Can a recovery company get my money back?

Be very careful. Firms that contact you after a loss and ask for an upfront fee are a common second scam. Start with your bank or payment provider and the police instead.

Are all signal groups scams?

Not all, but a seller who cannot show a complete, verifiable record of every signal, including losses, gives you no reason to trust the claims. Most profit screenshots are selected or edited.

What should I never share?

Your trading account password, one-time codes, card details beyond what a payment form needs, and remote-access to your phone or computer.

Binary options scams: 8 red flags and how to protect yourself

Why this product attracts scams

Binary options are simple to explain, can be traded from a phone with a few dollars, and produce fast results. Those same features make them easy to sell with promises. Because many brokers that accept clients from Asia, Africa and the Middle East are licensed offshore or not at all, victims often have little legal protection. Knowing the common patterns is the most effective defence.

The 8 red flags

Red flag	What it usually means
Someone contacts you first	You were found through a lead list, ad or social media group
“Guaranteed” or fixed daily profit	The maths of binary options does not allow it
A personal “account manager” pushes deposits	Their pay is often linked to your deposits, not your results
Request for your login or remote access	They want to trade, or withdraw, without you
A fee or “tax” before withdrawal	The money will not be released; the fee is the scam
Pressure to act today	Time pressure stops you checking
A licence you cannot confirm yourself	The regulator may be fake or the number belongs to someone else
An offer to recover lost money	A second scam aimed at people who already lost

Signal sellers

A signal seller offers trade calls through a messaging channel, often for a monthly fee or in exchange for registering with a particular broker through their link. The marketing usually shows screenshots of winning trades and balance growth.

Questions worth asking:

Is every signal recorded, with time stamps, including losses? A screenshot of a winning day shows nothing about the losing days.
What is the win rate against the break-even rate? At an 85% payout you need 54.05% just to break even (1 ÷ 1.85). Even an honest record needs many trades: with 100 trades and a true 55% win rate, the measured rate could land anywhere from roughly 45% to 65% by chance alone.
How does the seller earn? If they earn from your deposits or losses through an affiliate link, their incentive is not your profit.

“Account managers” and managed accounts

A common pattern: you register, deposit a small amount and soon a friendly “manager” or “analyst” calls. They help you place a few winning trades, then suggest a bigger deposit to “unlock” better signals or a higher account tier. Later come larger trades, often losses, and further requests to deposit to “recover”.

A genuine platform does not need to phone you to sell deposits. Never give anyone your password or let them trade for you, and never install remote-access apps at someone’s request.

Withdrawal fees and “taxes”

If you are told you must pay a fee, tax, insurance or “anti-money-laundering deposit” before your balance can be released, treat it as a scam. Legitimate fees are deducted from the withdrawal amount, not paid separately in advance. People who pay usually receive another request, then another.

Fake regulators and fake licences

Some websites display the name and logo of a regulator that does not exist, or of a private “commission” or membership body that has no legal power. Others quote a real licence number that belongs to a different company.

To check:

Find the regulator’s official website yourself through a search engine, not through the broker’s link.
Search its public register for the company name and licence number.
Confirm the website domain listed on the register matches the one you are using.
Check whether the regulator publishes a warning list of unauthorised firms.

Our broker checklist goes through this in more detail.

Recovery scams

After a loss, you may be contacted by a “recovery service”, “lawyer” or even someone posing as a government official who says they can get your money back for an upfront fee. They may already know details of your case, because victim lists are shared and sold. This is one of the most damaging patterns because it targets people who have already lost money.

Real recovery routes usually start with your own bank or payment provider (a chargeback or dispute, where available), a police report, and the financial regulator in your country.

If you think you have been scammed

Stop sending money, including any “final” fee.
Change passwords and remove any remote-access software.
Save everything: chat logs, emails, transaction IDs, website addresses, phone numbers.
Contact your bank or payment provider quickly; dispute windows can be short.
Report it to the police and the financial regulator where you live. Your country page lists the general situation.
Ignore follow-up offers to recover the money for a fee.

The honest baseline

Binary options carry a built-in cost: wins pay less than losses cost. Anyone who promises steady returns is either mistaken or selling something. If you want to learn, use a free demo account, keep your own records and read our risk warning.