How to spot a fake broker in 60 seconds (or less)

Scammers don’t write bad emails any more. The modern fake broker has a polished website, a licence number that looks right, and a WhatsApp group of “other happy clients” ready to vouch. Here are the five one-minute checks that catch nearly every fraudulent firm before it costs you a cent.

1 · Search the regulator’s public register — by number, not by name

Every real broker in Europe has a licence number on a national regulator’s register. Look up the number on the regulator’s site (not the firm’s) and check that the licence holder’s legal name matches exactly. A hair’s-breadth difference in spelling or a totally different name means the firm is either misrepresenting a licence that belongs to someone else, or has cloned a real firm’s identity.

2 · Check how old the domain is

A WHOIS lookup takes ten seconds. A firm that claims a decade of history and whose website was registered six weeks ago is lying about one of the two.

3 · Look at who you’d be paying

Before any deposit, see the beneficiary name on the payment page. If it doesn’t match the firm — say, a payment processor in a third country, or a personal account with a similar-looking name — walk away.

4 · Reverse-search the team photos

Fake firms love a stock-photo “board of directors”. A reverse image search on each headshot tells you quickly whether the “team” is actually a stock pack from the Czech Republic.

5 · Say “no” and watch the pressure

Reply to the pitch with a polite “I’d like to think about it for two weeks.” A real firm will say that’s fine. A scam will raise the pressure: a limited window, a bonus that expires, a VIP tier you’re about to lose. That reaction is the clearest signal of the lot.

If any of these turns up a red flag, don’t argue with yourself — ask for a Firmenprüfung before moving a cent.