Straight up Scam
First glance looks can be very deceiving. I wish I did proper due diligence and investigated this properly in depth before I sent nearly $12k to this platform. But now have lost it all.
The website had live market info, business numbers, regulator registrations number, etc, although it had a poorly set out website I unfortunately decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. It turned out to be Dodgy as all hell. Running a scam business by way of familiar name associations. THEY HAVE NOTHING AT ALL TO DO AVATRADE. After all that happened to me found out too late that they were associated with Bitstocks and Eco-Gravity.
My story - I put some XRP into the platform, and discovered I was locked in to some 12 week starter membership subscription and unable to withdraw. Here is the kicker! I was not informed of this and didn’t sign or agree to anything. They locked up my money without consent. Also had zero interest in working with me to give me my money back. The Trader Natalie has been communicating with me via WhatsApp.
Avatrademarket support locked my account because I didn’t “top up my investment” and “no activity on my account”. their customer service is shocking. Very extremely unprofessional. Both Support and the Trader Natalie. Petty. Natalie thought I was rude due to my short replies and not engaging in conversation with her, and didn’t trade on my account even though it’s a 12 week subscription.
So I did. Sent 1 Eth by mistake to an Eth Classic wallet. They said they can retrieve my Eth if I send another 1 Eth to the correct wallet. So I did. (Probably ignorance and inexperience on my part of how things work in the crypto trading space) The Trader that was working on my account was always nagging me to “top up” messaging me nearly every day.
Second month into it, the trader Natalie messages me from a new phone number on WhatsApp, retrospectively so many red flags 🚩 unbelievable. The final straw - Avatrademarket emails me stating “upgrade of account” demanding I upgrade my account with $5k worth of BTC or my account with be deactivated and unable to withdraw any funds.
After a lengthy discussion with avatrademarket support they told me it’s policy and nothing they can do. I will need to upgrade my account because the profits have exceeded the amount value of a basic starter pack membership.
Since I have now reported them to the FCA financial conduct authority and ActionFraud coincidentally they have taken down their website.
As a laughable addition to this circus when I spoke to the Trader Natalie she said the website has been upgraded, this is why the webpage will not load. And it’s because I didn’t upgrade my membership.
