JP Markets
Running a Scam and Stealing Money from Customers
The forex industry has plenty of scammers, which put a bad name to this industry. In this article, I’m exposing a prominent scammer of the forex industry, JP Markets.
They like to call themselves “the biggest forex broker in South Africa”. It is certainly a prominent name in the market, but that doesn’t mean they are reliable or trustworthy.
In the following JP Markets review, I’ll tell you how they are running a deliberate scam and have victims all over the globe. They are stealing money from their customers and they think they can get away with it.
If you’re considering doing business with these guys then the following review will help you in making a better-informed decision. They have paid reviewers everywhere so you can hardly find a genuine review of their services.
What is JP Markets?
JP Markets is a forex broker based in South Africa. It received its license from the FSB (Financial Services Board), which is a reputed organization. JP Markets entered the market in 2016 and in a small time, they have become one of the biggest brokers in South Africa.
They are situated at Nelson Mandela Square, Maude Street, West Tower Floor 2, Gauteng 2146.
JP Markets trades in many asset types such as commodities, indices, and shares. They have several awards to their name too, which could fool anyone. Apart from South Africa, JP Markets has offices in Pakistan, Kenya, and Bangladesh.
The Scam of JP Markets
JP Markets is running a huge scam. They steal funds from the accounts of their customers and show simulated trades instead of real ones to deceive traders. There are numerous complaints against these people.
But before I begin discussing the various customer complaints in this JP Markets review, I think it’s necessary to highlight the signs of their scam. This way, if you notice these signs anywhere else, you’d know that they are running a forex scam:
The Excessive Leverage
The first sign of the JP Markets scam is their excessive leverage. JP Markets offers 1:500 as their leverage, which is substantially high for any forex broker. The recommended leverage is 1:50. The strict regulatory authorities in the US and the UK put restrictions on the amount of leverage brokers can offer to traders.
In the US, for example, the highest leverage a broker can offer is 1:50, which is ten times less than the one JP Markets offers. High leverage ratios expose a trader to higher risk. You can lose your entire investment with only a 0.20% loss if you’re availing the leverage JP Markets offer.
Provision of Hidden Fees
JP Markets claim everywhere that they don’t charge any fees on transactions. The most important words in the last sentence were ‘on transactions’. JP Markets doesn’t specify anything else about their fees on their website.
To do that, you’d have to go deep into their terms and conditions and find any mention of charges or fees. I did, and I found that they do charge numerous kinds of fees, they just don’t say that on their website.
For example, JP Markets charges a maintenance fee of $10 per month but it’s not mentioned anywhere on the website. You can find that in their T&Cs (terms and conditions) here:
If your account remains inactive for three months, JP Markets would charge $50, and then, they can charge any lower amount (they don’t specify what amount) before suspending your account. You can see that here:
They also mention that their charges vary from time to time and you can find that on their website, but this information is unavailable. You can check out their website yourself, they don’t mention their fees at all. But they have this provision in their T&Cs so they can charge anything at anytime:
Apart from that, they can take all of your profits under the suspicion of shady activities. This provision might seem like a great thing at first, but it’s the sole tool they use to freeze their customers’ accounts and steal funds from them. You can see that provision below:
You must’ve seen that they mention a ‘Trading Conditions’ section in their T&Cs but that’s not present anywhere on their website.
They have a complex web of greedy terms and conditions which allows them to charge hidden fees. In other words, they are legally allowed to steal from their clients.
Complicated Website
While writing this JP Markets review, I had to do a lot of digging in because JP Markets’ website is a piece of trash. JP Markets have kept their website highly complicated and much of crucial information inaccessible.
They know that only a small percentage of visitors would ever dig through this much of their website. They take advantage of the general laziness we have in us.
As I’ve pointed out above, their website has no ‘Trading Conditions’ section. This means, you can’t find out what kind of spreads they offer, what charges they levy, what their offered leverage is.
Most of this information is not even present on their website. The reason why they don’t want you to find this information is because they don’t want you to see the truth. A complicated website makes it difficult for any new visitor to find anything.
Their website is filled with their fake claims, and that’s the only thing you can find there with ease.
No Info On JP Markets’ Trading Account
Another prominent sign that these guys are a scam is they literally provide zero information on their trading account. They have kept this information hidden for a purpose because they want you to sign up and agree to their shady terms and conditions and find out later what you’ve agreed to.
They don’t give you any information on the spreads they offer, the minimum deposit or the account types (if there are any) present on their platform. All of this is crucial to establish trust and transparency.
You might ask, “Why would someone sign up without this information?” I know the answer and so does JP Markets. The answer is: Bonuses.
Greed is a powerful emotion and JP Markets takes full advantage of it. They have an entire section dedicated to their promotions. JP Markets Bonus is a prominent thing people look for when searching for JP Markets:
Bonuses and promotions are a good thing. But JP Markets uses them to distract people from the fine print. This way, they can scam people easily without worrying about them finding out their reality.
Bonuses also help them in creating a sense of urgency in their customers. At the time of writing this review, they are offering a 200% deposit bonus on their website for a “limited period of time”:
You should note that you can use this ‘bonus’ only on their platform and it’s not withdrawable.
In a sense, the bonus is just a number which reflects in your trading account. You don’t really derive any benefit from it, but they do, a new scapegoat in the form of a new customer.
Ambiguous Info on Team
These guys love to keep things ambiguous. They love ambiguity so much that the entire ‘About’ section of their website is filled with fluff. Not just that but they also don’t share anywhere what people are behind the operations of the company. The only mention of anyone behind their operations is of their founder, which is also quite hard to find.
The founder of JP Market is Justin Paulsen who, according to their company profile, has spent some time working at a prominent brokerage. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in Economics and Finance. He has also passed the qualifying exams to become a broker.
However, apart from that, JP Markets don’t provide any information on their founder. There must be some other people in the company too who help the founder in running the company. But JP Markets doesn’t share any piece of information about them. Even the information on their founder, Justin Paulsen, is very ambiguous. They don’t specify how much time he spent in the forex industry.
It seems as if their founder is an inexperienced (or possibly a made-up) professional who doesn’t know much about forex. Otherwise, why would they hesitate in sharing information about their founder? Such ambiguity shows that something’s wrong in this company.
Why Do People Fall for the JP Markets Scam?
With so many drawbacks and signs, anyone can find JP Markets shady but why do people don’t?
Why are people falling for this scam repeatedly?
I know you must be pondering these questions. Here are the main reasons why the JP Markets scam is successful:
Fake Claim of No Fees
On their homepage, JP Markets claims that they charge no fees. You can see that in the screenshot below:
I’ve already exposed this lie. They are charging you but they just don’t mention it on their website. However, many people don’t find out the truth. They believe what JP Markets tells them and think they would get a forex broker that doesn’t charge anything.
It’s quite a convincing offer too. Imagine hiring a service provider that doesn’t charge you anything but claims to be ‘one of the best’. Anyone would think that they should at least give it a try.
Their fake claim on their fees is just one of the many reasons why people fall for their scam.
MetaTrader Trading Platform
If there’s one good quality they have, it’s their trading platform. They are using the world-renowned MetaTrader 4 platform to serve their customers.
MetaTrader 4 (also known as MT4) is a product of MetaQuotes Software and since it arrived in the market, it has become the most popular trading platform among brokers. It offers multiple features such as indicators, and automated trading, which make it the first-choice for many traders.
Having a reliable trading platform helps JP Markets appear reliable too.
Professional-looking Website
JP Markets have a good-looking website. You’d think you’ve arrived at a prominent company’s site when you’d visit it. This also helps them in deceiving people.
First impressions matter and a professional website helps JP Markets considerably in this regard.
Useless Resources on the Site
JP Markets utilize a unique tactic to appear trustworthy. They have filled their website with useless resources. They even offer a course there!
In their resources, they aim to teach new traders about the basics of forex. While these resources don’t really provide any value, it helps them in appearing reliable.
Plus, they have an active blog which makes them seem active and quick:
Numerous Victims On the Internet
JP Markets are deceiving numerous people over the internet. Some of their victims have spoken about them on different platforms. I’m sharing screenshots of their complaints here so you can see just how huge the scam of this broker is.
In the first complaint, the reviewer shares her experiences as to how she was only shown a simulated transaction instead of a real one. She has also shared that she had lost her entire investment because of their negligence. The second complaint is about the security of the reviewer’s account.
Sometimes they blame a shabby internet connection for deducting funds from their client’s account. In these cases, only you lose the money and they get away scot free.
There are numerous complaints against this broker all over the internet. Some people have lost their entire investment for a random reason, others realized that they fell prey to the hidden fees of this scammer.
Here are some more:
Another issue you might’ve noticed is these guys don’t respond to their clients’ complaints. It just shows how terrible their customer service is and how they only care about the funds a person deposits, nothing else.
There Could be More…
Although I have shared multiple examples in this JP Markets review, you should know that’s not all. Only 50% of those consumers leave a review who a business requests to review them. Moreover, we’re talking about complaints here. Many people don’t know that they can complain about their experience with JP Markets online.
The number of JP Markets’ victims could be in hundreds. That’s why I urge you to not do business with them. They are a scam!
JP Markets Review: Conclusion
Finally, we’re at the conclusion of my JP Markets review. JP Market is running a humongous scam and they already have hundreds of victims. Don’t become their next victim and stay away from them.
