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No — TradeATF is a real business. But the scam reports around it are under active investigation, and if you lost money to someone using its name, that is exactly what we investigate.
Send this to Forensics Source GroupTradeATF is a forex/CFD brand with one of the heaviest regulatory histories in this directory — the FCA's first-ever passporting ban in 2020 — now operating through an offshore Belize entity These are the facts that check out on public registers — the complaint record is what our review is still working through:
Checking out is not the same as closed: the complaints against TradeATF are under active investigation, and none of the facts above protects you from a fake. Most 'tradeatf scam' searches trace to impersonators, not the platform itself — the ones that don't are the reason we investigate.
One more thing before you deposit: the complaints around TradeATF are under investigation — by us, not by a regulator. The history is the story. In June 2020 the FCA banned Hoch Capital — the TradeATF/iTrader operator — from the UK, in the first-ever removal of passporting rights: unauthorised celebrity endorsements, CFD “scam” promotions, undisclosed fees and investors pressured into credit-funded deposits, some losing more than £100,000 (FCA via ii.co.uk, 2 Jun 2020; Finance Magnates, 1 Jun 2020). The firm then gave up its CySEC licence and re-emerged offshore. Current-offshore plus that record means the entity is verifiable but the protection is minimal; 55brokers (8 Jun 2026) flatly calls TradeATF “not safe”. Under investigation reflects the unresolved tension between a checkable current licence and a documented conduct past.
Both feel identical from the inside. They are fixed by completely different routes — and the fastest way to tell them apart is to ask three questions.
If it is the real platform: your dispute runs through its formal complaints process, then the regulator or ombudsman. Slow, but it usually works. If you trade with it at all, size the account as unprotected: no EU compensation scheme covers the Belize entity, and the 2020 conduct record is a factual matter of FCA and CySEC public record. Disambiguation: the old CySEC-licensed Hoch Capital entity is dead; anything trading today is the offshore successor.
If it was an impersonator: you were never a customer of TradeATF at all. A clone site, a fake “account manager”, a lookalike domain — the money went to criminals, not to the platform. That is fraud, and speed decides what can be recovered.
The three questions: did you type the official domain yourself, or follow a link, advert or message? Did anyone contact you first? Were you asked to pay a personal account or a different domain? If any answer is wrong, treat it as impersonation — and start here.
No — TradeATF is a real business: A real, traceable corporate history: originally Hoch Capital Ltd, CySEC licence 198/13 — the licence was suspended by CySEC and then voluntarily renounced (decision 6 Jul 2020, announced 22 Jul 2020). The scam stories you see online usually trace to fakes borrowing its name — and the ones that don't are part of our active investigation. But read the note above first — the business is real, and so are the caveats.
Today: Bayline Trading Ltd holds a Belize FSC licence (#0001881/91) — real but offshore-tier, with no compensation scheme and light conduct oversight. The former CySEC 198/13 licence is suspended and renounced; it protects no one now.
Almost certainly not. Impersonators borrow the name, the logo, even the licence number. The real company knows nothing about it. Keep every message, receipt, URL and wallet address — that evidence is what an investigation builds on.
The domain you actually used, the date, and whether it was a card, a bank transfer, or crypto. Or the name of the person who told you to pay. Or one screenshot. Where the same payment shows up from other people, those files can sit together as a class action. The first look is free.
Type the official domain yourself — tradeatf.com — never follow a link from an advert, email or message. Then check the regulator's public register, which lists the firm's genuine website. If your domain differs by even one character, it was a fake.
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