HotForex is a shady Forex broker that’s hiding information to dupe traders. In this HotForex review, I’ll explain every aspect of this Forex broker and help you understand why you should stay away from them. They have filled the market with multiple paid articles to enhance their reputation. That’s why it was more than necessary to expose these scammers. I hope this review will help you in this regard.

Shady Address

The address of Suite no. 305, P O Box 1510, Griffith Corporate Centre, Beachmont, Kingstown is not related to a single company but there are a couple of other brokers that are operating from the same address. 

Shady Addresses of HotForex
Some more Shady Addresses of HotForex
A lot more Shady Addresses of HotForex

The above list is of the companies which all have the same address and the same PO Box number as well. It is not practically possible that all of these brokers are operating from the same location with the same PO box number. How can 11 other companies apart from HotForex work from the same place?

The physical address of the broker is important in finding out the regional laws and regulatory authorities. It looks like HotForex is operating from a virtual location. Their physical address is a replication of the addresses of other broker firms. At a first look, everything about the address looks good as the address is complete in terms of the location and the exact details. A Google search reveals the actual truth behind the address of HotForex. It is shocking to learn how shady brokers lie to traders about their location.

Weak Governance

The authenticity of the address of HotForex is already under lens due to duplicity but the region of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is not a very strict location for forex brokers. As it is clear from the above details, the SVG regulatory authority does no good in verifying the details of the broker. 

There are no austere rules and regulations which govern the regular operations of the forex brokers in those regions. There are no audits for the funds and they are not kept in segregated accounts. So, many shady brokers use the funds of their customers in other criminal activities of the region. 

In addition to all of this, there is no protection offered to traders under any compensation schemes. It is a well-knit plan of the shady brokers to operate away from the strict guidelines of the reputed regulatory authorities. HotForex is operating from a fragile region. The excerpt from the terms and conditions of HotForex clarifies that it is a broker with weak regulation policies only.

Weak Governance of HotForex

The mere registration of a broker is not sufficient. Experienced traders are already aware of the importance of the origin of brokers. A weak governance region is no good for traders. It is a sufficient hint for traders to stay away from HotForex.

No Details About the Team

HotForex does not provide any details about the team behind them. There is no outline of the owner and the team of senior management of the company. There are no details about the top executives like the CEO or CFO of the company. The absence of  the names and experience of the top executives suggests that they might not have much knowledge of this field after all. If there is a strong team behind HotForex, then why is there no information about them? 

My HotForex review 2021 reveals that there is no professional team and they are working under a group of amateurs. Experienced traders always prefer the regulated brokers which provide complete details of the knowledgeable professionals from the finance industry only. There is no debate on the topic that the workforce of the company implements the strict rules and regulations of the company. If the team does not have any details about the financial matters, they cannot understand the basics of the operations. Thus, my HotForex review advises traders to stay away from the company which takes no effort in providing origin and ownership details to traders.

Limited Areas of Operation: 

HotForex does not extend services to the USA and Canada. The strict regulatory authorities of the USA and Canada do not allow fraudulent brokers to provide services in their region. 

The strong rules and regulations of the regions like the USA follow strict guidelines for standard operations and funds transfer as well. The safeguarding of the funds of the investors is in segregated accounts only. The authority’s compensation schemes save traders from frauds. traders can rely on the policies of the regulating bodies. On the contrary to this, the unavailability of the services in the strongly governed regions should serve as a warning to the investors.

The Disadvantage of STP

HotForex is operating on the Straight Through Processing (STP) model. The major problem with this model is that traders face fines due to inactivity in accounts or a decrease in the number of trades. It is not beneficial for beginners and for traders who do not trade regularly. The execution of the STP model is slow. 

In some cases, STP is abbreviated to the ECN model of trading but it is not true in the real-time scenario. STP covers the gap between the trading platform and the liquidity provider. It is another tool for small brokers that connects them to large brokers. It depends on the large brokers how they carry the trades ahead. It is popularly known as a non-dealing desk broker.

The spreads in the STP model are very high. The negative slippage of the trading accounts does not allow traders to make many profitable trades. The fee is high and other charges do not allow HotForex to be the first choice of traders for investing. I wasn’t surprised to see such a greedy provision while writing my HotForex review.

No Notification of Margin call

The withdrawals from the trading accounts of HotForex have the restriction of the margin calls. A margin call is the requirement of a broker to maintain the minimum funds in the trading accounts. According to the policy of HotForex, it does not notify any trader about the margin calls and in addition to this enjoys the leverage of stopping the trades at its sole discretion.

HotForex Provides no notification of margin call

While professional traders are aware of the dealings with a margin call, the absence of notification is disastrous to them. It thus clarifies that HotForex does not protect its traders against losses by leveraging the margin calls. It defines different conditions for stopping or automatically closing the deals but fails to provide notifications for the margin calls.

Deceitful Bonuses

HotForex claims to provide good bonuses to traders. The screenshots of the bonuses are as below

Deceitful bonuses of HotForex

First of all, there is no provision of promotional bonuses under the European Securities and Markets Authority guidelines. The EU understands the fake policies of the offshore brokers which is why it doesn’t allow such activities. 

HotForex claims to offer a 100% credit bonus. It is not possible to realize the authenticity of the bonuses. Such too-good-to-be-true claims always ruin traders. My HotForex review advises traders to stay away from these cheap marketing tactics as there are no overnight earnings in any trades. 

Absurd Payment Conditions of HotForex

The minimum deposit limit for the trading accounts of HotForex through bank wire transfer is set to $100. In addition to this, the time taken for the funds to reach the accounts of traders is 7 days. 

Payment conditions

The limit on deposits and the high time required in the reflection of funds is not ideal for traders. There should not be a delay in depositing funds in the trading accounts due to the volatility of the markets.

The minimum withdrawal through bank wire transfers cannot go lower than $100. The response time is 10 days. The withdrawal limit through the credit card is set to $50 and the response time is 5 days. 

Min. withdrawal limit of $100 for wire transfers
HotForex has a min. withdrawal limit of $50 as a standard

Thus, in any case, the minimum standard withdrawal amount cannot go less than $50. It is a high amount as most of the regulated brokers do not set any minimum limit for withdrawals. The response time taken to reflect the funds should not go beyond 2 days.

The limitations on the basic and most essential functions of the transactions help in realizing the actual professionalism of HotForex. These types of greedy rules are not beneficial to traders. You should be wary about the payment policies of this broker.

Unworthy Client Categorization

The client categorization of HotForex is not beneficial to traders. Their client categorization prevents the clients from availing many vital services. Most of the traders are not covered under the investor compensation schemes. An excerpt from their client categorization policy is as below.

Unworthy client categorization

The leverage of the benefits of the client categorization by aiming the loss of services to traders is not worthy at all. There is a difference in the client categorization based on the competitive leverages. A detailed check reveals the authenticity of this categorization.

Lengthy Process for Opening Demo Accounts

You have to go through a painfully long process to get a HotForex demo account. First of all, a client has to register a HF account to get access to his/her specific HF area. Then only the client reaches the vague form of the demo account registration. 

Demo account service

The demo account of HotForex requires a list of details. It is not appreciable as access to the demo accounts needs to be fast and efficient. The authenticity of the demo account is under the lens. More or less, the demo account of HotForex is merely an incomplete service that fails to fulfill its purpose. The demo account should work hard in providing a simulated view of the trading platform and the trading conditions.

Live trading accounts: The live trading accounts of the broker are as below.

  1. Micro Account: The leverage in the micro account of the broker is 1:1000. It is very high and is not competitive at all. The spread is of no relief to traders as it starts with 1 pip even for the most popular EUR/USD pair. The micro account of HotForex fails to serve the purpose of acting as a basic account for the beginners. There is no specialized facility of useful educational services provided to the beginners in this account.
  2. Premium Account: The premium account of HotForex requires a minimum initial investment of $100. The leverage is not beneficial as it is as high as 1:500. The spread in the premium account is the same as in the micro account of the broker.
  3. Zero Spread Account: The zero spread account of a broker requires $200 as a minimum initial investment. The claim of spread is lucrative as 0 pips but its realization is important. There is no difference in the leverage ratio from the premium account of the broker. 
  4. Auto Account: The minimum initial investment is set at $200. All the services of the auto account are similar to the services of the premium account. There is no valid reason for the rise in the minimum initial investment of this account.
  5. PAMM (Premium) Account: The minimum initial investment for the PAMM (Premium) account of HotForex is $250. The leverage and spread are not competitive. The services are almost similar to the general live trading accounts.
  6. HFCOPY Account: It is a strategy provider and follower strategy account of the broker. The worst part of the HF COPY account is the setting of a high-performance fee percentage. Apart from this, the leverage ratio is set to 1:400 and the spread is fixed at 1 pip.

The 6 live trading accounts of HotForex fail to serve the basic function of providing competitive trading conditions at cheaper rates. There are 6 options but there is no clarity of the usefulness of these accounts in terms of beginner, intermediate and seasoned traders. The leverage conditions are far beyond the ideal requirements. 

In the case of HotForex, the trading accounts are not serviceable and thus multiply the gripe of traders.

Accounts provided
The difficult-to-notice terms and conditions in the bottom of the screen at the page

HotForex Trashy Customer Support

HotForex fails to provide around the clock technical customer support to traders.  There is no use of the various means of customer support when there is no availability of the 24*7 help to traders. Most of the regulated brokers, on the other hand, strive hard to provide a high level of customer support to traders. They understand the value of the customers and give equal importance to their grievances. Sadly, there is no sense of comprehension in the weak policies of HotForex.

Website of HotForex:

The website of HotForex is https://www.hotforex.com/

Homepage

The broker claims on its website that it is into trading services since 2010 but the domain of HotForex has been operational since 2007. A snapshot of the details of the domain of the website is below.

Who.is data

There is a contradiction in the data about their website. The quality of the content on the website is below average as it is full of promotional bonuses and rewards. HotForex should improve the quality of the website as it is the first point of contact between the broker and the expecting clients.

Social Media Presence of HotForex: 

The Facebook account of HotForex is full of promotional posts just like their website. It fails to provide quality content to its visitors.

Facebook Page of HotForex

The twitter account of HotForex is not updated regularly. The last post, while writing this article was to 2 weeks old. 

Twitter account of HotForex

It is clear from their Facebook and Twitter accounts that they pay very little attention to their social media presence. The abandoned accounts reflect the absence of a dedicated online team of the broker. Social media helps a service provider in communicating with its customers. I guess HotForex doesn’t want to do that. Maybe they shy away from these platforms because they don’t want to face criticism for their terrible actions. 

3.3 Total Score
Is HotForex a Scam or Not?

HotForex has many drawbacks. Their address is not genuine as it is identical to many other companies, their region of origin is a haven for forex scammers, and they do not provide any details about their team. 
They provide no help to their traders. Their trading accounts are not suitable for any Forex trader. My HotForex review 2021 thus, advises you to stay away from this scammer. You can find many service providers who are far better than this fraudster. Be sure to spread the word and let others know about this scammer.

2.5Expert Score
Trust
3
Experience
2
Reputation
2.5
Customer Service
2.5
4.1User's score
Trust
4.2
Experience
4.1
Reputation
4.2
Customer Service
4.1
PROS
  • -null-
CONS
  • Nasty Scam!
  • Deceptive
  • Major Red Flags
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10 Comments
Show all Most Helpful Highest Rating Lowest Rating Add your review
  1. 0.5
    Trust
    10
    Experience
    10
    Reputation
    10
    Customer Service
    10

    Hotforex has the worst customer support out there. They don’t listen to you and keep telling you to check the terms and conditions. I have already lost my deposited funds and I don’t know how long I can endure this painful service.

    If they want a better rating then they should improve their customer service and give refunds when they know they are wrong.

    + PROS: None
    - CONS: Scammers NO customer service
    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  2. 0.5
    Trust
    10
    Experience
    10
    Reputation
    10
    Customer Service
    10

    Hotforex stole my deposit, saying I owed them some money.

    Now they are not responding to my complaint. They keep telling me to contact them through another method.

    Very disappointing.

    - CONS: scammers stole my deposit
    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  3. 0.5
    Trust
    10
    Experience
    10
    Reputation
    10
    Customer Service
    10

    Agree 100% with the article. HotForex is a bogus site. They kept my money for a month and didn’t listen to me once! I have worked with multiple brokers and never have I faced such horrible treatment. 0/10 all the way

    + PROS: none
    - CONS: scam
    Helpful(1) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  4. Reply
    scamrecoverysite at fastservice dot com
    June 29, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    I’m happy to share my experience on headline how I got my funds

  5. 5
    Trust
    100
    Experience
    100
    Reputation
    100
    Customer Service
    100

    This post is dedicated to people who have been embarrassed or let down due to low finances. This is my story… After l lost my job in September 2019, I started looking for investments to double my savings, so while I was researching I found some good information on bitcoin trading/mining/investments. I saw a post about this team and they are highly recommended by a lot of people on different bitcoin forums and blogs so i was convinced and I sent them a message via their email contact at, [ Onestandardfinance [at] counsellor. c o m] and after about a week of signing up with them, I made 27000 in my first week. Don’t be surprised yet! You could make a 100k weekly depending on how much you start with. I just paid off my mortgage with my profits and I have just bought my first house and I can confidently say that I have achieved the proverbial American dream in just a couple of months just by investing my money and bitcoin with these guys. Words can barely describe the joy in my heart and I am only sharing this here not to brag but to help others wanting to achieve their goals quickly and legitimately. They are specialized in bitcoin wallet password recovery, and recovery of stolen bitcoin funds, they have great hackers that work for them.

    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(1)You have already voted this
  6. 0.1
    Trust
    0
    Support
    0
    Reputation
    10
    Experience
    0

    These brokers are quite popular in Indian communities, probably because they don’t trade a lot of money. As a somewhat experienced trader I would advice my fellow traders to avoid HotForex and go for more trustworthy and regulated brokers. HotForex is not the best choice in the market.

    - CONS: Shady OwnersMany Red FlagsNot a good brokerNeed to be Under Investigation from authorities
    Helpful(1) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  7. 5
    Trust
    100
    Support
    100
    Reputation
    100
    Experience
    100

    Trading for a while now, almost an year so far with no complaints. I believe that not everyday is a winning day so i only take trades when the odd move in my direction. I usually take three confirmations: looking at the support (traditional), dynamic support i.e. MA and volume. So far i have made more than my losing trades and i am happy with the services.

    + PROS: MT4 which is worldclass platform
    - CONS: na
    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  8. 0.1
    Trust
    10
    Support
    0
    Reputation
    0
    Experience
    0

    I’ve lost $500.00 from these guys. Avoid them!

    - CONS: Bad
    Helpful(1) Unhelpful(1)You have already voted this
  9. 5
    Trust
    100
    Support
    100
    Reputation
    100
    Experience
    100

    This is the best broker which i have been trading for more than two years now. Execution is quite smooth. Spreads are also average on major pairs. Leverage also reasonable. I had my profit withdrawals on time. Deposits are also instant. So in my opinion they deserve good rating.

    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  10. Trying to register on their website and I chanced on this article…very surprising

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