The Funding Company Scam Watchlist: Avoid These!

While this industry of funding futures and forex traders has taken off, the number of options has increased quickly over the last few years. Unfortunately, some scam companies have also sprung up, posing as legitimate funding companies, designed to make a quick buck off of evaluation fees and disappear before traders start requesting large sums.

To protect yourself, double-check with this list and my full Funded Companies Guide posts, because I will not support any company that outright scams traders.

Each of these companies below is either on thin ice, or has been proven more than once to have scammed traders. The ones that are proven to be scams tend to disappear in a short period of time.

EarnMax

Rating: Scam

EarnMax was a Chinese company that popped up overnight with a seemingly standard website layout, advertising evaluation accounts and the typical funding process. They featured the cheapest $50k evaluation I had ever seen, at $50. I considered trying it myself, until I inspected the website further.

I noticed they had terrible English everywhere on the site and no active customer support. Within a few months, they were being bombarded with negative reviews on TrustPilot, and they are no longer in business.

FastTrackTrading

Rating: Scam

FastTrackTrading was a company offering only straight-to-funded accounts, at a steep markup from the traditional evaluations.

Traders who are disgruntled by the evaluation process opted for this kind of arrangement frequently, judging by the number of reviews on TrustPilot.

I had a bad feeling about FastTrackTrading when I asked them some basic questions about mistakes on their FAQ. I asked about two separate issues. The e-mail response I got ignored one issue and looked like this:

On November 7, 2024, the discord group was notified that the CEO has either been fired or is bailing on the company, leaving hundreds of traders still waiting for their payouts from the past few weeks.

As if trying to get arrested faster, the CEO allegedly spent traders’ money on luxurious cars and jewelry, as shown in this tweet.

While I hope traders can get some of their earned money, let this be a warning for those still considering things at a newer firm. It’s risky to skip the evaluation process at a popular funding company when the alternative is cutting corners at a company yet unproven.

If you can trade well, you should be able to pass the evaluation easily (and spend less money getting funded as a result). I think there’s a use for direct funded accounts, and new companies may seem more appetizing, but most traders should stick to the products that are well-tested.

FlexyTrade

Rating: Suspicious

FlexyTrade is a newer firm that has already had some issues that caught my attention. The support is lacking, the website is full of low-quality AI-generated art, and basic features seem to go down at random. I had issues accessing my account for some time because the login went down, and caching on the website prevented it from letting me request a password reset.

When you’re dealing with traders looking to make thousands of dollars partnering with you, your website can’t be this flimsy.

The TrustPilot reviews are not promising either.

While I have not personally tried their services, I am inclined to recommend avoiding them for now until they improve their business or address some of these issues.

Speedup Trader

Rating: Abandoned

Speedup Trader seems to be long gone, with their latest review from 2022. This company had a CEO that looked like he was selling the generic trader lifestyle directly to potential customers. He has a suspicious track record including various other trading-related business ventures to begin with, but that’s not all.

No benefit of the doubt can outwork these reviews on TrustPilot.

Trusted Companies

There are probably a few other scam companies out there, waiting to be exposed. If you happen to know of others, please do let me know so I can keep this list updated for you and others.

If you’re looking for a viable funding company that actually does what it advertises, I can recommend several. But the right choice will depend on your needs and your style as a trader. OneUpTrader, ApexTraderFunding, Bulenox, and several others have done right by their traders, as their reviews show.

I recommend any of these, as I am currently funded at all 3 and have had no issues with any of them. They’re not all easy, but they have delivered in my experience. You can see and compare the cost, rules, and payout systems of other firms here.