Investous Scam

Does Investous offer a real investment opportunity, or is Investous a scam? How does Investous adhere to regulations and stay compliant? Is it safe to invest with Investous?

These days, unscrupulous brokers entice unwary Forex traders with attractive websites and tempting offers. It saves you a lot of heartache and losses to select a legitimate broker for Forex trading.

A thorough review of Investous will give you the information you need to ensure you don’t lose your money.

Making the right choice when it comes to brokers is vital. Before opening an account with Investous, read the Investous review that details the broker’s regulations, policies, and features.

Pros	Cons
A web-based trading platform that is easy to use for beginners.	The deposit requirements are higher but still within reasonable limits.
Tools from Trading Central and TipRanks.	Withdrawals are expensive, but there is a minimum free withdrawal per month.
A good selection of cryptocurrency CFDs.	The broker charges comparatively higher inactivity fees.

Investous Company Overview

Forex broker Investous is a relatively new broker in the Forex market. The company claims it is an international broker and initiated operations in 2018. IOS INTERNATIONAL Limited is the company that runs the broker. It is registered and licensed by the International Financial Services Commission of Belize. An offshore regulator oversees it, and it lacks certification from reputable agencies, which is already a red flag.

In nearly all cases, internationally, fraud brokerages are either unregulated or based offshore. In this way, traders with accounts with the broker are not protected and have no compensation funds. Thus, it is easy and more damaging for them to fall victim to Investous.

Investous’ customers have not left reviews or opinions about the broker, which also supports the opinion that the broker is not trustworthy. The broker may have no existing customer base satisfied with the service, or is it only a scam? This broker opened in 2018 and said it won awards in 2018 for best execution broker and best trading platform, even though there were no reviews from customers.

The claim of Investous is far from realistic since the company does not provide any information about the awards. Consequently, there is a very high likelihood that this is another Investous scam. Considering the company’s background and information, we can’t expect much from the broker. Let’s see what it has to offer then.

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Is Investous regulated?

Two different agencies regulate the two-parent companies that run Investous’ two arms. The situation is just that unclear and confusing.

The International Financial Services Commission of Belize (IFSC) regulates and authorises IOS Investment Limited. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) regulates and authorises F1 Markets Limited.

Due to the ambiguity, most fraud brokerages that serve international clients don’t have to follow any rules or run their businesses from offshore countries. Investous is already causing concern with the fact that offshore regulators regulate Investous. Most fraud brokerages that serve international clients don’t have to follow any rules or run their businesses from offshore countries.

There are no comparisons between an offshore regulator like the IFSC and the FCA or NFA in the United States. The IFSC can’t oversee an internationally operating broker like Investous because it lacks the resources, funds, and capacity. Since they have a license to do business in an offshore location, Investous is free to do fraudulent things.

Forex traders in the UK have no protection at Investous. There are no strict rules or compensation schemes to protect your funds against fraud and bankruptcy at the IFSC.

Can you rely on Investous accounts?

Investous offers the following types of accounts: Basic, Gold, Platinum, and VIP accounts. The minimum deposits for all accounts range from $250 for basic to $250,000 for VIP.

Gold is better than basic, but there aren’t many differences between gold, platinum, and VIP. This strategy makes investors pay at least $25,000 to get better features and pips.

A broker with a good reputation rarely asks for a big deposit, and all account types get the same great service to make sure trading is fair and doesn’t break the bank.

Leverage of 1:500 is available on all accounts with Investous. Scammers often use this method to get you to trust them and take advantage of the fact that people are usually interested in making more money from their investments.

Investous is the only offshore broker that offers such leverage. Reliable brokers in the US, Canada, and Japan are not permitted to offer maximum leverage for Forex transactions over 1:30 under the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Investous withdrawal policy and fees

It is essential to learn about the withdrawal policy of the broker before opening an account. Unfortunately, the broker does not provide clear information on this matter. There is no information on how the traders can request a withdrawal if they should provide additional information when requesting a withdrawal, and how long it takes for the broker to process it.

There is, however, information on the withdrawal charges. The broker may charge you a commission on withdrawals depending on the payment method. Those who fund their trading accounts with credit or debit cards will pay 3.5% of the money they withdraw. There will be a commission of 0.9 and 3.5% for E-wallet users.

Fees for wire transfers include 20 GBP, 30 USD, 24 EUR, 183 CNY, 20 CHF, and 3000 JPY. Nevertheless, there can be a little confusion. The fees mentioned above appear in the broker’s general fees, but information on withdrawal fees on another page suggests that the fee is 35 EUR/GBP/USD.

Spreads

EUR/USD’s benchmark spread floats at about 2.5 pips. In addition to withdrawal fee of 3.5% for credit and debit cards, a maintenance fee of 10 EUR is applied regardless of whether a transaction is made. While other brokers offer comparatively better spreads, Investous does not charge a commission on trades. The spreads on major pairs are

2 pips on EURUSD
6 pips on GBPUSD
5 pips on USDJPY
9 pips on USDCHF
9 pips on AUDUSD

Commission

Customers do not appreciate brokers’ commissions, even though some have them. Furthermore, Investous may charge you for other services and complicate the withdrawal process. If you want to withdraw your profits, the broker may charge you an additional 50 EUR. This may apply in the following circumstances:

Before submitting the withdrawal request, the customer must have only one position in his account, or there must be no activity. However, it is unclear what the broker considered a “prior” period. The broker can take the money of its own will, which results in a terrible investment opinion.

A customer can’t give correct, necessary, and sufficient information or documents to prove their identity or address. A withdrawal request might require information by the date of submission.

This is not the end of the charges. In Investous FX brokerage, inactivity charges apply. That might be considered normal. Almost all brokerages charge inactivity fees, but they charge for inactivity within 90 days or 180 days.

Other brokers other than Investous charge inactivity fees after one month without trading, and their fees are much higher. A broker will charge you 10 EUR for opening an account and not trading for a month, 80 EUR for 2 to 3 months, 120 EUR for 3 to 6 months, and 200 EUR for more than six months. Fees and commissions of this kind never speak positively about the brokers and are often an indicator of untrustworthiness.

Things to know about it

At Investous, the onboarding process is quick. It takes less than 15 seconds to fill out the first step, which only requires a name, email, and phone number. Trading firms should change the password they received from Investous.

Since Investous says they are a regulated and compliant broker, they must check every account. Traders can add the required documents to their profiles through their back offices and smartphones.

The minimum deposit at Investous is $250, higher than many other brokers but still within reason. Investous lets you pay with bank wires, credit/debit cards, Skrill, and Neteller, among other things. It would be nice if more payment processors gave traders from different regions a wider variety of payment options.

Through its Belize subsidiary, Investous serves many international traders, including those from the UAE. Cyprus, however, does not accept traders from the United Kingdom. EEA residents must trade from their Cyprus unit.

The back office of Investous, which handles all financial transactions, lets users take out money for free once a month. The monthly withdrawal should suffice, and there is no need for more. Withdrawal fees are high. Credit and debit cards charge 3.5%, Neteller 2.0%, Skrill 2%, and bank wires cost $30 or the currency equivalent.

Traders can get their money up to five business days after asking Investous to withdraw it. There is a potential for Investous to charge an excessive internal withdrawal fee of €80 under certain conditions.

Review of the Investous trading platform

Some people have seen infomercials advertising investing software that makes thousands of dollars a day. Some of them have names like Bitcoin Rush, Bitcoin Circuit, etc. When you signed up for it, Investous directed you to its brokers.

Several things are essential to know.

Generally, automated trading apps are not 100% accurate, and their signals appear at random.
The fake claims of high profits from Investous are false since 84.15 per cent of investors lose money.
The broker’s website says, “This broker does not offer advice, recommendations, or opinions on the purchase, holding, or sale of any financial product.”

How is Investous customer support?

Even if you decide to open an account with such a brokerage, you may need support from the customer service department. You should be able to reach the broker at all times and receive prompt and professional service from them. Investous customer service does not offer this service.

If you want to speak with the broker, the best way is through a live chat. Investous also offers a live chat option in its review, but it is not a natural person but a bot that does not understand most of your inquiries. The natural person is still reachable via chat, but it takes too long. Due to the broker’s difficulty in contacting us, we suspect that Investous may be a scam.

The brokerage also indicates the customer support numbers. One is a Russian number, and the other is a South African number. Generally, brokers who claim to be international have customer service teams in all major countries.

Can Investous be trusted?

Let’s conclude and answer the question: Does Investous work or not? Even though the broker tries to look legitimate, a trader with experience can see that it only looks legitimate on the surface. There is no real education on the broker’s website, and the broker lies about the awards it lists.

In addition to creating the account types in a way that entices the customer to open a gold account, the broker charges too high fees for each account. Also, its withdrawal policies are not well defined, so customers might find it almost impossible to get their profits back when they make a withdrawal request.

Customer reviews of the broker do not reflect positive opinions of the investment firm. Additionally, Investous fails to offer proper customer support to its clients and makes it difficult for them to contact the broker. Thus, we have concluded that this broker may be a scam, and traders thinking of opening an account should think twice about it.

Is Investous Safe?

Investous seems to offer a custom Forex trading platform made by Scipio, according to a fair review of the company. Due to its clarity and ease of use, investors of all levels will understand how to use the trading platform. MT4 is a popular trading platform with advanced features. Mobile trading apps are also available for Android and iOS.

In Europe, there is a leverage rate of 30:1, and in South Africa and Malaysia, it is 500:1. A total of 270 underlying assets are available to trade. Crypto CFDs feature a 5:1 margin. The platform does make it a bit confusing to trade Bitcoin, as one lot is equal to one hundred bitcoins, so traders must adjust to decimals.

CFDs on forex pairs, crypto coins, individual stocks, market indices, and commodities.

Besides English, German, Italian, Dutch, and Spanish, their website is available in several languages. Three currency pairs are available for trading; USD, EUR, and GBP. This broker offers demo accounts, and a basic level trading account requires a $250 minimum deposit.

FAQs

Can I trade more than one instrument with Investous?

With Investous, you can trade forex, stocks, indices, cryptocurrencies, and over 270 other market instruments.

What are the spreads on Investous?

With Investous, floating spreads for trading currency pairs start at 2.5 pips on the Basic account, 2 pips on the Gold account, 1.6 pips on the Platinum account, and 1.1 pips on the VIP account.

What is the leverage offered by Investous?

The maximum leverage offered by Investous is 1:500.

What fees does Investous charge for withdrawals?

A 3.5% fee is added for withdrawals made with Visa or MasterCard. In addition to the fee, bank wire transfers also have a currency conversion fee. You can choose between 30 CHF, USD, EUR, GBP, 1 800 RUB, or 300 ZAR.

Bottom line

Based on the facts from this Investous review, it’s clear that Investous has several doubts, even though it pretends to be genuine. Clients have several claims, including a charge of unreasonable fees, giving shady advice, and requiring high deposits.

Investous only offers a sleek website and numerous tools, but it offers very little information about its services. It would be best to understand this broker better or choose other alternatives, as it can adversely affect your investment and peace of mind.

Categories: Traders Blog | Author: jason | Date: 26 May 2022

jason

Jason Morgan is an experienced forex analyst and writer with a deep understanding of the financial markets. With over 13+ years of industry experience, he has honed his skills in analyzing and forecasting currency movements, providing valuable insights to traders and investors.

Forex Content Writer | Market Analyst

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