You’ll encounter forex traders if you’re spending enough time looking at investing-related posts through social networking sites. They are usually enthusiastic about displaying their gains and attracting new traders. What’s the issue? Is forex a fraud? Are there legitimate opportunities to earn money in this industry? Read on to find out.
What is forex?
“Forex” is a term used to describe the practice of trading currencies “forex” is an abbreviation to mean “foreign exchange,” and it refers to the method of trading currencies. It’s a crucial function in our worldwide economy. For instance, forex is the process Japanese firms utilize to convert their yen to dollars when purchasing products from the United States.
Individual forex traders (such as those you’ve probably seen boasting about their “sick profits” through social media) employ this same idea to make money from fluctuating currency valuations.
So can you tell if forex is a scam?
Forex isn’t a lie. It’s a legitimate system that allows cross-border transactions for businesses. But Forex trading “opportunities” you’ve encountered on the internet are nearly always fraudulent.
The scams can take on different types. Follow us as we run through these scams.
Different types of Forex scams
1. Multi-level marketing schemes
This is the most frequent forex scam that I’ve come across on the internet. The perpetrators lure new customers in by promising some trading algorithm or chat room that claims to help ordinary people make millions from forex trading.
The whole thing is illusions and smoke, however. The fundamental goal of everyone within these organizations is to find as many new members as they can and earn referral rewards. Recruits’ money can be used to build an impression of riches within the organization. This then attracts individuals who are looking to become wealthy quickly.
In the end, numbers for recruitment begin to drop, and unhappy “investors” begin to post warnings on social networks. Those responsible typically shut down the businesses or rebrand the company to avoid being scrutinized.
2. Signal selling schemes
Another type of scam common in the forex industry involves people who sell access to trading signals for private Forex networks. The buyers buy the subscription hoping to receive data that can allow them to become rich fast. In reality, the criminals want to make money from subscription charges. They don’t care about offering the best value.
There is no multi-level marketing element that often deceives investors into thinking that these frauds are genuine. It can be challenging to convince people that they’ve been scammed since skilled signal sellers hide their history.
3. Algorithmic Trading schemes
The scam is similar to the previously reported fraud in that it involves perpetrators selling services that are wildly misrepresented. Investors are convinced that they’re paying for some sophisticated forex system that will exchange their funds and generate extraordinary profits. However, the “algorithm” is typically very basic or simply a collection of individuals trading manually.
Criminals typically artificially boost earnings by charging sign-up fees for new members to convince users that the algorithm is working.
Like signals selling, forex algorithm scams are particularly deceiving when blatant multi-level marketing tactics do not accompany them.
4. Price manipulation
Before discussing the idea that price manipulators play in the forex markets, let’s look at brokerages. They are the platforms that aid in the trading of forex. They manage the computer algorithm that pairs both sides of any transaction (i.e., an American customer who wants to trade his dollars with an exchange for a Japanese client’s Japanese currency, the yen). ).
There are legitimate forex brokerages available. But, there are several fake ones. These fraudulent brokerages use price manipulation to deceive customers.
For instance, they could begin large trades but have no intention of closing these. Their goal is to alter the value of currencies to profit to the detriment of their clients.
5. Front-running
Market participants of considerable size (those that trade in large quantities each day) could influence the value of currencies by their trading activities. This is legal as long as there isn’t any malicious intent.
The only thing that isn’t legally enforceable is front-running. This is where shady forex brokers profit from their information about a considerable customer’s motives and make trades accordingly.
Front-running refers to the act in which a broker sells their assets before putting the client’s order through. For example, a broker discovers that one of their major clients plans to make a deal worth $10 million in a particular currency. They look up the numbers and find that it will reduce the value of the money. The broker will be protected from costs. Anyone who was not privy to that information wouldn’t be.
Why are there so many scams in the forex market?
Let’s talk about the reasons why it is that there’s so much fraud that involves Forex trading.
1. Forex space is full of brokers that aren’t regulated.
Many brokerages within the forex industry are not regulated. Sure, these not-regulated brokerages do not recognize (or even allow) unprofessional and illegal conduct and make their platforms ideal for scammers.
To give an example, the stockbrokers are highly controlled. Companies operating in this space must sign up following the Securities Exchange Commission’s Broker-Dealer provision. Infractions of these regulations could result in severe and swift sanctions.
In other words, criminals tend to prefer forex over the stock market since the likelihood of facing legal penalties is lower.
2. Interest in the forex market is at record.
Here’s how to interpret looks like the Google Trends chart for the query “forex-trading” is like this:
However, any area that has this much attention is likely to attract a lot of criminals looking to make money quickly. Forex is no exception.
3. Scammers capitalize on the fact that forex appears legitimate
To test my curiosity, I was at a presentation with a group for an obvious multi-level marketing strategy disguised as an algorithm for trading forex demo. The majority of the program was devoted to highlighting two aspects:
- the market for forex is huge
- banks earn billions of dollars by trading currencies
Both of them are accurate. But that doesn’t mean it will make an individual, however. It isn’t (more on this in the future). To investors with no experience, However, these two points are convincing.
How to stay clear of frauds in the forex industry
After you have learned about the different types of frauds in the forex industry and the reasons they are there, let’s talk about ways to avoid becoming a victim of them.
1. Don’t engage in forex trading.
I’ve yet to meet one person who has proved that trading in forex is a viable and sustainable way to build wealth for oneself. I’m convinced that’s because it isn’t.
To begin with, most currencies tend to change by just a fraction of a percent at one time. Banks profit from those moves because they trade billions of dollars and charge clients charges for every conversion. With just a tiny amount of money to invest, the average Joe will not make it very far unless they leverage, which can be as effective against them.
My main tip for avoiding scams with forex is to stay clear of forex. Instead, it would be best if you tried some of the safe investing strategies I’ve covered in this article.
2. If you’re planning to test trading forex, be cautious about it.
Should you choose to disregard my advice above and try forex trading simply because it looks fun or something else, you must be prudent when you approach it. It is essential to follow these steps:
- only invest money that you can manage to
- avoid trades that leverage (unless you have the cash to get yourself out of the way if the business goes towards you)
- with a licensed broker
- receiving advice (mainly when it was provided to you without asking) with an eye on the fine print
- stay clear of any person or platform that offers a “guaranteed” good yield
- thorough research of any potential opportunities you find before investing money into
3. Make your study
Before you take action upon any piece of information on trading in forex, you must find at minimum three reliable and independent sources to verify the information. Each piece of data sourced from one source is, at best biased. In the worst case, it’s a complete fraud that aims to fool you.
4. Don’t be too stingy.
A desire to be rich quickly is your biggest foe when you invest. The majority of strategies to get rich quick (including numerous forex trading schemes) is fraud. Even those which aren’t scams might not keep your best interests at heart. Even legitimate actors (i.e., Forex brokerages that are regulated) are often nothing more than sellers of shovels in a gold rush, opportunists who capitalize on the ever-present desire of humans to make quick cash.
Don’t fall for the trap of a victim. Accept that there aren’t free meals and that making money is a lengthy process. The appeal of trading in forex may disappear quite quickly.
