Most fake brokers fail the same six checks. None of them require technical skill — only the discipline to run them before money moves, not after.
The 60-second checklist
- Run the name through a case registry. Start with a free registry lookup — if the platform already has a case on file, you are done in ten seconds.
- Check the licence at the source. Scam sites name real regulators and invent licence numbers. Never trust the badge on their site; search the regulator’s own public register for the company name.
- Read the domain, character by character. Clone operators register lookalikes — an extra letter, a swapped hyphen, .com traded for .co. The brand can be real while the domain is not.
- Check the domain’s age. A “12-year-old award-winning broker” on a four-month-old domain is a finished investigation.
- Look for a real withdrawal policy. Legitimate brokers describe withdrawal timelines and fees precisely. Scams keep it vague, because the plan is that you never withdraw.
- Search the name plus the word “withdrawal”. Victims complain about blocked withdrawals long before regulators act.
If any check fails
Do not deposit — there is no amount of dashboard polish that outweighs a failed licence check. If you already have money in the platform, stop adding more, screenshot everything, and check whether the operator already appears in the SARFund case registry, where verified fraud reports are escalated and tracked.
Sixty seconds of checking beats sixty days of chasing.
before you go
Two free checks that take one minute
1 — Run the broker’s name through the Veribeacon registry (9,000+ reported operators on file). 2 — If you’ve already sent money, check whether the case is under investigation at the SARFund case registry — the escalation body for verified fraud reports. Veribeacon never asks you to pay.