In any arena where large sums of money change hands at speed, you can guarantee that there will be scammers. Exactly how much money is lost to forex traders in this way is difficult to establish because many people are too embarrassed by how they’ve been swindled to want to talk about it – and that makes it all the easier for the scammers to get away with it. How can you stay safe? What do you need to know about scams and the people who run them? How can you find a safe way to trade, and what should you do if, despite all your precautions, you find yourself a victim?
Basic safety tips
A lot of what you need to do to stay safe comes down to common sense. Scammers look for people who are naive, careless, greedy or desperate. Keeping cool and thinking first should keep you out of trouble. Familiarise yourself with the risks at ForexFraud.com and be wary of the following:
- Promises of really high success rates. Nothing is that certain in forex trading.
- Pressure to agree right away. This is a classic scammer tactic.
- Pressure to supply personal information. This can be used for identity theft and it’s very rarely needed by genuine dealers.