What Happened?
247SmartFx, a relatively obscure forex trading platform, has recently been under fire for allegedly attempting to conceal a questionable past and censor damaging news about its operations. Although the platform presents itself as a legitimate broker offering competitive spreads and various trading tools, numerous complaints and negative feedback from traders paint a different picture.
Traders have reported issues such as difficulty withdrawing funds, unexpected account closures, and poor customer service. Additionally, 247SmartFx’s regulatory standing is unclear, with many suspecting that the platform operates without proper oversight, putting clients’ funds at risk. These issues have led to numerous bad reviews and accusations of fraud across forums and review platforms.
What further raises concern is 247SmartFx’s alleged efforts to suppress negative reviews and online complaints. Several traders claim that their feedback was removed or that they were pressured into staying silent about their negative experiences. This attempt to control the narrative and hide its shady past raises red flags about the company’s transparency and credibility, urging potential traders to proceed with caution before engaging with the platform.
Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)
Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.
List of Fake Copyright Notices for 247SmartFx
| Number of Fake DMCA Notice(s) | 1 |
| Lumen Database Notice(s) | https://lumendatabase.org/notices/44342506 |
| Sender(s) | OptiPulse Technologies ltd. |
| Date(s) | Sep 5, 2024 |
| Fake Link(s) Used by Scammers | https://www.worldforexaward.com/ms/directory-of-forex-brokers/report/247smartfx |
| Original Link(s) Targeted | https://www.wikifx.com/zh/word/2281496635.html |
Evidence and Screenshots
How do we investigate fake DMCA notices?
To accomplish this, we utilize the OSINT Tool provided by FakeDMCA.com and the Lumen API for Researchers, courtesy of the Lumen Database.
FakeDMCA.com is the work of an independent team of research students and cybersecurity professionals, developed under Project UnCensor. Their OSINT Tool, designed to uncover and analyze takedown notices, represents a significant step forward in combating these abusive practices. It has become a valuable resource, increasingly relied upon by journalists and law enforcement agencies across the United States.
Lumen, on the other hand, is an independent research initiative dedicated to studying takedown notices and other legal demands related to online content removal. The project, which operates under the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, plays a crucial role in tracking and understanding the broader implications of such requests.
What was 247SmartFx trying to hide?
247SmartFx is a relatively obscure forex broker that offers trading services for various financial instruments, including currencies, commodities, and indices. The platform claims to provide competitive spreads, leverage, and user-friendly tools to attract traders, especially beginners in the forex market. However, unlike more established brokers, 247SmartFx operates with limited transparency regarding its regulatory status. It is suspected that the platform may be functioning without proper oversight from any recognized financial authorities, raising concerns about the security of funds and the legitimacy of its services.
While 247SmartFx presents itself as a legitimate trading platform, numerous complaints and allegations from users suggest otherwise. Here is a breakdown of the adverse news, bad reviews, complaints, and allegations that the company is reportedly trying to hide:
1. Withdrawal Issues and Fund Accessibility
One of the most frequent complaints from users is related to the difficulty in withdrawing funds from the platform. Traders have reported long delays, unexplained rejections of withdrawal requests, or even total denial of access to their funds after making significant profits. Some users claim that after requesting withdrawals, their accounts were either suspended or closed without any clear explanation. This has led to growing suspicions that 247SmartFx may be facing liquidity issues or intentionally preventing withdrawals to avoid payouts.
Withdrawal delays and difficulties are red flags in any trading platform, and 247SmartFx’s repeated issues in this area have drawn heavy criticism from affected traders, with some accusing the platform of operating a scam.
2. Unclear Regulatory Standing
247SmartFx’s lack of transparency regarding its regulatory standing is another major concern. Unlike reputable brokers that are regulated by well-known financial authorities such as the FCA, CySEC, or ASIC, 247SmartFx operates in a regulatory gray area. The broker’s licensing and regulatory details are either missing or unclear, which raises suspicions that the platform may be unregulated or registered in a jurisdiction with little to no oversight.
For traders, dealing with an unregulated broker can be highly risky. In the event of disputes or fraud, there is often little legal recourse available, leaving clients vulnerable. The ambiguity surrounding 247SmartFx’s regulatory compliance has fueled speculation that the company may be deliberately avoiding accountability.
3. Complaints of Poor Customer Service and Support
Another common complaint from traders on 247SmartFx is the platform’s poor customer service. Many users have reported that when they encountered issues—such as problems with withdrawals or trading errors—the customer support team was unresponsive or provided insufficient assistance. Long wait times, generic responses, and a lack of solutions to critical issues have frustrated clients, leaving many feeling abandoned after experiencing significant financial losses.
This lack of effective customer support has added to the overall negative sentiment toward the platform, with traders feeling they have no way to resolve their issues or get answers to their questions.
4. Suspicion of Manipulative Trading Practices
Several traders have alleged that 247SmartFx may be engaging in manipulative trading practices. Some users have reported irregularities in trade execution, with claims that their orders were filled at unexpected prices, resulting in significant losses. Others have pointed to slippage and sudden, unexplained price changes that seemed designed to trigger stop-losses or margin calls. While slippage and price fluctuations can occur naturally in the forex market, the consistency of such reports has led to concerns that 247SmartFx might be deliberately manipulating trades to the detriment of its clients.
Market manipulation is a serious issue in the trading world, and platforms that engage in such practices are often flagged by regulatory bodies. However, due to the lack of oversight, it is difficult for affected traders to take action against the broker.
5. Efforts to Censor Negative Reviews and Feedback
In addition to the operational complaints, 247SmartFx has reportedly engaged in efforts to suppress negative reviews and feedback from users. Some traders claim that their negative reviews, detailing their bad experiences with the platform, have been removed or buried on certain review sites and forums. There are also reports of pressure being applied to individuals who attempt to speak out, with users alleging that they were threatened with account suspension or other penalties for sharing their complaints publicly.
This apparent attempt to control the narrative and hide damaging information suggests that 247SmartFx is actively working to maintain a positive public image while ignoring or covering up the real issues faced by its clients. The efforts to censor negative reviews have only heightened suspicions about the platform’s integrity.
6. Allegations of Operating a Scam
Given the growing number of complaints and the platform’s lack of transparency, some traders have gone as far as to label 247SmartFx as a scam. The combination of withdrawal issues, unclear regulatory standing, manipulative trading practices, and efforts to suppress negative feedback has led to significant skepticism about the broker’s legitimacy. While it’s difficult to definitively prove that the platform is operating a scam, the volume and consistency of these complaints strongly suggest that there are major issues at play.
For traders, the risk of losing money to a platform that may be operating fraudulently is a serious concern. This has led to widespread warnings within the trading community, urging caution for anyone considering opening an account with 247SmartFx.
247SmartFx’s attempts to hide bad reviews, complaints, and damaging news suggest that the platform may not be as legitimate or trustworthy as it claims. The serious issues surrounding withdrawal delays, a lack of regulatory oversight, poor customer service, and allegations of manipulative trading practices have all contributed to growing doubts about the broker’s operations.
For potential clients, these red flags raise important questions about the safety of trading with 247SmartFx. The platform’s efforts to censor negative feedback and control the narrative only add to suspicions that it is trying to cover up deeper, systemic problems. Before engaging with 247SmartFx, traders are strongly advised to conduct thorough research and consider the numerous warnings and complaints from other users.
Only 247SmartFx benefits from this crime.
Since the fake copyright takedown notices were designed to remove negative content for 247SmartFx from Google, we assume 247SmartFx or someone associated with 247SmartFx is behind this scam. It is often a fly-by-night Online Reputation agency working on behalf of 247SmartFx. In this case, 247SmartFx, at best, will be an “accomplice” or an “accessory” to the crime. The specific laws may vary depending on the jurisdiction. Still, the legal principle generally holds that if you actively participate in planning, encouraging, or facilitating a crime, you can be charged with it, even if you did not personally commit it.
How do we counteract this malpractice?
Once we ascertain the involvement of 247SmartFx (or actors working on behalf of 247SmartFx), we will inform 247SmartFx of our findings via Electronic Mail.
Our preliminary assessment suggests that 247SmartFx may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from 247SmartFx, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to 247SmartFx to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.
Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –
- Inform Google about the fraud committed against them.
- Inform the victims of the fake DMCA about their websites.
- Inform relevant law enforcement agencies
- File counter-notices on Google to reinstate the ‘removed’ content
- Publish copies of the ‘removed’ content on our network of 50+ websites
By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how 247SmartFx and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…
Since 247SmartFx made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and our original review of 247SmartFx, including but not limited to user contributions, remain a permanent record for anyone interested in 247SmartFx.
A case perfect for the Streisand effect…
Potential Consequences for 247SmartFx
Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.
Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.
Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.” Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).
Is 247SmartFx Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. 247SmartFx used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. 247SmartFx could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.
Faced with these limitations, some companies like 247SmartFx have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. 247SmartFx is certainly keeping interesting com
