ECM Review – Better Avoid Than Regret Investing

ECM is an evasive fraudulent brokerage operating anonymously and under the radar for a number of years. The site lists a couple of addresses, all supposedly being locations of their offices – SVG, Vanuatu and Malaysia. Our ECM review investigates whether that’s true or not. Alongside that, we had to check the ill-famed trading conditions and why all the complaints were happening. So read on if you want to find out more.

Is ECM a Scam Broker?

Not to make any judgements prematurely, we had to first check all the company addresses and if that would bring us to something. SVG is notorious for being a scammer sanctuary because the local regulatory body doesn’t oversee brokerage projects. Next is the Vanuatu financial authority – VFSC. As the results show, VFSC has never licensed any broker with the name of ECM. Eventually, we checked all the registers of SC in Malaysia if they had any clue about who ECM is and it turned out they didn’t. 

So all the assumptions we had about ECM operating illegally were starting to break through. Especially after also checking the databases of FCA, BaFin, CySEC, CONSOB, and CNMV and getting no feedback. 

If ECM ever intended on providing transparent and legal services anywhere, they would have gotten a Tier 1 license. Every retail trader endorses a Tier 1 licensed brokerage because of the level of security and safety of funds provided. Segregated bank accounts are keeping the deposits safe from brokers misusing them. 

Critical risk exposure is kept under control with the implementation of leverage limit to 1:30 or 1:50 and negative balance insurance. Next we have the compensation fund to reimburse customers if the company fails to. In EEA, there’s also a special framework called MiFID, issued by ESMA. It forces brokers to be transparent about the money flow as a special AML measure. 

You just can’t put a finger on a single most disturbing thing about this illicit broker. Whether that’s an unknown location, a missing license or horrible customer treatment. Not a broker for anyone.

ECM is in possession of no such license. This proves our doubts about this broker being nothing but another scam prone website. 

ECM Platforms – A Software Comparison

We could perform a testing of a Demo MT5 platform for desktop. As expected, ECM has only linked the download from the MetaQuotes website. It’s a question if ECM has their proprietary trading server. Considering they’re illicit, they most probably do not. That’s why they focus on luring traders with promises of MT4 and MT5.

These software rule the trading world today, and for a reason. Incomparably rich in features, mili-second execution and flexibility, they’re preferred by every reputable Forex broker dealer. By this we mean mega-popular firms like CPT Markets, for example. It’s unfortunate how common swindlers use them for deception. 

What Financial Instruments Does The Platform Include?

With a varying leverage of up to 1:500, traders at ECM can trade Forex and CFDs. Much wider choice of instruments is available with reputable brokers like XTrade. So we do not really see a reason anyone would pick ECM over them. 

Anyhow, available financial instruments at ECM are the grouped in the following categories:

• Forex (EUR/USD, EUR/GBP, USD/CHF, AUD/JPY)
• Precious Metals (Silver and Gold)
• CFDs on Shares (Alibaba, Boeing, Amazon, Adidas, Tesla)
• CFDs on Commodities (Coffee, Cotton, Soybean, Wheat)
• CFDs on Crypto (Bitcoin, Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple)

Learning program

ECM does provide a beginning level of support for customers who wish to learn about Forex. From the essentials to more complex subjects like fundamental and technical analysis, ECM provides articles for reading. 

However, the choice of subjects is quite scarce. Also, not every trader is most comfortable to learn by just reading. Other, more advanced brokers, have interactive learning methods available with the guiding help of Forex experts. So we can’t really say ECM has anything of value to offer in that sense, either. 

ECM trader Countries Of Service

We’ve already mentioned the ECM offices being in different parts of the world. This would suggest ECM clientele originating from different states. The feedback and statistics do show that ECM doesn’t just focus on one area of conduct. 

So far, most of their users come from these states:

• United States
• Malaysia
• United Kingdom
• India
• Singapore

Account Options Offered by ECM trader

ECM only has two account options to offer:

• Live trading account
• Demo account

The major downside to the entire offer is the fact that ECM doesn’t offer specialized account types. These should each contain different features and characteristics which are more attractive to certain groups of traders. 

Instead of that, ECM only has a single live trading account type. Not even that web page is any informative. When you click on it, you’re directly led to the registration page and you have to first sign up then learn about the advantages it supposedly brings. 

Can a Trader Use a Demo Account?

According to the instructions on the site, we managed to open a Demo account. The trading platform available was Demo MT5. The installation allows you to choose the starting leverage with the maximum of 1:500, and the margin from $3 000 up to $100 000. 

The Demo account commonly allows you to try out the investing and price speculating. However, do not forget this is a fraud we’re reviewing. Demo trading could be fully controlled and made attractive for future investors. 

Terms of Service for ECM 

Typically of shady schemes, ECM is also trying to convince customers to agree to their Terms of Business without precisely informing users. Whether it’s ECM or any other brokerage, you have to be meticulous with this aspect. 

Many things the broker won’t explicitly show you or introduce on the website. But this information may be included in the Terms and Conditions docs. That’s why it’s crucial to always read this text first before agreeing to anything. 

For example, ECM dealers the customers to be solely responsible for covering all the fees referring to trading costs and payouts or deposits. Also, the company openly proclaims to reserve the rights to introduce additional fees and charges which weren’t previously made known to clients. These are things to watch out for. 

Leverage, Spreads and Fees

The lower your account balance at ECM, the bigger the leverage. So, according to the broker, if your account balance is less than $100, available leverage is 1:500. For bigger balance accounts leverage is set lower. Deposit of $5 000 brings leverage of 1:200, while accounts with $10 000 balance have default leverage of 1:100. Basically, what ECM does, is forcing you to pay more to unlock lower leverage and reduce your exposure to risk. 

Next are the spreads. ECM is dreadfully untransparent about the trading costs, even in the Terms of Business doc. We’ve already explained that the single account type doesn’t provide details on what features it brings and what the exact prices are.

Withdrawing Profits From Your Broker Account

Just as the customers are unaware of the real trading costs, they’re in the dark when it comes to withdrawals. ECM gives hints about having a choice to cancel the withdrawal requests at any time if they estimate the customer hasn’t met the necessary conditions. ECM, unfortunately, doesn’t clarify what those exact conditions are. 

By not being initially honest about all the conditions pertaining to withdrawals, ECM leaves space for surprises. These are awfully uncomfortable and bring many hardships. Besides the possible sudden fees, ECM may demand additional docs, fill-in-forms of you and photos of your ID or passport. Anything conceivable, just to prolong the waiting and your suffering.

What can I do if I was scammed by ECM? 

As much as we’d like to give you an immediate comfort in this situation, recovering lost funds is a process. But if you contact our crew as soon as you’ve learned about the scam, there’s steps to take. 

Quick action will increase the chances at restoring what was taken away from you in a most cruel and illegal way. So do not hesitate to ask for assistance in fighting the scam and leading it to justice. We will also need as much evidence as you can gather. Authorities won’t react just based on a word. 

For quick communication, you can use our Online Chat feature and it will link you with the first agent available.