Lesson 6 of 53
Choosing a broker & avoiding scams
9 min read
Chapter checkpoints
0/4- The four checks that actually matter
- Red flags of scam brokers and schemes
- Your pre-deposit checklist
- Why we point beginners to Exness
Optional — tick a chapter as you finish it to keep your place inside this lesson.
Most money lost by beginners is not lost in the market. It is lost to a platform that was never a real broker, to a 'signals' seller on Telegram, or to a fund manager who promised a fixed monthly return. Learning to spot those in thirty seconds is the highest-return skill in this whole module.
The four checks that actually matter
Marketing pages all look the same. Ignore the design and check these four things in order — if the first one fails, nothing else is worth reading.
| Check | What good looks like | How to verify it |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation & licensing | Named regulators in real jurisdictions (FCA, CySEC, FSCA, FSA and similar) with a licence number | Search the licence number on the regulator's own public register — not on the broker's site |
| Withdrawals | Clear processing times, no surprise conditions, withdrawals back to the deposit method | Deposit the minimum, trade once, then withdraw a small amount before committing more |
| Spreads & fees | A published cost per instrument: spread, commission, and overnight swap | Compare a round trip on EUR/USD against two other brokers at the same time of day |
| Customer support | Real humans, 24/7 while markets are open, answering a specific question | Ask a hard question before depositing — how they answer that is how they'll answer at 2am |
Regulation is not a detail
A regulated broker holds client money in segregated accounts and answers to an authority when something goes wrong. An unregulated one answers to nobody. Everything else — spreads, bonuses, platform, app design — is irrelevant if this box is not ticked.
Red flags of scam brokers and schemes
- Guaranteed profits or a fixed monthly return. Markets are uncertain by definition, so this promise is always a lie — no exceptions.
- Pressure to deposit more: an 'account manager' calling you, a bonus that expires tonight, or the classic 'add funds to unlock your withdrawal'.
- No clear regulation — vague phrases like 'internationally licensed' with no regulator named and no licence number you can look up.
- Withdrawal friction: the deposit takes seconds, the withdrawal takes weeks, needs new documents each time, or gets blocked by a 'trading volume requirement'.
- Fake reviews and fake proof: identical five-star reviews posted the same week, screenshots of profits with no statement, rented cars and hotel lobbies.
- Unsolicited signal sellers and 'copy my trades' offers in Telegram or Instagram DMs, especially where the fee is paid in crypto.
- Someone asking you to send money to a personal account or wallet to trade on your behalf. That is not trading, it is a transfer to a stranger.
- A platform where the price never matches an independent chart, or your stop is always hit by one suspicious spike.
The one-line test
If the pitch focuses on how much you will make rather than how much you can lose, it is marketing at best and a scam at worst. Real risk disclosure is a sign of legitimacy, not weakness.
Your pre-deposit checklist
Run through this list before funding any account. If you cannot tick every box, keep looking — there is no shortage of brokers.
Before you deposit
0/8Why we point beginners to Exness
Exness clears each of the four checks above: it is regulated across multiple jurisdictions with licences you can look up, withdrawals are processed quickly back to the original method, spreads and swaps are published per instrument, and support is available 24/7. The $10 minimum deposit also means you can learn at a size where mistakes are cheap.
Spreads may fluctuate depending on market conditions and liquidity. Processing times may vary depending on the payment provider and verification status. Use the checklist above to verify all of this yourself — that habit is the point of the lesson.
Start on a demo account with the same prices and platform, run the checklist yourself, and only fund the account once every box is ticked.
Open a free Exness accountProgress is saved on this device.