Alpho is an offshore forex broker under the ownership of Gulf Brokers Ltd. Their office is located at Suite C2, 2nd Floor, Orion Mall, Palm Street, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles. Being an offshore broker makes it a suspicious forex broker already. But that’s not all. Alpho has a ton of issues which we have highlighted in the following review in detail.
About Alpho: Contact Details, Registration and Interface
The broker’s contact number is +44 2080 897 805 and their customer support email is [email protected]. Their website is quite mediocre and it appears as if Alpho is deliberately avoiding to stand out.
The broker is mediocre at best and there is nothing special about it. From the interface to the trading conditions, everything is below average and you can get a much better experience elsewhere.
While the registration process is quite simple, we only opened a demo account because a live account required several identification documents. We succeeded in finding a trading terminal even though the leading user dashboard didn’t have a dedicated client area.
The EUR/USD spread available at Alpho is 3,4 pips. This is excessively high and certainly not worthy of your consideration. However, that wasn’t the only red flag here. The maximum leverage they offer here is 1:500, which is the most common leverage amount you will see among offshore brokers.
This amount can be both dangerous and useful at the same time. Such a high leverage puts you at the risk of losing your entire deposit within a small period. That’s why most reputed regulatory authorities put a limit on how much leverage a broker can offer.
You can trade forex pairs, ETFs, futures, stocks, commodities and equities here. Alpho’s website is available in English, Tamil, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Arabic.
At Alpho, you get to use the renowned trading platform MT5. It is reputed as the best trading terminal in the forex industry as it offers over 80 indicators, chart management features, and more.
However, Alpho can close down your positions when your margin levels drop below 50%.
Alpho Regulation: Can You Trust Them?
Before you consider working with any forex broker, it’s vital to check their regulatory status. If a broker is licensed with a regulatory authority, you can be certain of its credibility. On the other hand, if a broker is unregulated, there is no assurance of its reliability.
Most unregulated forex brokers are scams. Hence, you should be extremely wary of unregulated brokers.
Alpho doesn’t have a license on its own. However, its parent company, Gulf Brokers Ltd. is licensed with the Seychelles Financial Services Authority. When we checked the official directory, we found the name of the parent company there.
While the Seychelles Financial Services Authority requires its brokers to follow a few rules and regulations, it is not one of the most stringent or reliable regulators out there. For example, it requires potential brokers to incorporate a domestic company with a minimum capital of $50,000 with 2 directors and 2 shareholders.
But, it doesn’t require brokers to keep the users’ funds separate from their own. This is a huge red flag. Because it means that the broker can use your funds as it deems fit. In many cases, forex scams have utilized this tactic to steal their clients’ funds and vanish.
For example, if Alpho files for bankruptcy suddenly, you wouldn’t be able to get a penny back. All the money you deposit in your Alpho account will go away.
Also, there is a clause in the broker’s terms and conditions which suggests that the company has no regard for its users’ funds. It says that Alpho can transfer your money to buyers, which is an undisclosed party.
Alpho Fees and Trading Conditions
Surprisingly, Alpho doesn’t specify any minimum deposit requirement on its website. This is quite suspicious as well because this isn’t only technical information they have refrained from sharing with users.
The broker also fails to mention any payment methods, processing times for withdrawals and additional withdrawal information.
Like most other shady forex brokers, Alpho relies on charging various hidden fees to get its revenue. It charges fees for various ‘services’ which it hasn’t specified on its website. The terms and conditions of the broker only specify that Alpho can charge fees for the execution of some services but doesn’t highlight which services they are.
This is a sleazy tactic to charge hidden fees and scam users.
Also, the company can charge commissions for the enforcement of legal documents. Furthermore, they can charge you interest on all due amounts and it increases on a daily basis.
Conclusion
Initially, Alpho seemed like any other ordinary forex broker. However, even though it has a license, the clauses present in its terms and conditions suggest that it’s nothing more than a scam.
The forex broker has many predatory provisions in its T&Cs, which allow it to steal your funds easily without facing any serious consequences. Furthermore, the license of the broker isn’t very reliable as well because its regulatory authority doesn’t have any strict rules.
All of this suggests that it would be best for you to avoid Alpho and find a different forex broker.
