Guide

If you have already paid

What is worth doing first, who can actually act, and what nobody can do for you.

Step 1

Stop paying, today

A request for one more payment to release your balance — a tax, a fee, a verification deposit — is not a condition of withdrawal. It is the next step of the loss.

Step 2

Write it down while it is fresh

Dates, amounts, the account you paid into, the names people used, the address of the site. This is what every complaint form will ask for, and what nobody can reconstruct for you later.

Step 3

Tell the bank or card issuer that took the payment

They decide on refunds and chargebacks, not us and not the broker. Time limits are set by the card scheme and run from the payment, so this is the step that rewards speed above all others.

Step 4

Complain to the regulator that issued the licence

If the broker holds a licence, the authority that issued it is the one that can act on it. Its name and number are on our card for that firm; the complaint goes to that authority, not to the one in your own country.

Step 5

Report it locally as well

A local report rarely returns money, but it is what puts a firm on a warning list — which is how the next person finds out before paying.

as early as possible — the limit runs from the paymentYour bank or card issuerThe only route that can move money back. Ask for the dispute or chargeback procedure in writing.the bank or payment provider that took the money

usually after the firm has answered you, or failed toThe regulator that licensed the brokerIt supervises the licence, can open a case and can publish a warning. It cannot promise a refund.the authority named on that broker's card, on its own website

Offers to get your money back

Anyone who contacts you offering to recover your money for a fee is running the second half of the same scam. No regulator, no bank and no lawyer charges an advance fee to release funds, and no one can promise a recovery. Treat every such offer, letter and phone call as an attack.

Keep these

—every email and chat log with the firm, exported, not screenshotted
—the payment receipts, with the card, account or wallet used
—screenshots of the account page showing the balance and any blocked withdrawal
—the licence number the site displayed when you signed up

Sourceswww.cysec.gov.cy registers.esma.europa.eu registers.esma.europa.eu bappebti.go.id registers.esma.europa.eu afsa.aifc.kz www.gov.kz registers.esma.europa.eu www.knf.gov.pl registers.esma.europa.eu fsaseychelles.sc www.vfsc.vu www.fsca.co.za

If you have already paid

The register holds the legal company, the site advertises the brand. We match on both, so a trading name finds the company that actually holds the licence.

Company name or website

Check

13 sources3,054 records0 not read yet

Source

Rows

Last good read

Last attempt

Result

CY-CYSECCyprus Securities and Exchange Commission

248

2026-09-29

read

CY-ESMACyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (via ESMA register)

327

2026-09-29

read

ES-ESMAComisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (via ESMA register)

419

2026-09-28

read

ID-BAPPEBTICommodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency

111

2026-09-28

read

IT-ESMACommissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (via ESMA register)

490

2026-09-28

read

KZ-AFSAAstana Financial Services Authority

172

2026-09-28

read

KZ-ARDFMAgency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market

134

2026-09-28

read

PL-ESMAKomisja Nadzoru Finansowego (via ESMA register)

2026-09-28

read

PL-KNFPolish Financial Supervision Authority

665

2026-09-28

read

RO-ESMAAutoritatea de Supraveghere Financiară (via ESMA register)

2026-09-28

read

SC-FSAFinancial Services Authority (Seychelles)

233

2026-09-29

read

VU-VFSCVanuatu Financial Services Commission

2026-09-29

read

ZA-FSCA-ODPFinancial Sector Conduct Authority (OTC Derivative Providers)

2026-09-28

read