Is Pocket Option safe?

General Information

Pocket Option, a trading name of Gembell Limited, is allegedly an online Forex and CFD broker founded in 2017 and registered in the Marshall Islands that claims to provide its clients with various tradable financial instruments on the web-based trading platform via 7 user levels.

Here is the home page of this broker's official site:

Is Pocket Option Regulated?

Pocket Option has no regulatory approval, a significant red flag.

Reputable financial authorities such as the SEC or FCA do not regulate the platform.

The company behind Pocket Option, Infinite Trade LLC, is registered in Costa Rica.

Previously, it was named “Gembell Limited,” registered in the Marshall Islands, an offshore tax haven. These jurisdictions lack robust financial oversight, and investor protection is minimal.

The FCA has issued a warning against Pocket Option, stating it is not authorized to provide financial services in the UK. The company claims to be regulated by the Mwali International Services Authority, which is not a recognized regulatory body.

As for regulation, it has been verified that Pocket Option currently has no valid regulation. The fact that the Pocket Option is not regulated means that the safety of investors' funds and trading activities cannot be effectively protected. Investors should be careful to get away from the Pocket Option broker.

Note: The screenshot date is March 14, 2025. WikiFX gives dynamic scores, which will update in real time based on the broker's dynamics. So the scores taken at the current time do not represent past and future scores.

Lack of Transparency

There is scant information about the company.

Pocket Option lacks a LinkedIn company page, employee details, or any other verifiable corporate information, adding to the opacity and distrust.

The first rule of keeping your investments safe is to avoid brokers that are not regulated at all.

Having said that, the fact that a broker is regulated is not sufficient to guarantee the safety of your money. The entity that regulates the broker makes a crucial difference. Our brokerage experts put regulators into three categories:

• Top-tier
• Mid-tier
• Low-tier

Top-tier regulators are like the toughest referees in sports. They enforce the strictest rules to make sure brokers play fair and don‘t engage in any shady activities. If a broker is overseen by one of these top-tier regulators, it’s a strong sign theyre following the highest standards. This means you can expect fair pricing, transparent trade execution, and a well-regulated trading environment.

A list of some of the most reputable top-tier financial regulators in the following table.

By contrast, mid-tier regulators are like the security guards at a county fair. They do their best to keep things in order, but they don't have the same resources or strict rules as the top security at a massive festival. This means they might not catch every problem, offering less protection for investors.

Finally, low-tier regulators are like the neighborhood watch compared to professional security. They offer the least comprehensive oversight of brokerage firms, meaning brokers under their watch face fewer requirements and less strict compliance enforcement. These regulators often provide little to no investor protection mechanisms or compensation funds, leaving clients with minimal safeguards.

There is a high probability that brokers regulated by low-tier authorities might apply unfair pricing practices, opaque trade execution methods and schemes that may lead to conflict of interest with their clients.

If you sign up with a broker regulated by low-tier authorities - typically operating in tax havens such as the Seychelles and Bermuda - you run a high risk of encountering unscrupulous practices, or even scams or fraud.

Market Instruments

Pocket Option offers investors access to 100+ global trading assets in the Forex market, including currency, commodities, stocks, cryptocurrencies, and indices.

Account Types

Apart from demo accounts with $10,000 virtual capital, Pocket Option gives 7 user levels: Stranger (without deposit), Newbie (deposit less than $100), Beginner (minimum account balance of $100), Experienced (minimum account balance of $1,000), Master (minimum account balance of $5,000), Pro (minimum account balance of $15,000), and Guru (minimum account balance of $50,000).

Trading Platform

Instead of the world's most advanced and popularly-used MT4 and MT5 platforms, Pocket Option gives traders a web-based trading platform. Anyway, you had better choose brokers who offer the leading MT4 and MT5, which are highly praised by traders and brokers alike due to their ease of use and great functionality, offering top-notch charting and flexible customization options. They are especially popular for their automated trading bots, a.k.a. Expert Advisors.

Deposit & Withdrawal

Pocket Option supports a variety of convenient deposit and withdrawal methods, consisting of cards (Visa, MasterCard), e-payments (Perfect Money, Advcash, WebMoney, Jeton, and PayRedeem), and various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Tether and more.

The minimum deposit requirement is only $5 and the minimum withdrawal amount is $10. It does not charge commissions for deposits and withdrawals.

Customer Support

Pocket Options customer support can be reached by Hotline: +44 20 8123 4499 or send messages online to get in touch. You can also follow this broker on social networks such as Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Pros & Cons

Trustpilot Reviews: Are They Fake?

Pocket Option has a 3.6-star rating on Trustpilot with over 3,000 reviews.

However, many positive reviews appear to be fake.

They often lack detail, use generic language, and come from users with no other reviews.

Conversely, negative reviews consistently mention issues with withdrawing money, price discrepancies, and chart manipulations.

Got scammed? Here's how to recover your funds

The sad truth is, most money lost to scams is gone for good. But there are a few steps you can take to try and get it back.

One thing you should definitely do is save all your documents and correspondence. Keep everything—screenshots, emails, and chats. The more proof you have, the better your chances if you need to go to the authorities.

If you get scammed by a broker, you have a few options you can try to get your money back:

• You can initiate a chargeback, a feature offered by banks and payment systems to protect clients. This process involves your bank or provider reversing the funds from the broker's account if the service wasn't delivered.
• You can take legal action and get a Mareva (or freezing) injunction issued against the company. This injunction is useful to prevent the company from transferring its assets out of the jurisdiction of the court.
• If the broker has a financial regulatory body, you can also report the scam to them.

Be super vigilant of recovery scams to avoid falling prey twice in a row. These are fraudulent schemes where scammers pose as individuals or companies claiming to help scam victims recover their money they lost in a previous scam.

They typically promise to assist in recovering lost funds for a fee or request personal and financial information from the victim. The promise is, of course, false and the victim is essentially re-victimized a second time when they pay the recovery scam artist.

Check out this expert guide on how you can spot and avoid a scam.

Conclusion

Pocket Option is not a trustworthy broker as it is not regulated by financial institutions with strict standards. We do not open accounts for ourselves there. If you want to stay safe, sign up only with brokers that are regulated by top-tier and strict regulatory bodies.