I want to add my voice to what Philip Masters is writing about and share my sad story of being outright scammed by one of the less well known online binary options brokerages. It is bad enough that binary options trading entails high risks and it is built in such a manner as to always favour the broker over the unsuspecting, simple-minded trader, like the majority of us are. This, however, is made even worse through the existence of some so called “trustworthy brokerages», which are nevertheless nothing more than pure crooks, deceiving people just to take their money.
My story started one fine Sunday morning walking back from church with my neighbor Tom, a decent bloke, serious, family man, who told me that the brokerage he was trading with had just launched a good bonus for referring a friend and asked me if I could be the friend he recommended to be able to take the bonus. I agreed, having no doubt, up to this date, for Tom’s honesty and good intentions.
So, I found myself with an account and started making my first steps into the world of binary options trading. I was cautious, achieving some pretty mediocre gains and no substantial losses. The customer service people at the brokerage were all too eager to upgrade my status, turn me into a “gold” member, promising the possibility of higher returns, a healthy bonus, saying they would match my 3.000 dollars with another 3.000 and making my an offer that was too difficult to refuse. I must admit that I was lured; intrigued by the prospects that seemed to be opening up and in the end I succumbed and committed the extra money required and became a gold member. After that, it all went haywire, everything changed, the helpful customer service people, who were supposed to be always at my disposal, were nowhere to be found.
And when I decided to ask for a withdrawal a few days later, after having gained a few more hundred dollars in my account, I didn’t even get a refusal, I was simply ignored. I tried, to no avail, all the available means of communication, phone, email, fax, skype, live chat. You name it, I did it, but still got no response whatsoever.
As we speak, my 3.400 is still trapped with the brokerage and my account balance also shows the extra 3.000 that I received as a bonus…but this is just a number on a screen that doesn’t seem to mean anything to anyone. My money, out of my pocket and into theirs! I did a lot of digging around only to realize that there’s nothing much I can actually do, since this firm is not regulated, no sure way to get my money back without having to spend valuable time and more money on legal advice.
I haven’t decided if I will drop the issue altogether but I have one thing to say… I am not the one to encourage or discourage anyone to trade binary options online or not, but please, if do decide to do so, do your utmost to choose a trustworthy, reliable, firm to do it through. Be aware that scammers, crooks, outright thieves are everywhere and don’t allow them to turn you into just another self-pitying victim.
Chris Evans
I’ve been ripped off by Amber Options.
I deposited $250 - now there is $363 in my account and I have been unable to withdraw & close my account.
They don’t answer the phone or my emails.
Please advise where I should report this fraud.
You can’t make a withdrawl because when you receive a bonus, you agree to ‘invest’ a certain amount of capital, usually around 90X the bonus you receive within 30 days, before you can withdraw anything. If you do successfully withdraw or do not meet this criteria, you lose your bonus and ANY winnings since the date of bonus received.
Why does no one read Terms and Conditions?