Without a legal and safe broker, it is impossible to trade profitably in the Forex/CFD market. Therefore, the first task of any trader is to choose the right partner where they will open an account and deposit funds. This is no easy task. Thanks to this Urban Trades review, you will learn why this firm is not suitable for collaboration. Despite its bold claims, attractive conditions, and other advantages, this is a suspicious brokerage intermediary with many signs of a scam.
Key Features
- Company Name: Urban Trades
- Website: https://urbantrades.net/
- Available Contacts: +12393579224, [email protected]
- Foundation: 2024
- Services: CFD Trading
- License: no
- Initial Deposit: unknown
From Sign-Up to Payout
The quality of the Urban Trades website raises doubts. Some elements overlap each other, making it difficult to even read the information properly. For example, the four-step guide on how to start trading is literally obscured by large letters with the organization’s name.
The site is only available in English and contains many false claims and advantages, but more on that later. Navigation is extremely complicated. There is no classic comparison of all the tariff plans. To do this, you need to open five different tabs and constantly switch between them to manually compare the features of each account. There’s no consideration for client convenience here.
To register an account, you need to provide your name, password, and contact details. Nothing too difficult. However, you also need to agree to the documents that describe the rights and responsibilities of both parties. And there’s a problem. These documents are missing, so when a trader registers, they are agreeing to something unclear. Yes, the user agreement can be found as a separate PDF file on the website, but why isn’t it presented during the account creation process?
We were mistaken when we said registration is simple. The second step requires you to provide a username, phone number, and residential address. Why is this necessary right away?
Deposits in Urban Trades are only possible with cryptocurrency, which is a significant downside. Why? Because scammers gladly accept money only in cryptocurrency. This allows them to remain anonymous. Furthermore, it eliminates all options for potential refunds, such as when a victim initiates a chargeback through their bank. With cryptocurrency, it’s impossible to get your money back. Only the scammer can send the digital currency back, and of course, they have no intention of doing so.
Our Trading Experience With Urban Trades
Do you want to trade on your smartphone or install the platform on your computer for better performance? Do you need advanced options, at least basic technical analysis tools? You can forget about that because this broker’s platform doesn’t have such features. It’s a simple WebTrader where traders can’t even use basic support and resistance levels, as the functionality doesn’t support them.
What’s the point of such a platform? It’s only suitable for opening and closing orders. Where is the proper terminal that at least allows users to draw a trend line, overlay a Fibonacci grid, or mark a resistance level?
The most popular forex brokers offer multiple platforms to choose from. For instance, the most common is MetaTrader. However, Urban Trades doesn’t have the funds to purchase an MT license and doesn’t intend to offer long-term services to clients, which is why they have this pseudo-terminal. Although the homepage mentions software from MetaQuotes, this is just a lie. There’s nothing here that even remotely resembles MT.
The Reality Check
What do we know about Urban Trades? The website states that the company is under the supervision of SFSA and that its headquarters are based in London. If the office is in London, shouldn’t there be a British license? Where is it? Why isn’t there a number or a link to the registry on the website? Any brokerage firm operating in the UK is required to obtain a license from the FCA. It’s missing here. The catch is that this platform doesn’t actually exist in the UK. There is a company with the same name, but it deals in clothing and footwear, which is not even remotely related to CFD trading.
There’s no such organization in Seychelles either. The license from SFSA actually belongs to IC Markets. The scammers blatantly lie about having an office in London and hide behind a fake license. How about that? Do you really want to trust this company with your money? If the platform lies about its licenses and headquarters, it’s doing so to trick you out of your money. Be sure of that.
How Long Has Urban Trades Been in the Game?
“Leader in the fintech space since 2019” — who would believe this nonsense? If it said “leader in forex scams since 2019”, then it might be believable. Instead of 2019, they should have written 2024, specifically August, because that’s when the domain urbantrades.net was created.
Here’s some advice for beginner traders: Choose only those companies that have been in the market for at least 10-15 years. They should be able to prove this, for example, by showing that the first reviews appeared 10-15 years ago, they have registration documents, and their licenses were obtained long ago.
Extra Fraud Indicators
By carefully studying the text on the website, you can find traces left by the scammers. The fraudsters didn’t spend much time creating their fake platform, which is why in the “Insurance” section, you can find the name of another scam broker: “The Insurance Coverage is available to all the clients of Trade StratIQ”. They forgot to change the old name to the new one. Although, if the scammers read our Urban Trades review, they might fix this. In any case, we’ll show you what the clone site looks like and provide a link. Here’s the domain of the other scam project: tradestratiqs.com.
Instead of blue, it’s green, but the other sections are exactly the same. There are small differences, but the overall picture is identical. How many such pseudo-sites have these anonymous scammers created? Or are urbantrades.net and TradeStatIQ the only ones?
Still not convinced? How about the fact that Urban Trades is a dealing desk aimed at draining all its clients since that’s the only way the platform can make money? Trading here is pointless. They won’t let you withdraw your funds.
Is Urban Trades the Right Fit?
These are anonymous scammers accepting deposits only in cryptocurrency. They have no license and only started operating in August 2024. Fake licenses and a false office address are classic tactics of illegal brokers. The goal of this Urban Trades review was to show traders all the signs of a scam company. Trading on platforms like this is a death sentence for your deposit. There’s nothing good here, and no reason to choose this platform.
Can anyone help me get my money back from urban trades? I was tricked into joining this platform. I don’t know how to retrieve my deposit. A large amount — $7,000 — is stuck. They promised me reliability guarantees and zero spreads. I believed the scammers and deposited funds via cryptocurrencies. What should I do? Should I consult a lawyer? I’m in serious despair and depression. This was my last money.