued by the regulatory body of the region where the company is based in and provides its services and there are requirements that have to be met to obtain it.
Thus, it is understood that a licensed and registered company will be legitimate because they have to jump through a number of hoops before they get a green light to provide their services.
The fact that Options Fxtm claims to be licensed and regulated definitely leaves a strong impression, but you cannot take this for granted. Claiming to be licensed and actually being licensed are two different matters altogether.
According to the Options Fxtm website, it adheres to the regulations of the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
But, when you check the online registers of these regulatory bodies, you will not find Options Fxtm listed anywhere, which means it is clearly lying. Furthermore, digging into the brokerage shows that it is actually an anonymous brokerage.
This is because there is absolutely no information about who is behind it; you will not find a corporate address, a company name, or any other corporate background for that matter.
The only information that you will discover on the Options Fxtm website is a phone number, an obscure email address and a WhatsApp link. Legitimate brokers will never be this vague when it comes to their background because they are transparent about everything.
Lack of a functional trading platform
You will execute your trades via a trading platform that the online broker will provide you with. It is their job to provide you with this platform, which should be equipped with the tools and features that are useful in the trading process.
Of course, every broker is free to decide what they want to offer and Options Fxtm makes promises of offering the MT4 and the MT5 trading platforms, along with a web-based one.
They imply that they cater to all kinds of traders and want to provide them the best option, given that these are some of the top trading platforms in the market. But, all of this is an elaborate like on the part of Options Fxtm because you will not find a functional trading platform at all.
When you try to access it, you will be transferred to a funny looking dashboard that does not give you any option of downloading a platform, or for trading. All you can use it for is making a deposit, which is exactly what the brokerage wants you to do.
Extremely high leverage
The fact that the leverage ratios supported at Options Fxtm go as high as 1:500 is also a warning sign because given that it claims to be regulated by CySEC and ESMA and operating in Europe, it should not be offering such high levels of leverage. There is a restriction on the leverage ratios that can be offered to retail traders in the EU and Options Fxtm is clearly not following the regulatory framework, which shows it is lying.
Shady payment methods
Even though Options Fxtm has advertised MasterCard as a possible payment method on its website, this is again another lie. The payment methods that the brokerage actually support include bitcoins, which are irreversible and not eligible for a chargeback. You can also use an obscure third-party payment option named ‘Interac E-Transfer’, which is not exactly a safe option either.
Final Thoughts
Given the lies that Options Fxtm is telling in its presentation and the false claims it has made, you can see that it is not a broker that can be taken at its word.
