Benchmark – Can You Trust Them?

Website URL: https://benchmark.co.com

Founded: 2023

Regulations: No Regulations

Languages: English

Deposit Methods: Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Wire Transfers, Bitcoin

Minimum Deposit: $250

Free Demo Account: Nor Available

Number of Assets: Not Specified

Types of Assets: Digital Currencies, Fiat Currencies, Stocks, Commodities, Indices

Trading Accounts and Conditions

Benchmark offers their clients multiple types of trading accounts, ranging from the Standard Account, up to the VIP Account. The minimum deposit the broker asks for the basic or Standard account is $250.

The maximum leverage that this broker claims to offer is 1:500, and the spreads range from 1.5 pips for the Standard account up to 0.5 pips for the VIP account. Commissions are not mentioned, so we do not really know the actual cost of a trade. Other trading conditions are also not specified.

Benchmark – Advantages

There are no advantages to trading with Benchmark.

Benchmark – Disadvantages

Benchmark is a scammer and given below are all the reasons that prove this point:

• Lack of Regulation

The first checkpoint for a broker to be legitimate is that they must be appropriately regulated. When you check out a real broker’s website, all pertinent details about their legitimacy will be provided: we will know the name and the location of the company that owns and operates that website, we will have all possible contact information and we will be clearly told which authority or authorities have licensed/regulated them.

Scammers, on the other hand, do not give such detailed and clear information. And that is what gives Benchmark away.

This broker claims to be headquartered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The location of their headquarters itself is the first red flag. SVG (as the country is popularly known) is known to be a popular base for scam brokers. This is because the SVG’s regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is known to have very lax laws for forex brokers. In fact, the SVG FSA clearly states that they do not offer regulatory oversight for forex broker.

Since this country has become so popular with scammers, SVG’s financial authority has put in a new regulation in an attempt to stop such scammers from operating from their jurisdiction. The FSA now requires all brokers wanting to register in their country to be regulated by a financial authority from another country before their request for registration will be approved. While this is a step in the right direction, it is not enough. There are many countries with poor financial regulations that issue licenses, which means that scammers can still operate through SVG.

Since Benchmark does not mention being regulated from any other authority, we can safely say that this broker is not regulated and that means they are operating without a valid license and they are scammers.

Plus500

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• Warning Issued by FCA

One of the most respected financial regulators in the world, the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial authority, has also noticed that Benchmark is not operating legally in their jurisdiction. Because of this, the FCA has issued a warning to all traders operating in the UK that they must not do business with Benchmark. The regulator goes on to say in their warning that dealing with Benchmark would mean that a trader will lose all protection from the FCA in case they are defrauded by this broker.

Such a strong warning from a top-class regulator is just more proof that Benchmark is a scammer.

• Issues with Registration

Another red flag is the difficulty in registering for an account with this broker.

Regulated and legitimate brokers make it easy for prospective customers to open a trading account with them. When a broker makes it difficult for a customer to create an account with them by asking for promo codes or special information, then you know that things are not right with that broker.

With Benchmark, when we tried to register for a trading account, we were told we needed to have a promo code. Without that promo code, we could not complete the process.

This is typical tactic used by scammers. They target their victims through social media, email and cold calling. They specifically look for novice traders, people who don’t really know how the forex trading market works and get taken in by promises of making huge profits. These prospective clients are provided with promo codes and invited to create accounts with the scammer.

So, if the registration process is not easy, then it is a sign that that broker may not be legitimate.

• Issues with Trading Conditions

The trading conditions published by Benchmark also indicate that this broker cannot be trusted.

A broker’s trading conditions are their key service offering. If these are not advantageous to traders, they will not do business with that broker. Therefore, brokers ensure that they are competitive and attractive.

With Benchmark, they are unrealistic. A minimum deposit of $250 is on the higher side, especially when a large number of legitimate brokers allow for account openings for less than $50. Added to that, the spreads this broker mentions are too low. A minimum spread of 0.5 pips sounds really good, but then the broker does not tell us what commissions they charge. The leverage this broker offers is much too high. In fact, it is illegal to offer such high leverage ratios in the countries where this broker seems to operate – such as the UK. In the UK, the maximum allowed leverage is just 1:30, so the 1:500 leverage is illegal.

The skewed trading conditions tell us that we are dealing with a scammer here.

• Issues with Payments

In their Terms and Conditions section, this broker claims to offer multiple payment options – bank cards, bank wire and Bitcoin. However, we are not so sure if this is actually the truth since there was no way for us to verify this broker’s claims. 

Conclusion

Benchmark is not a broker that should be trusted – they are scammers.

Benchmark

2.5

User Experience

2.0/10

Payment Options

2.5/10

Security

3.3/10

Support

2.2/10

Reputation

2.6/10

Pros

• None

Cons

• Lack of Regulation
• Warning Issued by FCA
• Issues with Registration
• Issues with Trading Conditions
• Issues with Payments