Buyer Beware

eToro

Beware of this Dangerous Trading Platform

eToro markets itself as the leader in social trading and Crypto Trading. They are marketing aggressively by hiring esteemed athletes such as Nabilla and Gael Monfils so people would talk about them more. 

If you’ve ever taken an interest in investing or finance, you must’ve seen ads about Bitcoin and Crypto Trading such as “If you could have invested in Bitcoin when it was worth only a few dollars, would you have done it?”. Major platforms have banned these ads now but one business has benefited greatly from them: eToro.

eToro claims to have more than 9 million users and is now using celebrities to publicize their shady services. They recently hired Gael Monfils as their brand ambassador who has praised this platform countless times on different occasions. 

Similarly Nabilla, another prominent celebrity, urged her fans to invest in Bitcoin through a “safe site” with a few traders who had “already invested in Bitcoin”. Such publicity has helped eToro in attracting numerous customers. 

In this eToro review, I’ll discuss why eToro is a terrible choice for you and why you should stay away from this broker. 

What is eToro? 

eToro website homepage
eToro website homepage

eToro is an online platform based in Cyprus which specializes in CFDs (Contracts for Difference). Although they offer other trading instruments too, they mainly promote their CFD division and their Crypto Trading facilities. 

A CFD is a contract where the seller (eToro) pays the buyer (you) the difference between the current value of the instrument and the value at the end of the contract. If the difference comes out to be negative, the buyer has to pay the difference. You should note that you don’t actually buy a financial instrument in this transaction, you only expose yourself to the changes in its value. 

Similar review: Atlantic Global Asset Management

You can use CFDs for any kind of assets (such as shares, commodities, stocks, and more). Because you don’t actually buy something, the transaction cost remains low. eToro is trying to deceive people into using CFDs for trading cryptocurrencies. 

The cryptocurrencies eToro is offering as CFDs haven’t been CFDs for weeks. This way eToro holds them and puts the buyer (which is you) at a disadvantage. When you buy this CFD, you only expose yourself to the risk and you can’t use them as you wanted (sell them or remove them). 

eToro’s main highlight is its social trading feature where you can replicate the trades of another investor. However, there’s no way to verify whether you’re seeing the performance of an actual trader or not, which is a significant red flag. 

Why eToro is Dangerous

eToro primarily deals in CFDs, and you should avoid its trading instruments if you’re a beginner to trading. For example, one of the trading instruments you get at eToro is ‘shorting’. In this case, you bet on the fall of an asset in the future. If the value of that particular asset falls as you had expected, you’d get a capital gain. On the other hand, if the value of that asset increases, then you can suffer a tremendous loss. You could lose hundreds (or even thousands) of euros in such a trade.

Another dangerous instrument is ‘leverage’. Leverage is a temporary loan the broker gives to you according to the funds present in your account. So, for example, if you have 100 euros and the broker offers a leverage of 1:100, then you can trade with 100 x 100 = 10,000 euros. This means if a product’s value increases by 1% in such a transaction, you’d double your investment. But if it falls by 1%, you’d lose all the funds you had invested. 

At eToro you can never be in debt of the broker, but losing all of your capital is not a laughing matter too. In my example, the proposed leverage was 1:100. eToro offers leverage upto 1:400, so you can understand how dangerous it is to deal with this broker. 

The Real Risk of Dealing with eToro

eToro’s obvious qualities and perks might convince anyone into thinking they are a legit organization. However, the problem with eToro is they are using popular faces to sell highly risky investment products. By using the image of Nabilla and Gael Monfils, they are appealing to the general public and selling a product that could lead the consumer to lose all of his/her investments.

The Sapin II law prohibits such advertising of trading sites for products that are too speculative. However, eToro remains an exception to this rule because the website claims it has a ‘protection mechanism’. In other words, eToro makes sure that the trader doesn’t lose more than their initial bet. 

eToro has received several warnings from regulatory watchdogs for its aggressive and shady marketing tactics. However, the only defence eToro had for this problem was their usual response, “We encourage responsible trading and provide educational resources to help novice and seasoned investors”. 

eToro’s Scam Has Many Victims

eToro’s scam is prevalent in the market and it has numerous victims. People are griping about their painful experiences with eToro on multiple platforms. 

Here’s a reviewer who lost more than 100,000 Euros due to eToro. They found out that eToro wasn’t showing them simulated results instead of genuine ones.

eToro's scam cost her 100k Euros
eToro’s scam cost her 100k Euros

Another reviewer lost more than $70,000 which they had invested in their account over time:

This person lost around $70,000 because of eToro's shady conditions
This person lost around $70,000 because of eToro’s shady conditions

People are losing their hard-earned income due to such shady and manipulative tactics of this broker. There are many victims of this eToro’s scam and you can find them out just by searching for eToro complaints.

eToro Review: Conclusion

Just because a particular broker has a big brand, it doesn’t mean it is reliable. eToro is the perfect example of this case. They are using popular names to promote their risky products and they are taking advantage of the loopholes present in our laws to do so. 

Numerous people are losing their hard-earned cash because of the shady operations of this broker. At the end of my eToro review, I strongly advise you to stay away from them at all costs. You can find another broker who is more reliable and trustworthy but for your own safety, stay away from eToro. 

3.7 Total Score
AVOID!

eToro is using deceptive marketing tactics and using loopholes in regulations to promote its highly risky and unfair trading instruments. Numerous people are losing their funds due to eToro's scam.

2.5Expert Score
Trust
2
Customer Service
1
Pricing
4
Trading Experience
3
4.8User's score
Trust
4.3
Customer Service
4.3
Pricing
5.6
Trading Experience
5
PROS
  • Popular Brand
CONS
  • Deceptive Marketing
  • Highly Risky Trading Instruments
  • Stealing Money from Customers
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3 Comments
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  1. 4.5
    Trust
    90
    Customer Service
    90
    Pricing
    90
    Trading Experience
    90

    Easy said than done , I traded with ETORO for 4months hoping to get the best , but after much profit I was denied withdraw I tried severely till my account was blocked but thank God to Mr. Adam Wilson who made it possible for me to get all that have loss and even made more money with is unique and accurate signals. Get Mr. Adam on Mail at, adamwilson .trading @ consultant. com

    Helpful(1) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  2. Reply
    David Miller Perkins
    October 13, 2020 at 12:38 am
    1.5
    Trust
    30
    Customer Service
    30
    Pricing
    30
    Trading Experience
    30

    its all a scam, i traded with different brokers, most of them disappear when I make withdrawal request, some of them will try to convince you not to withdraw and instead invest more while others will actually allow you withdraw a little amount so they can build your trust and after that they begin to make large requests. i lost a lot to these fraudulent brokers, i was depressed for months….

    + PROS: PROS
    - CONS: CONS
    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  3. 1.25
    Trust
    10
    Customer Service
    10
    Pricing
    50
    Trading Experience
    30

    They steal from their customers.
    I had an eToro account but left it after seeing how they kept deducting funds from it for different reasons. First, they claimed that they were charging maintenance fee and deducted £50 from my account. Even though that maintenance fee seemed quite humongous, I didn’t complain.
    It got irritating when they charged me another £10 for a particular order. I had already lost a substantial amount in my trades and that £10 charge made it impossible for me to make a withdrawal request.
    My account had only £15 left at that point. I was planning on depositing more funds there but I realised it’s not worth the effort when they charged me that £10.
    I enquired about this charge to find out why they imposed it, but they just claimed that it was a maintenance fee. I asked the representative if this was the maintenance fee then what was the one they charged me before?
    They didn’t reply and have stopped responding ever since.
    I have lost all hope of getting my money back from eToro.
    I wish I would have found your eToro review earlier so I wouldn’t have fallen for this scam.

    - CONS: Steal your money
    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this

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