MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 scams are not as uncommon as one might think – this is because MT4 is the most used online trading software (developed by MetaQuotes in 2005). It allows you to trade forex, stocks, futures, commodities, and cryptocurrencies from a single trading platform.
The software is widely popular for its easy-to-use interface, advanced chart analysis tools, instant execution, and automated trading features. Both beginners and advanced traders consider MT4 a convenient platform for conducting technical analysis and trading simultaneously. On the other side, swindlers are using its global acceptance as a key to perform a new form of fraud called “MetaTrader 4 scams”.
As the market grows, more and more beginners become a target of MetaTrader 4 scams. Besides counterfeit brokers, fraudsters are also employing fake MT4 platforms for victimising novice investors.
The process of such scams looks very genuine. You are registering with a broker, you set a user ID & password and you get a download link of MT4 along with login details. In the background, either the scammers steal the money directly from your account or use the MetaTrader platform to manipulate your trading.
This guide explains different forms of MetaTrader4 scams with examples. Also, it includes a few suggestions describing how to avoid such fraudsters from stealing your hard-earned money.
Is MetaTrader 4 legit?
Authentic and legitimate brokers commonly use MetaTrader 4 as their central trading platform. Experienced professionals recommend brokers that allow MT4 trading to ensure a standard trading experience. MetaQuotes hold the authority to sell the MetaTrader 4 and Metatrader 5 licenses to any business. However, they are not responsible for any future misuse or manipulation of the software once sold.
Scammers take the chance to own an MT4 license and use it as their prime instrument for distracting novice investors. Many traders still believe that a broker owning the MetaTrader 4 license must be legit. The fact is, the credibility of using this platform has nothing to do with the reliability and legitimacy of the broker.
MetaTrader 4 is legit as long as it is associated with a reputable broker. Legitimate organizations providing online trading service ensures the ultimate safety and security of clients’ funds and privacy. If you are using the platform under one such broker recognized by international financial regulatory bodies, your chance of being a victim of MetaTrader 4 scams is minimal.
Fake MT4 Results – an old but bold trick for MetaTrader 4 scams
While browsing or searching for anything related to trading on the internet, you may have often encountered web banners or videos containing ads like “Look! how I made $10,000 from $1,000 in a day!” Such ads contain screenshots or live videos showing a rich history of winning trades. The timing, price, S/L, and T/P shown in such account histories are so perfect that you will hardly suspect it as a fake MT4 result.
This kind of MetaTrader 4 scammers mainly target novice speculators with minimal knowledge in trading. They find it so easy to distract inexperienced investors with ads containing fake MT4 screenshots. Following the link provided on such ads will redirect you to a counterfeit broker waiting to steal your money.
So, how do they produce such genuine looking false results?
They activate both buy and sell orders simultaneously for the same instrument. As the market proceeds, they only close the orders that are in profit and keep the losing trades open. Since the MT4 account history only shows the results of closed orders, you’ll only see the winning trades there.
In the above example, both buy and sell positions were opened simultaneously for the same currency pair. So, the market moves in any direction, either the sell or the buy entry turns profitable.
Now, if you only close the orders that are in profit, the platform will produce a fruitful account history like the following image:
Scammers take screenshots of such profitable trading results from both PC and mobile devices and attach them to their ads to trap the newcomers looking for a reliable online trading broker. They do it by using a demo account and frame the results as if they are the result of real investments.
How do you avoid such MetaTrader 4 scams?
Always ignore the ads with lucrative trading results and click on unverified links. A legit broker never guarantees trading success. The profit or loss you make depends entirely on your own decision-making. Therefore, consider sticking to a reputable broker with a valid license from renowned governing bodies.
MetaTrader 4 scams example
Fraudsters require to build trust with the target before beginning the scamming process. Using a well-known trading platform like MT4 allows such con artists to brand themselves as valid trading service providers. They bring new clients to their “brokerage”, insist they invest for great returns, collect the deposits, and soon vanish for good. They shut one website then reopen another one to continue the cheating process.
Being a little careless while choosing a broker may cause you to fall for different forms of MetaTrader 4 scams. Here are a few examples:
Clone brokers
Clone brokers are like replicas of famous brand products. Scammers create exact website copies of renowned brokers, use their names and logos, and show MetaTrader 4 as their primary trading platform. The victim thinks they have registered with a reputable broker. Nevertheless, they have already got diverted to the wrong trading home. The idea is to loot the investor’s fund and disappear forever. Sometimes, you’ll not realise that you have been scammed until you request a fund withdrawal. The victims of clone brokers get puzzled, wondering how a legit broker has stolen their money.
Try communicating with the broker via several methods (e-mail, live chat, social media, and phone) to evade such scams before registering. Constant communication will give you an idea about the professionalism and validity of the organisation. Investors who are extremely vigilant in financial markets are less likely to get tricked by a fake broker.
Boiler room tactics and the bucket shops
A boiler room is where scammers practice aggressive sales techniques to force potential clients to register for an account and make deposits. Unregulated brokers called bucket shops to use boiler room tactics to attract investors with lucrative offers like welcome bonuses, deposit bonuses, high leverage, and live trade signals for fresh sign-ups. This kind of organization looks just like a well-established firm from the outside. They offer personal client areas, multiple trading accounts, and access to MT4 like a professional broker. Victims of such scams only realize the actual scenario once they place a withdrawal request.
The famous biographical film “The Wolf of Wall Street” perfectly portrays how Jordan Belfort used boiler room tactics for running the bucket shops successfully.
Manipulating your trades in MT4
Deceitful brokers feed false data to MetaTrader 4 and manipulate clients’ active trades. They tune the market spreads for triggering stop losses and avoid profit locking. As a result, you start losing money, thinking there must be something wrong with your trading strategy. Since you are blaming your own decision-making for the losses, the broker is not required to explain such unusual trading activities.
If you use demo accounts of several brokers and crosscheck the price changes, you will easily be able to detect unusual price hikes causing Stop Loss hits. These kinds of scammers wait until an account is wholly blown so that they can make a complete transfer of clients’ funds into their accounts and frame the adverse result as a regular trading loss.
Is MetaTrader 5 legit?
MetaTrader 5 is an advanced trading platform developed by MetaQuotes. This software is well-known for its multi-asset trading facility, robot trading/Expert Advisors (EA) compatibility, and copy trading facilities. However, like MetaTrader 4, con artists can also manipulate MetaTrader 5 data and temper your trading activities. So, the legitimacy of MT5 thoroughly depends on the reputation and professionalism of the broker offering the platform.
My account recently being freeze and to unfreeze it I need to deposit some amount within the period of time given. If I can’t make the deposit within the time given my account will be invalid and I will lost all my money inside.
May I know is it true this system running like this way? Is there any way for me to find help here. I feel like being scams. Need help…
Hi Adrian,
Unfortunately what you’re describing sounds like a scam. Your broker should never force you into depositing more money. As a trader, you and only you can decide how much funds you are comfortable investing. A legit forex broker would never threaten to freeze your account unless you deposit more funds. Traders are free to decide the amount of their investment and the time when they invest, or trade. You should address local authorities for support to get your money back and to stop the scammers from taking advantage of other traders as well.
In the future, we would strongly advise you to check the featured MT4 brokers on our website and choose to trade only with highly trusted and regulated brokers.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
Hi Adrian,
Unfortunately what you’re describing sounds like a scam. Your broker should never force you into depositing more money. As a trader, you and only you can decide how much funds you are comfortable investing. A legit forex broker would never threaten to freeze your account unless you deposit more funds. Traders are free to decide the amount of their investment and the time when they invest, or trade. You should address local authorities for support to get your money back and to stop the scammers from taking advantage of other traders as well.
In the future, we would strongly advise you to check the featured MT4 brokers on our website and choose to trade only with highly trusted and regulated brokers.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
I want to withdraw all my money from my MT4 account, but the costumer service representative said I have to pay and remit first the 37% tax before they process my request. Is it legal? Thank you
Hi Orlando,
No regulated broker would ever ask you to do this and most likely you have been the victim of a scam.
Each trader has his/her own obligation to pay taxes in their own respective country’s jurisdiction. This is why MT4 has a built-in function to generate your MT4 Statement which outlines all your costs and your profits.
Furthermore, you are only required to pay taxes on your profits. If you have lost more than you have won, there is no country we can think of where you would be required to pay taxes.
If you are a US trader, the taxation is more complicated than in the EU and most other countries, but there are multiple resources to help you. Here is a basic set of information: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/09/forex-taxation-basics.asp
We encourage you to only ever trade with regulated brokers, in order to avoid MT4 scams and always research the forex broker you are looking to trade with before opening a forex account. You can also address local authorities to report that you have been the victim of fraud and you might be able to recover your investment.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
Dear I am also victim of scam for metatrader 4.I only realised that when they asked me to pay 25% of tax and then they are going to release the money.I suspected fraud.Also they told me to put more money to trade as well.I can see money in my metatrader account,can any of you help me how to get that money please.
The prices of MT4 went way below the market prices. I checked the prices of the Crypto I was trading in different websites and it was higher. I had open trades and they went way down then the market prices which cause me having a big loss. Should I assume that the broker is manipulating the prices on Metatrader4?
Thanks.
If I am a victim of a broker scam is my lost forever or can I recover losses somehow?
Hi Nancy,
This may, or may not be the case. Some market-maker brokers may manipulate prices, however, it is also possible that your broker’s liquidity provider encountered an issue. This is particularly possible when you are trading Crypto CFDs, as liquidity providers on Crypto assets are notoriously problematic.
While top brokers use multiple liquidity providers and they can switch between them dynamically to offer the best spreads possible, smaller brokers work with one, or few liquidity providers. As a result, they are vulnerable to any issues experienced by their liquidity provider.
As a general rule of thumb, when you notice a situation similar to the one you describe and you need to determine if you were the victim of a scam, you should reach out to your broker. No proper brokerage company will ever ignore you as long as you confront them in a polite manner, showing them the evidence you have at hand. They should also be able to provide evidence on their end that the issue was related to their liquidity provider.
Obviously, it’s not your fault that the brokerage you trade with has a poor liquidity provider, but in this case, your only course of action is to trade with a trusted broker.
If the brokerage disregards your complaint, you are most likely the victim of a scam and you should address local authorities as soon as possible. The local regulator should be your first point of contact. For example, in the US, for brokers regulated by the NFA, you should reach out to the NFA: https://www.nfa.futures.org/complaintnet/complaint.aspx .
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
Hi Bobby,
We would recommend to reach out to your local regulator (NFA in the US, FCA in the UK, CySec in Cyprus, etc.) and formulate a complaint against the scammers. One can expect multiple complaints related to the same fraudsters and it’s likely the regulator has already alerted the relevant authorities to bring the scammers to justice.
This process is unfortunately very slow and there is no guarantee that you will be able to recover your money. We strongly recommend you that in the future you only trade with regulated, trusted brokers. This way, you will avoid any kind of issues.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
Hi siva,
We are sorry to hear you were the victim of a forex scam.
As in other similar cases, we encourage you to reach out to your local regulator. While the MT4 scammers are unlikely to be regulated brokers, the local regulator may still be aware of other victims and they may have already managed to freeze the scammers’ assets. Your local ombudsman (or equivalent entity that protects consumers’ rights) may also be able to help you.
You can expect the process to be slow and there are no guarantees that you will be able to recover your funds. This is why you should only ever trade forex with regulated brokers from well-established jurisdictions: UK, USA, EU-countries, Australia.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
TGM (trade global market ) it is a scam, fraud company.
Hi I am a víctima of fraude. My broker obligated me yo por more money and i can see The money there. Buy i don’t know how tonhet ir out !! Si there any way i can get help ??
I trade with Meta4trade and I have a sum to withdraw but they say I should deposit money for the guider because most traders after getting money refuse to pay guider. Should I buy this story? They say if I don’t pay my investment will be sold to someone next week. Please help me, should I pay R15000 or not, I’m frustrated.
I feel I been scam, I want to withdraw all my money from my MT4 account, but the customer service representative said I have to pay personal tax of 20% before they process my request. They told me this is under UK FCA tax. Is this true?
How can I get back my capital?
Hi Dichaba,
What you are describing is unfortunately a classic scam. Meta4trade are not a licensed broker, therefore it will be difficult to recover your money.
We would strongly encourage you to contact your local authorities and formulate a complaint against them. Very importantly, in the future, only trade with regulated brokers.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Support
Hi Dot,
We are sorry to hear about your issue. Based on what you were told, it seems you are the victim of a scam.
The UK FCA does not require brokers to withhold any taxes. Furthermore, your profits are tax-free if you are based in the UK and you are trading on a Spread Betting account.
However, even if you are not a UK resident and are trading on a regular forex account, brokers are not allowed to withhold your money for tax purposes. With every regulated broker, it is the trader’s responsibility to pay taxes based on their own personal circumstances.
Try to withdraw your funds and if the broker refuses to give you back 20%, insist that you get all your money back. If the broker still doesn’t give you back your money, you should make a formal complaint to the UK FCA. The FCA should be able to then engage local authorities and try to shut down the scammers.
Unfortunately, this process may take a long time and there is no guarantee that you will definitely recover all your money. In the future, we strongly recommend trading only with regulated brokers.
To double-check if a broker is indeed regulated by the UK FCA, you should check their license number on the UK FCA website. Only regulated brokers are guaranteed to follow the law and in case of any issues, the UK FCA will have all required leverage to help clients.
Good luck,
BrokerSpread Team
Hi, I was scammed by a broker with site name as EliteCryptobit.com. he askee me to invest and then when i try to withdraw , he askes me to pay 20k tax which i didnt and my 10k investment was frozen by the broker. Now, recently i got contacted by MetaQuotes claim department to recover my loss and they sent an email with metaquotes.net company. Are they legit? And they will contact me back to open the account in metatrader and retrieve my money. Is this a scam ? I cam share more details to you guys for cross check . Thanks
The recent voicing of all the scammed victims is really helping a lot , I was a victim and I found a comment online that changed the whole narrative, I deposited about 70k to MT5 scammers and no withdrawals for months until I reported to skyline-recovery , they analysed and got me all my funds.
they offered wonderful consultation on what to do when you are a victim