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Scam Watch

Guide

If you have already paid

What is worth doing first, who can actually act, and what nobody can do for you.

Warning: “recovery” offers

Anyone who contacts you offering to recover your money for a fee is running the second half of the same scam. No regulator, no bank and no lawyer charges an advance fee to release funds, and no one can promise a recovery. Treat every such offer, letter and phone call as an attack.

What to do now

1

Stop paying, today

A request for one more payment to release your balance — a tax, a fee, a verification deposit — is not a condition of withdrawal. It is the next step of the loss.

2

Write it down while it is fresh

Dates, amounts, the account you paid into, the names people used, the address of the site. This is what every complaint form will ask for, and what nobody can reconstruct for you later.

3

Tell the bank or card issuer that took the payment

They decide on refunds and chargebacks, not us and not the broker. Time limits are set by the card scheme and run from the payment, so this is the step that rewards speed above all others.

4

Complain to the regulator that issued the licence

If the broker holds a licence, the authority that issued it is the one that can act on it. Its name and number are on our card for that firm; the complaint goes to that authority, not to the one in your own country.

5

Report it locally as well

A local report rarely returns money, but it is what puts a firm on a warning list — which is how the next person finds out before paying.

Getting money back

Your bank or card issuer

Wherethe bank or payment provider that took the money
Time limitas early as possible — the limit runs from the payment

The only route that can move money back. Ask for the dispute or chargeback procedure in writing.

The regulator that licensed the broker

Wherethe authority named on that broker's card, on its own website
Time limitusually after the firm has answered you, or failed to

It supervises the licence, can open a case and can publish a warning. It cannot promise a refund.

Keep these

  • every email and chat log with the firm, exported, not screenshotted
  • the payment receipts, with the card, account or wallet used
  • screenshots of the account page showing the balance and any blocked withdrawal
  • the licence number the site displayed when you signed up

Sourceswww.cysec.gov.cyregisters.esma.europa.euregisters.esma.europa.eubappebti.go.idregisters.esma.europa.euafsa.aifc.kzwww.gov.kzregisters.esma.europa.euwww.knf.gov.plregisters.esma.europa.eufsaseychelles.scwww.vfsc.vuwww.fsca.co.za

Not paid yet? Look the broker up first.
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Latest from the registers

If you have already paid

What is worth doing first, who can actually act, and what nobody can do for you.

Name or website
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Paste the link you were sent, or type the company name.

The register holds the legal company, the site advertises the brand. We match on both, so a trading name finds the company that actually holds the licence.

13 registers3,054 records0 not read yetData read 2026-09-29

Sources on this page

CY-CYSECread
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission
Rows248Good read2026-09-29Attempt2026-09-29
CY-ESMAread
Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (via ESMA register)
Rows327Good read2026-09-29Attempt2026-09-29
ES-ESMAread
Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (via ESMA register)
Rows419Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
ID-BAPPEBTIread
Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency
Rows111Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
IT-ESMAread
Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (via ESMA register)
Rows490Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
KZ-AFSAread
Astana Financial Services Authority
Rows172Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
KZ-ARDFMread
Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market
Rows134Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
PL-ESMAread
Komisja Nadzoru Finansowego (via ESMA register)
Rows50Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
PL-KNFread
Polish Financial Supervision Authority
Rows665Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
RO-ESMAread
Autoritatea de Supraveghere Financiară (via ESMA register)
Rows44Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28
SC-FSAread
Financial Services Authority (Seychelles)
Rows233Good read2026-09-29Attempt2026-09-29
VU-VFSCread
Vanuatu Financial Services Commission
Rows66Good read2026-09-29Attempt2026-09-29
ZA-FSCA-ODPread
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (OTC Derivative Providers)
Rows95Good read2026-09-28Attempt2026-09-28

Registers last read 2026-09-29