Rogue in the World of Currency Operations
In this overview, we will look at an individual active in the free Forex market. Nowadays, the creation of deceitful cooperatives and fraudulent unions seems to be in high demand. Among the new “client group” are Alpari, Saxo Bank, and Dukascopy. Let’s focus on the latter intermediary.
What information do we have?
The company is named Dukascopy Bank SA. It is a global conglomerate that offers trading tools in the interbank financial market. In our understanding, we are talking about Forex. According to data on the internet platform dukascopy.com, the enterprise was registered in Switzerland in 1998. However, the banking license was only granted to them in 2010.
This license pertains to banking activities. In 2011, Dukascopy Europe was established as a company branch in Latvia. And it’s this branch that obtained authorization for brokerage activities.
In other words, Forex traders’ accounts are overseen not by the organization Dukascopy, but by its subdivision Dukascopy Europe. You might ask: So what, what’s the difference? And the difference is huge. It means that manipulation of Forex accounts is conducted and monitored not according to Swiss standards, but Latvian ones. We believe that the advantages and differences in the social, legal, and financial-economic conditions of Switzerland and Latvia are clear to most.
First Lesson for a Skillful Trader
The primary rule for a good swindler is not to give oneself away as a swindler. How to achieve that? Find cover or camouflage that allows you to gain trust. This is how the scammers from Dukascopy operate. Among their advantages, the first item is the claim that they are a regulated Swiss bank. However, you are offering brokerage services — what does a bank have to do with it?
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Back to the initial paragraphs and once again about Dukascopy and Dukascopy Europe. Everything becomes clearer. Pursuing goals using a Latvian broker dressed as a Swiss bank.
These tricks are far from the only ones. The financial institution has six branches in Geneva, Hong Kong, Riga, Kiev, Moscow, and Tokyo.
In Geneva houses the main office, and in Riga, a branch is registered. Hong Kong — a haven for money laundering, just need the internet and a couple of thousand dollars. Tokyo — a favorable trading platform, the home to 9 million sufficiently affluent residents.
We focus on Kiev and Moscow. We see that the majority of market participants are from the CIS. Opening offices in two large and prosperous cities is a logical step. However, there is one “but.”
Remember that the Dukascopy Europe certificate only grants rights to citizens of the 28 EU countries. Russia and Ukraine, for example, are not included in the list of EU members. So why did Dukascopy’s subsidiary end up in Kiev and Moscow?
Simple. The wrongdoers understand that they can do almost anything with clients from these countries. Defrauded depositors from the former USSR cannot make claims against their scammers as the license’s validity does not extend to them.
What Does the Client Contract Imply?
For fraudsters, the key legal document regulating the exchange between clients and the company is the client agreement. This is standard practice for a “virtual casino.” This agreement benefits only one side — the scammers.
Recall that the primary user audience of this source is Russian-speaking individuals. However, all official documents are in English. We interpret this as another tactic to obscure traces.
We have translated the main aspects of this agreement. According to them, scammers do not guarantee services to clients and necessary trading conditions. For errors and other misunderstandings, scammers take no responsibility:
Section 6.2 notes that the Forex broker may cease trading at any time and block access to users’ personal accounts:
Also, the broker is not liable for server glitches and customer fund loss due to these failures.
And here’s the most critical point — Section 17.5. According to this, Dukascopy operates based on Latvian legislation. Yet, the company’s top management claims it is a Swiss company, a Swiss bank, a Swiss intermediary. Here lies the quintessence of the true “Swiss.”
Client Reviews of the Company
Naturally, we didn’t expect to find positive reviews about this trap. But the number of negative reviews exceeded our expectations. Conclusions are drawn based on reviews from sources forex-ratings-ukraine.com, eto-razvod.ru, take-profit.org.
This initial reaction speaks of pointless account blocking and money theft from the card upon registration at this trap:
Subsequent reviews also mention financial harm on personal accounts. A fairly familiar case for web fraud, including Dukascopy:
Then a comment that positive Forex broker reviews are paid for.
And another comment, confirming that we are dealing with a scam at the level of an illegal casino. All offers and actions are false maneuvers to attract new victims:
Our Warning
Dukascopy presents itself as a Swiss firm with a clean history. But these are empty words. We have thoroughly examined the dishonest business practices of these pseudo-Swiss. Emphasize that in its client agreement, the company states it operates in accordance with the laws of Latvia, not Switzerland.
Friends, think many times before entrusting your finances! For that money, it’s better to go to real Switzerland. At Dukascopy, disappointment and loss of savings await you. Be vigilant!
