Is your broker really regulated? Watch out for ghost licenses

I open this thread to share a personal experience and warn about a practice that is becoming more and more common among certain brokers: ghost licenses. Many traders think that by seeing a beautiful logo that says regulated by X they are already sure, but the reality is that several brokers are showing expired licenses, or worse, completely invented. I will not say names for the moment, but I do encourage you to magnify the registration number and search the regulator’s website if the broker really appears there.

Thank you for the ad. Do you have any concrete examples or are you throwing fear into the air like many do in this forum?

It happened to me with one that was said to be regulated in Estonia and when I went to the register there was not even the name of the company. I reported it and it still works. Shameful.

Some brokers are only "registered," which is not the same as "regulated." That trap is classic.

Exactly, that's another important point. Registration regulation. Many websites say registered in FCA but that only means that they sent papers, not that they are supervised or audited. A real FCA regulated broker has license number, sanction history (if there were any

Look, in the end, it's the fault that's not reported, it's all on the internet, but people prefer to believe marketing and then cry.

There are offshore brokers who treat you better than those regulated by ESMA. What matters is how they operate, not the paper.

That's a dangerous argument. Justifying them to treat you well while you operate with someone who can disappear tomorrow isn't exactly smart.

You lost money and now you come to evangelize or what?

No, they didn't rip me off, but I almost realized it in time, and if I open this thread, it's so that someone else doesn't fall like a fool into the same well.

I always use brokers with CySEC and FCA. They won't be perfect, but if you mess up I have someone to claim.

And what good is it to claim if it takes two years to give you back something?

There is a broker that boasts regulation in Seychelles. I checked and the regulator there has no website with a public search engine. It’s like trusting your money to a mailbox.

Many confuse being on CNMV’s list with being regulated. It’s not the same thing.

Add another: some brokers clone the license number of another real company. You put the number on Google and you get a company headed in London, but the broker operates from a tax haven.

That's serious, that's already bordering on the criminal.

It happened to me with one who claimed to be regulated by ASIC and when I went to check it was a company with a very similar but completely different name. A dirty but effective move.

Can we put names or this forum also censor certain sponsors?

I got blocked off a post weeks ago for naming a broker, so you better use initials or erase everything.

I find it regrettable that we have to speak with fear. Where is freedom of expression if you cannot warn others?

To those who defend brokers without real regulation: are you going to pay the customer when the company disappears with their money? Because that’s what happens. It’s not paranoia.

Newbie traders see a nice platform and low spreads and they already think they're on Wall Street. Then come the crying.

Useful thread. Most people don’t review the broker’s domain. There are almost exact copies of famous pages.

Once I opened account with one that had Caribbean regulation and WhatsApp support. A week they no longer answered me.

The serious regulator is the one that has: continuous supervision, complaints system and compensation fund. If you don’t have that, it’s wet paper.

I have worked for a broker and confirm you: many times the regulated logo is put by the graphic designer. So sad.

And what about the IBs that send you to ghost brokers?

Totally. There are IBs who live on commissions and send people anywhere to get their cut. They never ask if the broker is safe or if the funds are segregated.

It's about time for a clear talk about the financial chiringuitos camouflaged from brokers.

This forum should have a black list of brokers, just like some regulators. It would be very helpful for the new ones.

That's not gonna happen because a lot of those brokers sponsor banners and pay advertising.

The worst thing is that when they are discovered, they simply close, change their names, open another website and continue to steal the same.

And the forums are still full of fake accounts promoting those sites. No one moderates them?

I've seen professional traders on YouTube recommending unlicensed brokers, all because of the affiliate link, no shame at all.

I have a personal rule: if the broker doesn't have a real phone service or a physical office, I don't put in a euro.

If you can't talk to a person in five minutes, how are you going to trust their capital?

A serious broker publishes his audit and has segregated accounts.

What a good thread, I wish more people would share things like that and fewer photos of invented winning trades.

Thank you for the contributions. I am glad to see that I am not the only one who cares about this. I will open another thread with a list of steps to verify any broker.

Many would fall less if they had a simple verification guide.