Kontofx is it a scam?

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  • Alexland
    Alexland Posts: 9,653 Forumite
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    Beware you don't become a further victim of 'fraud recovery fraud' where companies scam you saying they will get your money back.

    https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/a-z-of-fraud/fraud-recovery-fraud
  • Reaper
    Reaper Posts: 7,279 Forumite
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    gwatts603 wrote: »
    it seemed like they were making good profits so I lnvested another £750. I then added a further £1000.i asked to withdraw money from the account and £200 was credited to my bank account. I was contacted again by my account manager Chris asking me to take out a loan of £26000 because of a big event about to happen.
    I decided to take out a loan of £10000
    OrbitJazzy wrote: »
    Everything seemed fine initially and my broker (Alex Voss, probably an alias) made out that my investment was doing really well. Then he put me onto his boss Andy to persuade me to invest more money
    I'm afraid this is the way the scam works. You put a bit of money on to test the water. It always makes a profit so they persuade you to put on more until they have got everything they think they can out of you and then you lose it all.

    It's a pattern used in previous scams, particularly those involving binary trading.
  • KontoFX are a scam
    Hi I am Janette Fenton and yes, sadly KontoFX are a scam.
    I am absolutely devastated, ashamed and feeling like a complete fool. I invested, a lot of my pension money with KontoFX, after some very slick and apparent, transparent persuasion from Alex a Konto broker.
    He went through the right plan for me and persuaded me, that in order to make the recommended 2k per month, I needed to buy 3 Bitcoins at 10k. He explained that KontoFx was a safe investment and that my individual plan, would ensure that I would never lose my investment, unlike stocks and shares.
    Alex then opened a Coinbase account with me, which further lulls you into a sense of false security, as Coinbase are a reputable Bitcoin bank. However, your money is swiftly taken out and used on the KontoFX platform, which all appears authentic.
    Initially, all is well, the contact is excellent, and you feel that you are beginning to make a small amount of money as per your individual plan. My profit rose to over 4k in roughly 3 months.
    In addition, Alex’s boss, Andy tried to persuade me to take out a loan of over 25k, which I am so relieved that I did not! I felt that he was pushy, and he seemed to be annoyed that I said that I had to check it with my son first. This made me suspicious. It was when I requested to take out 3k of my profit, that it all changed. KontoFX. Initially, I was able to withdraw £50, but not the 3k, which is the maximum that you can withdraw in one go. Suddenly, the contact from Alex had become minimal. I then asked on several occasions, to have all my investment returned with the profit and to close my account. That was in early February. The customer care department and Alex lied to me about Alex’s contact in ringing me; they even said that they had records that he tried to call me, when he had not.
    I have since reported this to my bank, Coinbase and the Action Fraud department, who both believe that KontoFX have scammed me out of my money. My bank has since requested that my money be returned, but KontoFX have not done so. By now, KontoFX should have refunded my total investment of £12250 but have not done so. There should be no need for telephone conversations, which is their preferred method, emails will suffice.
    Now out of the blue, on Friday, Kontofx have refunded £2000, without any explanation from them or the bank. Still £10,093 to go though!
    KontoFX are a disgrace and should be struck off from trading. They are clearly preying on, in my case, the old and vulnerable.
  • george4064
    george4064 Posts: 2,810 Forumite
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    edited 29 April 2019 at 5:56PM
    gwatts' and OrbitJazzy's posts seem worryingly similar...
    "If you aren’t willing to own a stock for ten years, don’t even think about owning it for ten minutes” Warren Buffett

    Save £12k in 2021 - #027 £15,268 (76%)
  • Sir_Robin
    Sir_Robin Posts: 52 Forumite
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    edited 29 April 2019 at 7:32PM
    This is really sad. Risk free investment with them trading in crypto your behalf? Seriously?

    Anyway wish you luck with getting it back.

    Edit - Looks like loads of bad reviews on trust pilot. Lots of people taken out loans...
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,931 Forumite
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    Sir_Robin wrote: »
    Edit - Looks like loads of bad reviews on trust pilot. Lots of people taken out loans...

    And yet they still manage to maintain a 3 star rating. Thanks to a combination of fake reviews and reporting the genuine ones.

    If it's an investment and it's on Trustpilot it's a scam.

    *edit*
    I am having trouble getting my funds from this broker. I gave them two stars because they could be good in the long run.
    No helping some people.
  • MaxiRobriguez
    MaxiRobriguez Posts: 1,780 Forumite
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    Don't give companies money if they have an FCA warning against them, especially if the money you're considering giving them was in the form of a loan.

    A very quick google tells me this is an unregulated company, trading crypto, based in Estonia. Come on people, it's really not that difficult, they may as well plaster a massive "SCAM" banner on their website it's that in your face.
  • dealer_wins
    dealer_wins Posts: 7,334 Forumite
    Surely a competent police force could easily "follow the money" and have those involved arrested for fraud.

    Oh sorry, this is the UK with unresponsive useless police unless you tweet something sexist or racist when they arrest you within hours.
  • Malthusian
    Malthusian Posts: 10,931 Forumite
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    edited 28 June 2019 at 9:24AM
    Surely a competent police force could easily "follow the money"...

    To Estonia?
    Oh sorry, this is the UK with unresponsive useless police unless you tweet something sexist or racist when they arrest you within hours.
    This is the UK where we don't waste taxpayer's money on futile attempts to catch scammers who prey on people trying to get rich quick. We want police concentrating on crimes that involve unwilling victims, like rape and murder and, yes, racial abuse. Which are actually possible to convict people for.

    Nobody cares, least of all the authorities, if you hand your money to a scammer in an attempt to get rich quick with cryptocurrency. The popular delusion that they do is dangerous, because it fuels the most popular ploy in the scammer's playbook: "If it was a scam the police would have shut us down".
  • Wildsound
    Wildsound Posts: 365 Forumite
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    Don't give companies money if they have an FCA warning against them, especially if the money you're considering giving them was in the form of a loan.

    A very quick google tells me this is an unregulated company, trading crypto, based in Estonia. Come on people, it's really not that difficult, they may as well plaster a massive "SCAM" banner on their website it's that in your face.

    Also, don't give these companies screen time by bumping 2 month old threads! It just gives them more attention!
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