Hedgestone Group, I think its a scam

globularity
globularity Posts: 28 Forumite
in Savings & investments
Hi, my mum responded to a facebook advert for hedgestone group which says its a forex trading site. They were happy to take £200 from her account using the long number on her card. Then when we tried to access the account they wanted us to verify our identity. They requested coulour copys of her passport and copies of her credit card front and back and a bill, they said this was to prevent money laundering. If that was true then why take the money first. Mum decided to empty her account so they couldnt take the money because she became suspicios(she tranfered it to my account). I put the money back because I was worried the bank will still pay them then charge her for being overdrawn. We have contacted our banks fraud team and cancelled the card so they cant take any more money. They said we should be able to get the money back. Just thought Id post this to warn people
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Comments

  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 23,213 Forumite
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    To be honest, it's standard practice for legitimate sites to request exactly this information when processing a first withdrawal. Maybe that particular site is a scam, maybe it isn't. Forex trading sites will tend to relieve you of your money either way.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
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    edited 17 April 2017 at 3:53PM
    masonic wrote: »
    To be honest, it's standard practice for legitimate sites to request exactly this information when processing a first withdrawal.
    It makes far more sense to do this when the account is being opened, not to wait until a withdrawal. That's what I'd expect from most legitimate companies.
    globularity wrote: »
    ...They were happy to take £200 from her account using the long number on her card.
    What's wrong with this if she authorised them to do this?
    Mum decided to empty her account so they couldnt take the money because she became suspicios(she tranfered it to my account). I put the money back because I was worried the bank will still pay them then charge her for being overdrawn.
    Absolutely. And she can't be held responsible for unauthorised transaction.
    They said we should be able to get the money back.
    Not the original £200, I think.
  • TCA
    TCA Posts: 1,530 Forumite
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    http://m.ripoffreport.com/reports/hedgestone-group/internet/hedgestone-group-binary-options-trading-scam-internet-1345949

    https://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/hedgestone-group-investment-scam-c851004.html

    https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20160712122655AAvgtTV

    http://brokerscamalert.com/hedgestone-group-review/
  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 23,213 Forumite
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    grumbler wrote: »
    It makes far more sense to do this when the account is being opened, not to wait until a withdrawal. That's what I'd expect from most legitimate companies.
    My experience (gained in my matched betting days) is that they all wait until a withdrawal. I guess they don't want to put off new customers.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
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    masonic wrote: »
    My experience (gained in my matched betting days) is that they all wait until a withdrawal. I guess they don't want to put off new customers.
    That's why the majority of bookies are rather the most unscrupulous businesses than the most legitimate by my standards. They are happy to win any dirty money from any criminals and suddenly remember about their AML/KYC obligations only when they lose.
  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 23,213 Forumite
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    grumbler wrote: »
    That's why the majority of bookies are rather the most unscrupulous businesses than the most legitimate by my standards. They are happy to win any dirty money from any criminals and suddenly remember about their AML/KYC obligations only when they lose.
    Yes, I see the point you were trying to make now.
  • Gambler101
    Gambler101 Posts: 580 Forumite
    grumbler wrote: »
    That's why the majority of bookies are rather the most unscrupulous businesses than the most legitimate by my standards. They are happy to win any dirty money from any criminals and suddenly remember about their AML/KYC obligations only when they lose.

    Absolute rubbish, even criminals want to win. Bookies need to verify people before they can withdraw (Thanks to UK anti money laundering laws), this takes time and is not practical when players sign up and bet. (and signing up involves agreeing to provide ID etc before a withdrawal)
    The instructions on the box said 'Requires Windows 7 or better'. So I installed LINUX :D:D
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,922 Forumite
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    Gambler101 wrote: »
    Absolute rubbish, even criminals want to win. Bookies need to verify people before they can withdraw (Thanks to UK anti money laundering laws), this takes time and is not practical when players sign up and bet. (and signing up involves agreeing to provide ID etc before a withdrawal)

    Of course it's practical to conduct AML before opening an account, it would just be less profitable.

    But you are right that it is not a major concern if a criminal signs up to a gambling site with dirty money and loses it. If they lose it they probably aren't a criminal. Criminals don't bet dirty money on Rooney to be first goalscorer, they bet £50 of dirty money on red and £50 of dirty money on black, and withdraw £97.30 of clean money.
  • grumbler
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
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    edited 18 April 2017 at 5:59PM
    Gambler101 wrote: »
    Absolute rubbish, even criminals want to win.
    Gamblers, not criminals that want to launder dirty money in the first place. And bookies are known to be one of the ways of doing this.
    Bookies need to verify people before they can withdraw (Thanks to UK anti money laundering laws),
    Well, I said many times that there was a lot of stupidity in AML regulations, and if they really say specifically this, then it's just another confirmation.
    this takes time and is not practical when players sign up and bet. (and signing up involves agreeing to provide ID etc before a withdrawal)
    Surely AML regulations care about gamblers' convenience and bookmaking practicalities in the first place.
    Malthusian wrote: »
    If they lose it they probably aren't a criminal.
    Some bets win, some lose. On average the loss is very small, ~5-10% if you don't want to put any effort into making it close to zero. For small number of bets risks can be excluded at small extra cost (matched betting). Also, does "chip dumping" say anything to you? ETA: I , see you know what I am talking about (black+red)
  • Julian_Trader
    Julian_Trader Posts: 3 Newbie
    Globularity, all the forex and binary sites work like that, it's not a specialty of this broker. Have you tried to contact the customer service before panicking?

    TCA, most of the websites you mentioned make money writing good reviews about forex/binary sites which pay them and writing bad reviews about their competitors. These websites just proof that hedgestone didn't want to enter this game and pay them to be promoted - which is good. For instance, this brokerscamalert.com is so "honest", so "honest", that they don't even inform their email publicly nor any other contact info. They only write good reviews for the brokers who are paying them the most. I trade for a long time and I don't trust any of brokerscamalert reviews. The other websites also make money with complaints, whether they are real or fake. But at least seem more honest than this "brokerscamalert".

    Anyway, there are other brokers out there and your mother has the option to stop trading as well if she doesn't trust it. Good luck to your mom.
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