If you believe you’ve been dealing with a fraudulent broker, start by filing a complaint with the financial regulator in the broker’s claimed jurisdiction (such as the SEC or CFTC in the US, the FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, or CySEC in Cyprus), and with your local securities regulator or police cybercrime unit. Our step-by-step guide to reporting a fraudulent broker walks through exactly which agencies to contact and what documentation to prepare.

Look for a verifiable regulatory license, a registered legal entity, clear fee disclosures, and consistent withdrawal history — scam brokers typically lack at least one of these. Cross-check the broker’s name against regulator warning lists and independent reviews before depositing. See our broker scam-check guide for a full verification checklist.

Fee transparency isn’t the same as having the lowest fees — it’s about how clearly a broker discloses all the costs that affect your total trading expense. Compare how each broker publishes its spreads, commissions, overnight/swap charges, deposit and withdrawal fees, inactivity fees, currency-conversion charges, and any minimum or additional account costs. See our full guide to comparing broker fee transparency for a detailed, criteria-based breakdown.

Request the refusal in writing, gather all account statements and correspondence, and file a formal complaint with the broker’s regulator, since most licensed brokers are required to respond within a set timeframe. If the broker is unregulated, recovery becomes far harder. Read our withdrawal-refusal action guide for the exact steps and escalation contacts.

Common red flags include guaranteed-return promises, pressure to deposit quickly, no verifiable license number, unresponsive support after a deposit, and requests to trade through unofficial apps or WhatsApp. Any one of these warrants caution. Our broker red-flags checklist lists the full set of warning signs to check before you fund an account.