Read our Agora Markets review carefully to see why we do NOT recommend this broker for trading. Just to clear doubts, this is an agoramarkets.com review.
Who are they?
After taking a look at their website, it shows that they do not fall under any regulating agency. That is a MAJOR RED FLAG!! That should be enough for you NOT to invest with them. And they also work with websites that offer “Automated trading software” which is another red flag, as this kind of websites are notoriously famous for scamming schemes.
So Agora Markets is just another unregulated forex broker, which means the customers are not protected, and there is highly likely they will get away with your hard earned money and there will be no regulating agency to hold them responsible.
How does it work?
Usually unregulated forex brokers work in the following way. They will call people to persuade them to make the initial minimum deposit, while trying any conceivable method in order to make that happen. They will offer deals that sound too good to be true, like we will double your initial deposit or you will make $100 per day easily. Please don’t fall for anything they say!!! It is a SCAM! After making the initial deposit, people get transferred to a smarter scammer, called a “retention agent”, who will try to get more money out of you.
Withdrawing funds
You should submit a withdrawal request ASAP, because your funds are never safe with an unregulated broker. And here is when things get tricky.
If you want to withdraw your money and it does not matter if you have profits or not, they will delay the withdrawing process for months. If they delay it for six months, you won’t be able to file a chargeback anymore and your money is gone for good. It does not matter how often you remind them or insist in withdrawing your money, you will NOT get them back. And if you signed the Managed Account Agreement or MAA, which is basically authorizing them to do anything they want on your account, they will lose all your funds so there won’t be anything to request anymore.
How to get your money back?
If you already deposited your money with them and they refuse to give your money back, which is very likely to happen, don’t worry, it might be a way or two to get your money back.
First of all you need to keep the emails as a proof that you have been requesting the money back from them but they don’t give it to you, or they delay the process for too long, with the intention of not refunding your money.
The first thing you should do is perform a chargeback! And you should do this right away! Contact your bank or credit card provider and explain how you were deceived into depositing for a trading company that is not regulated and they refuse to give your money back. This is the simplest way of getting your money back and is also the way that hurts them the most. Because if there are many chargebacks performed, it will destroy their relation with the payment service providers. If you haven’t done this before or you are not sure where to start or how to present your case to your bank or credit card company, we can assist you in preparing your chargeback case. Just contact us at [email protected] but do not let your broker know they you read this article or that you are in contact with us.
What about wires?
If you sent them a wire, there is no way to perform a chargeback on a wire. For this step you need to raise the fight to a different level. Tell them that you will go to the authorities and file a complaint against them. That will get them to rethink the refund possibility. Another thing you can do is prepare a letter or email for the regulating agencies. Depending on the country where you live, you can search on google to find the regulating agency for Forex brokers in that country. After that you can prepare a letter or an email describing how you got deceived from them. Make sure you show this letter or email to them, and tell them you will send it to the regulating agency if they don’t refund your money. If you do not know where to start, reach for us at [email protected] and we will help you with this step as well.
Make sure you leave reviews about Agora Markets in other sites
Another way to hurt them and save other people from falling victims is to leave bad reviews on other sites, and describe shortly what happened. If you fallen victim please leave a review and a comment on this site at the comment section.
Agora Markets Review Conclusions
Making the Agora Markets review is actually a pleasure for us, and we hope to save as many people as possible from losing their hard earned money. A good rule of thumb is to carefully review all the Forex companies and any other company for that matter, before you perform any transaction. We hope that our Agora Markets review has been helpful to you. If you have any questions or you need an advice about the withdrawing process, feel free to contact us at [email protected].
If you like to trade please do it with a trustworthy, regulated broker, by choosing one of the brokers listed below.
Thank you for putting this out there. I have reported Agora Markets to the FCA in the UK as they claim they are UK based. I am disheartened that they continue to operate.
They are a scam. Recently found out that my account was drained and no response to calls or emails. Avoid like the plague!
I have been asking for my money back since 17 November and have been given excuses and no money, now in March, really angry
JP
Thank you for the review.
Agora are scammers !
They’ve have had my funds since April 2020. I’ve been trying to withdraw money since August, but to no avail.
I just receive excuse after excuse.
My advice to anyone is “don’t even think about getting involved with them !!!”
Yep me too! I’ve been investing with them for over a year. I had what I thought was a great relationship with my broker Elias Stark. They let me make a couple of small withdrawals a few months ago but now I’m trying to withdraw more they are ignoring all messages. The email address gets no reply. The phone number is disconnected. Do not believe their lies. It is nothing but a scam.
thanks for the info, recently scammed, joseph Valentine account manager , uncontactable now I have asked for a withdrawal , emails unanswerable , Sara lee the original support team contact, all contact means , phone , email, etc no response. THEY HAVE taken money from money available for withdrawal above amount rquested , and left it in negative territory.
Sad that these people operate with no integrity. Ultimately God will hold them to final account, but in the mean time avoid them like the plague and warn as many as you can, and take what ever steps you can to get them held to account here.
I reside in Sydney, Australia and opened an account with Agoramarkets LTD (www.agoramarkets.com ) in May 2020, with a “Joseph Valentine” as my account manager and have invested in excess of USD 47,000 with the company. I have grave concerns regarding my investments resulting from the continual problems I have been facing in closing my trades, moving my funds off their trading platform and finalising my account, among other issues. I have conducted research into the company which has unearthed some alarming information. I now consider them to be a scam.
Details of the issues I have with company follow:
1) FALSE CLAIMS REGARDING REGULATION
In May 2020, having responded to a “promotion” for Agoramarkets on Facebook, I received a call from a woman by the name of Suzie Collins from Bitcoin Evolution on behalf of Agoramarkets LTD. As a part of her “sales pitch” Ms Collins claimed that Agoramarkets LTD is regulated to operate in Australia by The Australian Investment and Securities Commission (ASIC) under the company name Agora Capital Pty Ltd and by the Financial Control Authority in the UK under the company name Agora Private Markets Limited. Ms Collins followed up her call with an email in which she provided “information” on Agoramarkets LTD, backing up these claims in writing. Within minutes a “Joseph Valentine”, who claimed to be an account manager with Agoramarkets LTD, called me and during our conversation, he repeatedly made the same claims.
I opened a trading account with “Joseph Valentine” as my “account manager”. However, a month later I was experiencing persistent difficulties in contacting him or receiving responses from him to my communications. I called the London office of Agoramarkets seeking proof of the company’s ASIC regulation status. The “receptionist” advised me that the company under which Agoramarkets LTD is regulated to operate in Australia is Agora Capital Pty Ltd and provided me with their registration number.
I have since conducted research on both Agora Capital Pty Ltd in Australia and Agora Private Markets Limited in the UK who Agoramarkets also claim to be regulated by and have subsequently established contact with the directors of both companies.
The sole director of Agora Capital Pty Ltd has personally assured me that, although his company is registered with ASIC, it does not have, or has ever applied for an Australian Financial Services license. He has also stated that has never heard of Agoramarkets and that his company is in no way related to them. Subsequent to our conversation, the company’s lawyer, of the Melbourne based Sladen Legal, informed me on 31 March 2021 via email that:
“Agora Capital Pty Ltd is unrelated to Agoramarkets LTD. Agora Capital Pty Ltd is simply a corporate trustee of a private trust that holds investments on behalf of a private family group. David, Agora Capital Pty Ltd and ourselves have no knowledge or relationship with Agoramarkets LTD”.
I then contacted the director of the London based Agora Private Markets Limited to ask whether they are in any way associated with Agoramarkets. In an email to me on 31 March 2021the company director stated stated that:
“We understand that agoramarkets.com has previously illegitimately been referring to our company’s registered number and address and therefore appears to have been a scam. As far as we are aware, there is no company in the UK with the name of Agoramarkets Ltd and the agoramarkets.com website has never been anything to do with our firm. We have already informed the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority …..”
Another point for concern is that the “Terms and Conditions” page on the Agoramarkets website (https://www.agoramarkets.com/terms-conditions/) clearly states that:
“The terms of use hereby govern the relationship between you, the client (“you” or the “Client), and us, AGORA TM Pty Ltd”.
My research has shown that Agora TM Pty Ltd is based in Perth, Western Australia and although it is registered with ASIC it does not hold an Australian Financial Services license, I have written to the company’s director seeking information as to whether Agora TM Pty Ltd is in any way associated with Agoramarkets LTD. I’m hoping to receive a response from the director in the near future but at this stage, my fear is that their company details may have also been misappropriated by Agoramarkets.
2) JOSEPH VALENTINE
I have conducted a search of the Financial Control Authority (UK) website for certified traders with the name of “Joseph Valentine” and found only one match. That particular Joseph Valentine is listed as being currently employed as an FCA Certified Proprietary Trader by Glencore Commodities Limited London (glencore.co.uk) In light of the proven history of representatives of Agoramarkets LTD having misappropriated the names and registration details of other companies, it is my suspicion that the “Joseph Valentine” I have been dealing with at Agoramarkets LTD is probably someone who has tried to assume the identity of the gentleman working for Glencore Commodities Limited in an effort to convince his clients that he is an FCA certified trader.
3) UNAUTHORISED USE OF MY AVAILABLE FUNDS
Although I had already committed to trade in Bitcoin CDF’s, in August/September 2020, “Joseph Valentine” committed a series of major securities breaches by using the “available funds” in my trading account to set up several indices trades on my behalf, without my knowledge or consent.
He did this in the full knowledge that I was inexperienced in this type of trading. When I discovered the trades on my trading page I attempted to close them via the trading platform. I was unsuccessful in doing so and received a message advising me to “contact your manager for assistance”.
I sent “Joseph Valentine” several emails and and text messages seeking his help, however he failed to respond to any of them. I also tried calling him on his mobile number but discovered that it had been disconnected. I made several attempts over several days to call the Agoramarkets London office but each call either failed or went unanswered. In the meantime, the price of the indices trades fell, the margins were breached and the experience cost me close to AUD 11,000.
4) INABILITY TO CLOSE TRADES
In October 2020 I attempted to close my two Bitcoin trades, as well as my account, and again experienced problems, this time receiving a message via the trading platform stating “Trades cannot be closed. Contact your manager for assistance”. “Joseph Valentine” failed to offer me a clear explanation for this other than to say that this was due to “an insurance issue” and that my funds would now be unavailable until 1 January 2021. When I attempted to close the trades on 2nd January 2021 I encountered similar difficulties receiving a message: “Please active your account before you close a trade, For more information, kindly contact your manager”. On 4 January 2020, I emailed “Joseph Valentine” regarding this receiving a response stating:
“I just wanted to send you a quick email about the situation in London. We are on tier 4 lockdown, the office is closed since most of the staff went home over the holidays and are stuck at home so we can’t really do much about the account til they lift the restriction. I am working from home and will be able to watch over the account but in terms of support no one is in the office.”
“Joseph Valentine” was claiming that the reason my trades could not be closed was that the staff had no access to the Agoramarkets London office due to the COVID-19 tier 4 lockdown situation in Britain, and that nothing could be done about until the lockdown restrictions were lifted. This preposterous “explanation” was offered on January 4 yet according to the British press, the lockdown did not take effect in London until January 6. Even if the London office was inaccessible on January 4, surely my account could have been activated and my trades closed remotely as Agoramarkets is an online business and, by “Joseph Valentine’s” own admission, he was “working from home”. I have asked “Joseph Valentine” several times since for a reasonable explanation as to why my trades could not be closed however he has failed to respond.
5) CHANGES TO STOP LOSS LIMITS
In another email to “Joseph Valentine” on 4 January 2021 I asked him to adjust the STOP LOSS limits on my Bitcoin trades. On 5 January 2021 he responded, stating that: “I have already sent the request. Just wait for the trades to be updated”. Despite having sent “Joseph Valentine” several emails since, I have received no response to any of them and the STOP LOSS levels on my trades remain unaltered.
6) INABILITY TO WITHDRAW AVAILABLE FUNDS
In early March 2021 I attempted to make a withdrawal of USD30,000 from the “available to withdraw” funds in my Agoramarkets account to my personal Bitcoin cold wallet. After having lodged the request I received an automated email response stating that the request had been received and that someone would be in touch with me “within 48 hrs” to verify the details of my request. In the meantime, I noticed that although the request had been received, the “wallet address” field on the withdrawal page on the platform had not provided sufficient space to accommodate all of the characters in my wallet address. I emailed the full and correct address for my wallet to [email protected] and waited to hear from the them. There was, and still has been no response. In addition, despite my “available funds” showing on my trading page as being in excess of USD140,000 my “available to withdraw” amount is now showing as being in the red at USD -1,229.92,. I have questioned the company via email as to the reason for this but have not received a response. Also, the contact telephone number for Agoramarkets London office as listed on the company website (+ 44 1223 790 633) and the telephone number I have for “Joseph Valentine” ( +44 7452 390 582 ) both remain unreachable.
The company currently owes me in excess of USD150,000 nett in profits on my trades but it as it seems that I have been scammed, I am likely to lose not only my capital but also the profits associated with my trades, which it seems, were fraudulent from the beginning.
Under NO circumstances should ANYONE EVEN CONSIDER trading with such a disreputable and shady bunch of characters!!
I have had similar experiences with Agora Markets. They are scammers. I cannot retrieve my funds either. They emailed me their ASIC registration, however, it is a company in Perth, nothing to do with Agora Markets. Also, they were using another UK’s indentity, as mentioned above and even used the other company’s address, phone number and license number.
I can’t believe that no one is able to stop them operating. What a sick world we live in, if such a scammer can continue to operate openly and no one can touch them?
Very similar, very bad experiences from me too. “Joseph” squandered my trades. I lost initial capital plus profits and remaining balance cannot be withdrawn. I feel sick and depressed.
In my case this “Joseph Valentine” also executed some high-risk deal that I hadn’t asked for that sunk my entire account.
Then after a “recovery” of some sort, I mentioned the word “withdrawal”. The moment you do that the phone goes dead. Emails are not replied too by anyone.
In addition to “Joseph Valentine” other Agora Markets staff that deserve to be named, shamed and punished are “Alfred Watson”, supposedly VP, and “Harvey” (of “Finance”).
They are all scumbags out to steal your money.
There’s plenty of proof.
But it seems that no-one is willing or able to pursue them and they get away with it.
100% scam
I was with monumenttrade.com first with Elias mathews (also known as Elias Stark) as my broker and had dealings with Harvey then 6-8minths in apparently monument was bought out by agora so my funds and account was transferred over to agora I have 10’s of thousands invested including all my super 😭 and have had zero respince or communication for months now, I have been trying to withdraw funds for over 10 months and with the first few months here was excuse after excuse then just no reply….
DO NOT INVEST WITH AGORA MARKETS THEY ARE A TOTAL SCAM!!!!!!
I too have been scammed by Agoramarkets my contact was with Sarah Lee and then Alfred Watson.
Both extremely charming and very helpful until you wish to get your funds back. I have been threatened with legal action…..nothing has happened…..but they are the scum of the earth and I pray KARMA will pay them a visit. Most dissappointed that i will never see my money again.
DO NOT INVEST WITH AGORAMARKETS OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR MONEY.
Definitely a scam, I experienced all of the above. AgoraMarkets have taken my money, ignored my requests to withdraw etc. I find it hard to believe that they are allowed to operate in this way – what a disgrace the financial markets industry is if this behaviour cannot be stopped!
Warning to all, please do not give AgoraMarkets any money – they are a total scam.
Your story is exactly mine Dealing with Alfred
I have profits that brought my account to $1million
Alfred after no contact for 6 months contacted on WhatsApp to say good news he could get my money to me, he had sold all bar 2 share investments so my money was available
I had a full week plus of communication b wats app and a 2 hour phone call
He had me
I was told to establish a CoinSpot wallet an transfer tax owed to a blockchain wallet
Fortunately CoinSpot fraud section stopped me transferring money
I believe if I had they would have gained a Access to the money I was withdrawing
Since copying in emails to Alfred from CoinSpot fraud he has blocked me on what’s app
So I guess that’s it
These people are cruel to the worst degree
Hope we can get them
100% scam
I was with monumenttrade.com first with Joseph Green as my broker and had dealings with Harvey Oakes for my SMSF then apparently monument was bought out by agora so my funds and account was transferred over to Agora I have 10’s of thousands invested including all my super 😭 and have had zero response or communication for 2 months now, I have been trying to withdraw funds for over 10 months and with the first few months here was COVID excuse after excuse then just no reply….
Never thought of being a scam. I communicated with Joseph and Harvey every day for almost two years. I have never added funds since my first deposit. Joseph even sent me a very good bottle of whiskey. Harvey was extremely good at creating my SMSF, he knew the system like the back of his hand.
Which scammer stays in contact with the scam for two years without requesting the addition of funds. From USD60,000, I managed to grow my account up to USD 3 million … Now, all gone, include USD50,000 of my SMSF.
Also, the contact telephone number for Agoramarkets London office as listed on the company website (+ 44 1223 790 633) and the telephone number I have for “Joseph Green” ( +44 7452 390 582 ) and Harvey Oakes (+44 7780 986565) remain unreachable. Same for emails.
After several searches on the phone numbers, it seems that this bunch of bastards has a new scam: http://www.speedyexchange.com. +44 7780 986565 takes us directly to this site.
Joseph had guaranteed that his team was monitoring the accounts to rule on crashes. In March, during the crypto crah, I had to intervene and lost over USD 2 million.
Dramatic, I always have access to my account and can still see my trades on the screen.
Every morning when I wake up, I have anxiety attacks because I don’t know how to tell the authorities that I have lost my SMSF funds. In depression for 3 months …
I’ve tried calling on a fundraising company, but often journals give them out as scammers … Does anyone have a business to advise? Hope there are no scammers on this site …