How to find legit Trading Firm

by Robert J. Hegwood Market Analyst

Scams are the part of the world we live in; we can’t run away from them with our eyes closed. It is however simple to sit on your chair and click the button, but you are unaware of the fact that by doing so you shares your personal information. The types of fraud these days are way too high. You can see the increase in frauds and also know about fraudulent trading law firms currently present. The question arises, how to find out if the firm or business, you dealing with is legit. There are few things that show a red flag and keep you away from scams and frauds.

· Check law firm website:

Check for the firm’s active, local number and address. If they aren’t entertaining offline facility, take this as a red flag. Since having an email address is not trustworthy enough as it’s easy to obtain. If a firm doesn’t have its offline contact number or address stay away, I repeat, stay away.

The concern isn’t over yet, there are many fake phony companies available on the internet may be the one you looking is one of them? Yes, you can’t even trust a law firm, there is a whole business providing fake 800 numbers and area code. Even Google supports this facility. The least you can do is to call a local chamber of commerce linked by the address and find out.

Most of the fraud cases were seen in trading in law firms. Trading over the internet means giving access to your personal information. There are names you can even find them on Google, which has encountered with fraudulent trading law firms.

A legit trading company or business will always put privacy policy option on their website. If you don’t see one, consider reading their suspicious language. Most of the phony or fake firms don’t have a decent content on their page; it’s usually dummy content with logos of big firms to fool you. Avoid it if you see fake stock photos.

It is definitely a red flag if the law firm’s payment method is restricted to cash or paper check. The electronic media have made payments easier by using more secure payment methods like PayPal. Do you know most of the fraudulent trading law firms were caught because of the same reason? But as they say, when there is money there are money substitutes.

· Legit documentation:

Other than finding on the internet about any particular law firm, you can pay a visit to their office personally and meet the management directly. Remember this; trading firms always have permits, certificates, licenses, approved registration and all other legal documents hanging on the display. If you see them check it and make sure they are up-to-date.

You can check on the website too and you can find out about the owner of that website and the date. If the website expires soon or is created recently then it is a, red alert.

https://www.icann.org/ is a great source to find the owner of the official website.

· CFTC:

With the help of CFTC free tools you can check the background of financial and trading professionals. It also alerts you from latest fraud schemes. Check http://smartcheck.cftc.gov/

The CFTC is basically a federal agency which monitors the trading of commodities and take actions against fraudulent trading law firms.

CFTC runs a prevention and awareness program regarding fraud trading firms. And they warn to commit you with fake promises of high profit.

Check the website for details to stay away from frauds.

1. Kinds of fraud you can become a victim of:

Foreign currency trading scams are mostly eye catching as they claim through advertisement and internet sites to pay high return. Some firms offer to invest in low risk investment in foreign currency trading. Expensive metals scams work, this way mostly.

Another kind of fraud is a community pool operator, where community operator enjoys the perks of using someone’s reputation in the community. There are countless fraud schemes based on community pool operator. Be aware and keep your eyes open, don’t let someone use your name for their wrongdoings.

· Basics of trading:

Before getting into the trading world, learn the basics of trading so you don’t get fooled easily.

1. Consider how much you can afford to invest and loose at the same time.

2. Go through the risk disclosure documents of trading.

3. Learn about margin trading as it can be the real reason for the loss.

4. You should know who to contact when confused.