Binary options involve betting on whether financial assets, such as shares, commodities, currencies or other securities will go up or down in value in a specific time period. The time for the option to ‘mature’ is short, it can be as little as a minute. The winning bets only pay a fixed return, and cannot be re-sold. Whilst binary options are marketed as legitimate investments, they are considered akin to gambling and in reality they are often scams. The industry involves huge sums of money, in multiple continents.
All Israeli binary options firms are now banned by the Israel Securities Authority from targeting Israelis, but the firms remain at liberty to solicit customers abroad.
The Times of Israel has estimated that there are over 100 companies involved in the industry in Israel. Whilst not all companies that offer binary options are fraudulent, many that state to be introducing their customers to lucrative investments are using misrepresentation and other allegedly disreputable practices. Large numbers of customers end up losing all, or practically all, of their money. They then have the difficulty of attempting to trace the company they gave their money to, not realising that although they may have been told it was registered in the United Kingdom, for example, in fact it will have been operating from Israel.
Many binary options firms operating globally are completely unregulated. In August 2016 Belgium’s regulator FSMA became the first European country to ban the advertising and marketing, and offering of forex products, binary options and some CFDs (contract for difference). This resulted in a total ban on leveraged financial products trading in Belgium for retail traders. France’s financial regulator AMF has banned all advertising of forex products, binary options and some CFDs. The United States has outlawed binary options trading on an OTC (over-the-counter) basis as well as any firm that provides this from operating in their jurisdiction.
The Forex market is open 24 hours a day and is where the world’s currencies are traded. There is no centralized market for the trading of currencies and Forex trading can be very risky. It is a legitimate trading market and not a scam itself, however it is a high leverage market and it can be unpredictable with frequent price fluctuations, presenting the opportunity to make institutions, companies, and individuals a lot of money. As a result there are many companies that take advantage of this situation.
The Knesset State Control Committee met on Monday 2 January 2017 to consider how Israel’s law enforcement bodies could join forces to tackle Israel’s fraudulent binary options industry, following internal and external criticism for the failure to properly tackle this industry.
Investors should understand the risks associated with binary option and Forex trading, and that there are an increasing number of financial scams being perpetrated by brokers to misappropriate their money. The Times of Israel has produced a series of articles exposing Israel’s fraudulent binary options industry Binary Options.
If you have found yourself to be a victim of binary options and related fraud, call us and we will go through the options of Recovery with you. Retrace Guard has significant experience in tracking down the location and real identity of binary options companies, many of whom use fictitious addresses and names. Retrace Guard fights on behalf of their clients fearlessly and strives to obtain as much of your money back as possible as well as holding those responsible to account. We recognize that financial fraud places clients under emotional and financial stress and we look to provide you with a helping hand through this trying time.
What is the process?
We have tracked down the whereabouts of various Binary Options companies and we have been able to verify that 99% of Binary Options companies are primarily based in Israel or operated by Israeli nationals. This information is easy enough to obtain through media sources and Internet searches, but knowing their location is just the first step. Many of these operations claim to be located in the U.K. and are affiliated with banks in various parts of the world.
The “brokers” whom you have spoken with use aliases to protect their identity. In order for our clients to go head to head with the multi-billion dollar binary industry, our clients must arm themselves with the best and brightest legal minds in Israel. In trying to find the most formidable law firm for our clients, we interviewed the most prestigious Israeli law firms in order to identify our choice candidate who will represent you, from evidence procurement through litigation.
For those who are familiar with Israeli advocates, the attorneys that our clients hire will come as no surprise. The attorneys we work with focus on matters that require special attention, extensive experience and sophistication. They understand the sensitive nature of financial fraud and the emotional hardships that surround it.
We will provide you with a helping hand throughout this trying time and will be working relentlessly to recover your lost . For more information regarding our attorneys, please visit their website or feel free to call them directly.
Regulated vs. Unregulated
Binary platforms and brokerages are supposed to be regulated. As a rule, markets and economies cannot function without principles that safeguard rights, validate transactions, and ensure fair competition. Every market has its protocols which are usually set by a hybrid of governmental and third-party overseers. When someone cheats the system, it can easily be spotted by the proper authorities. People who try to use shortcuts will be put back in their place. However, unregulated Binary Options platforms are able to manipulate the market. There is no mechanism to stop them from perpetuating fraud and taking advantage of their clients.
Regulatory bodies like CySEC, CFTC, and FINRA have emerged around the globe to keep the binary brokerage platforms safe. That, however, does not mean that all of the platforms are regulated. Companies such as Traderush, Binary Book, Bigoption, Porter Finance, Glenridge Capital, Magnum Options, BOSS CAPITAL, and many others are unregulated binary companies.
Most of the sales representatives you spoke with used aliases to protect their real identity in the hopes of evading justice. These “brokers” are well aware of the unethical aspects of unregulated Binary Options, hence the employment period is very short and the turnover rate is very high. You may have spoken to multiple brokers during your time dealing with Binary Options. Many times, the only knowledge that these so-called brokers possess of the financial markets are from a one-week crash course that takes place in the beginning of their employment.
After a whirlwind crash course in pirated economics and high-pressures salesmanship tactics (including shame and guilt), they are then crammed into call centers, making contact around the world and defrauding investors. They may even go so far as to tell you they are highly educated and that they are a seasoned trader.
The broker does not explain that Binary Option platforms operate like a casino. The broker is paid a percentage of the money that their clients have deposited minus their withdrawals in a given month. It is against the brokers self-interest to allow withdrawals, while always creating the illusion that they are on your side. Any broker that claims that they only make money when you make money is a bold-faced liar. The money they gain comes directly out of your ever-diminishing initial investment. A critical conflict of interests emerges: You want to win and they need you to lose.
The system is rigged
The process seems simple at first, deposit X amount of money and for every correct “trade” you’ll make back a percentage of your initial deposit. The hope is that you’ll make enough correct trades to exponentially increase your deposit. It is worthwhile to learn as much about the system as you can, but even with the best tools, the system is still often rigged against the investor. There are three main ways that this happens:
Limiting Your Options
In Binary Options, you are meant to predict how a particular asset will be at a specified time in the future. The trading platform on any given day will offer lots of options to work with. When an asset is behaving predictably, it will be unavailable. This usually occurs during high volatility market events. They do not want you to profit.
Scam-bots
Many Binary Options platforms entice traders with smart robots. Auto trading software allegedly uses “sophisticated algorithms” to select winning trades. The trades that these scam-bots select are either random or worse, calculated bad advice.
Inability to Withdraw
Many Binary Options platforms will make it nearly impossible to withdraw money. The “broker” will offer bonuses to their clients under many different situations. These bonuses may be disguised as, Risk Free Trades, Guaranteed Profit, or insurance. Bonuses serve many purposes, enticing traders to increase the amount deposited and creating an illusion of security without explaining the Terms and Conditions. Once a bonus has been added to the trader’s account, they must trade a minimum of 30 times of the bonus amount in order to withdraw their investment. For instance, if a $1,000 bonus was added to the trader’s account, they would need to complete $30,000 in trading volume in order to withdraw their funds. The broker will continuously offer bonuses for every deposit which is made.
Abusive Sales Tactics
While the system is built so that your initial investment dwindles with each passing trade, the broker will try to exploit the relationship which has been built with the trader. They gather as much personal information during the conversation to understand how much money the potential investor has. Brokers have advised traders to max out their credit cards, borrow money and to ask for a second mortgage by promising high yield returns.
We has already identified the perpetrators of these crimes. We have already recovered millions of dollars for our clients. Contact Us to help expedite the process.
