STORY

I was contacted over the phone by an online trader who specialise in binary options, cryptocurrency, and forex trading. He said his company was on the cutting edge, used the latest technology, and could offer guaranteed returns.

I invested a few thousand and used their online platform, which seemed to work very well. I could see my trades were resulting in good profits. I invested more at their insistence, and they promised I would earn even more.

When I wanted to withdraw my money, I was told I would need to pay taxes on my profits before I could access it. I was never warned about this, but they insisted I needed to pay taxes before I could get my money back.

After I asked for my money, my trades started to fail, and my accumulated profits were starting to decrease. They pressured me to invest more so that I could reverse the situation by increasing my ‘trade volume’. They said I would lose everything unless I invested more as an emergency.

I feel very embarrassed by this scam—they were very convincing and professional.

They stated I would be ‘kicked off the market’ because my trades were failing and I was reduced to 3% of my initial investment, but by that point, I knew it was all fake.

Signs this was a scam

The victim was:

phoned out of the blue by a stranger offering unsolicited advice on investments

told he had to pay additional fees (taxes in this case) to access his money, though he was not informed of this earlier

offered ‘guaranteed returns’

encouraged to invest more by being promised higher returns, and then pressured to do so or risk losing all of his money.

Avoid this type of scam

Hang up on the caller and take some time to think about it. Do research and seek trusted or independent financial or legal advice.