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Home · Trader Safety

Trader Safety

How to spot scams, avoid bad actors, and protect your capital.

Educational only. This guide is general safety information. It is not legal, tax, or investment advice. If you suspect fraud, report it to your local financial regulator and to ShaFX so we can update the relevant broker page.

The basic safety rule

Before sending money anywhere, verify three things in this order: (1) the legal entity opening the account, (2) the regulator that licenses that entity, (3) the actual on-the-record license number on the regulator's official register. Marketing pages do not count as proof. Regulator registers do.

Common scam patterns

Guaranteed-profit signal services

Anyone selling a "guaranteed", "no-loss", "100% win rate", or "secret" trading signal service is making a claim no real trader can defend. Real traders understand drawdown, sequence risk, and uncertainty. Sales-funnel signal sellers usually do not.

Account managers / "trade for you" offers

Strangers on social media offering to "trade your account" or "double it in a week" are almost universally fraudulent. Even where account management is legal (with a licensed asset manager and a formal agreement), retail Telegram / WhatsApp / Instagram offers are not it.

Recovery scams (the second-strike)

People who lost money to a previous scam are then approached by a second person claiming to be a "recovery specialist", "blockchain investigator", or "regulator agent" offering to recover the lost money — for an upfront fee. This is almost always the same group running a second scam against the same victim. Never pay upfront fees to recover funds.

"Verified" funded-account sellers

Sellers offering to provide already-passed prop-firm accounts, "verified" broker accounts, or KYC-bypass services are creating compliance liability for the buyer and usually deliver nothing.

Cloned brokers

A scam site clones a real regulated broker's website, with one letter changed in the domain or in the entity name. Always cross-check the website URL against the regulator's official register entry — not the other way around.

Withdrawal-blockers

Account opens fine, deposits process fine, the trader makes a "profit" — and suddenly there is a "tax", "verification fee", "account-upgrade fee", or "compliance fee" required to withdraw. Real regulated brokers do not work this way. If you are asked to deposit more money to withdraw existing money, you have lost the existing money.

Red flags to walk away from

  • No license number, or a license number that doesn't match the regulator's register
  • Unrealistic return promises ("10% per day", "double in a week", "guaranteed")
  • Pressure to deposit fast, time-limited "bonuses", or aggressive sales calls
  • Refusal to share full T&Cs in writing
  • Withdrawals delayed without a clear stated process
  • Crypto-only deposits with no banking option, when the broker claims to be a regulated institution
  • Reviews exclusively on the broker's own website, with no independent footprint

Verifying a broker yourself (5 minutes)

  1. Find the legal entity name and license number on the broker's website footer.
  2. Go to the regulator's official site — directly, not via a search-engine ad.
  3. Search the register for that license number. Confirm the company name matches.
  4. Confirm the regulator covers the country you live in. Some regulators only license certain entities for certain regions.
  5. Check the regulator's enforcement / warning section for any actions against the entity.

If something is wrong

  • Stop depositing. Document everything.
  • Open a complaint with the broker via official channels.
  • If unresolved, file a complaint with the regulator.
  • Report the broker to your bank if a card payment is involved (chargeback windows are short).
  • Report the platform / page to the social-media network it appeared on.
  • Tell ShaFX so we can update our broker pages and warn other traders.

One more reminder

ShaFX never asks you to send funds to ShaFX. We do not custody money. If anyone contacts you claiming to be from ShaFX and asks for a deposit, fee, or password — that is not us. Report it to contact.