Is Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd a Scam?

At FXCanary, our safety assessments go far beyond what a broker claims about itself on its website. We cross-check licences against official public registers, search global regulatory databases for warnings, and analyse real trader reviews from multiple platforms to build a full picture of a firm’s operating history. A broker that cannot produce a verifiable regulatory licence—or that hides behind an offshore shell while offering high-risk products—immediately raises alarms.

Our proprietary Scam Risk Score distils these findings into a single figure from 0 to 100, where higher values indicate greater danger. The score is built from weighted factors including regulatory oversight, client-fund protection mechanisms, transparency of ownership, the volume and severity of withdrawal complaints, and any history of clone or impersonator activity. For Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd, this process yielded a score of 75 out of 100—placing it firmly in the ‘Severe’ risk category. In this article we walk you through exactly what that number means and why, in our assessment, this broker presents a high probability of significant financial loss for retail traders.

Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd is registered at 2-6 Boundary Row, South Bank, London SE1 8HP and was incorporated in June 2022 as a private limited company. A UK Companies House registration, however, is not a financial services licence. We searched the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) database, and multiple offshore regulators, and found no active licence for this entity in any jurisdiction.

This is a critical distinction. A UK company can be set up for a nominal fee and does not need to demonstrate any competence, capital adequacy, or compliance procedures. Without FCA authorisation, Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd has no legal right to offer investment services or hold client money in the UK. Trading with an unlicensed firm means you are stepping outside the protections afforded by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and the Financial Ombudsman Service. In our view, any broker that solicits retail clients without suitable regulation is flouting the law, and the absence of a licence is the single biggest red flag a broker can display.

Regulated brokers in the UK are required to segregate client funds from their own operational capital and to keep detailed records so that your money is protected if the firm fails. The FCA also mandates negative-balance protection, meaning you cannot lose more than you deposit, and gives you access to the FSCS, which covers up to £85,000 per person if the broker becomes insolvent.

Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd offers none of these safeguards. With no regulation, there is no legal obligation to segregate client money, no compensation scheme, and no independent dispute-resolution service. In practice, this means your deposits could be used for the company’s own expenses, and if the firm disappears—as many unlicensed brokers do—you have no realistic route to recover your funds. Given that the broker’s own filings show zero employees, the picture is of a shell company with no operational substance, making fund recovery even more unlikely if things go wrong.

User reviews paint a deeply worrying picture of withdrawal delays, broken promises, and outright non-payment. Across multiple platforms we counted nine distinct complaints specifically about withdrawals, with frustrated traders stating they had waited months without receiving their money. One reviewer wrote, “No payout and account manipulation … They have suspended me from the company without paying my eligible trades.” Another claimed, “I’ve been trying to get a payout for over 3 months and they will say they are sending it over but still have not received it.”

These are not isolated incidents. Negative reviews repeatedly describe a pattern of initial success followed by stonewalling once a significant payout is due. A trader who had generated $12,000 in profits said, “I passed the evaluation back in June … they create excuse after excuse on why you can’t get paid out.” While a minority of users report receiving payouts, the sheer volume and consistency of withdrawal complaints suggest that non-payment is a systemic risk, not an occasional glitch. In our experience, when a broker routinely fails to pay its winning clients, it is often operating a scam model where only a few early users are paid to maintain a veneer of legitimacy while the majority are denied.

Beyond the licensing void and withdrawal horror stories, our investigation uncovered several other danger signals. Eight separate reviews explicitly label the broker a “scam,” with traders describing phantom trades appearing on their accounts, rules being manipulated, and support going silent when problems arise. One user reported, “A trade that I did not place showed up on my account … They were supposed to reset my account but never did.” Another stated they were blocked from the firm’s Discord channel after requesting a payout.

We also note that many positive reviews, while enthusiastic, focus heavily on ‘zero lag’ execution and the firm’s educational content rather than on reliable withdrawals. This is a common tactic in prop-firm scams: create a slick trading environment with good demo features to attract users, collect sign-up fees, and then make excuses when traders become profitable. The fact that customer support responsiveness collapses exactly when a payout is requested—as numerous reviews allege—is a tell‑tale sign of a company that has no intention of honouring its obligations.

To be balanced, we must acknowledge that not every review is negative. Several traders praise the trade execution with comments like “zero lag” and “slippage is very small,” and some report receiving payouts, including one trader who claimed a second payout of $4,500. The firm’s platform, described as MetaTrader-based, is well known and generally reliable, and a handful of users appreciated the educational materials and community.

However, these positive signals must be weighed against the overwhelming evidence of a deeply unsafe operation. Even the best trading technology is worthless if you cannot withdraw your profits. In the absence of any regulatory oversight, the few positive withdrawal reports could easily be manufactured or relate to early-stage accounts before the firm began to default. A few green flags do not offset the fundamental risk that your capital is simply being pocketed.

We found no evidence that Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd is itself a clone or impersonator of a legitimate regulated firm. This is a small point in its favour, as clone scams often steal the identity of a famous brand to deceive victims. However, the absence of a clone warning does not make the broker any safer; it merely means it has not yet been formally flagged by regulators for impersonation.

That said, unregulated firms frequently rebrand and appear under multiple trading names. The entity trades as ‘Upswing’ according to the reviews we analysed, and it is common for such operations to spawn new websites and brands once complaints mount. We would not be surprised to see a new identity emerge if Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd becomes too notorious to attract fresh deposits.

Our Scam Risk Score is built on a model that combines weighted risk indicators. For Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd, the zero regulation automatically pushed the baseline score above 50. The high volume of withdrawal complaints—nine separate reports with vivid details of non-payment—added another heavy weighting, as did the eight ‘scam’ accusations and the complete lack of client-fund protection.

Additional deductions came from the zero-employee filing, the short time in business (since mid-2022), and the negative sentiment across Trustpilot and other review aggregators. While a few positive reviews on execution speed and educational content exist, they did not materially offset the severe structural risks. The final score of 75 reflects a situation where, in our professional assessment, a trader is more likely to lose their entire deposit than to have a safe, long-term trading relationship.

If you are considering trading with Kraemfx Trading Co Ltd—or any prop firm that lacks a valid regulatory licence—we urge you to take concrete steps to protect yourself. First, never deposit more than you can afford to lose entirely. Second, demand verifiable proof of a regulated entity’s licence, and cross-check it yourself on the regulator’s official website; do not rely on a screenshot or a license number printed on a homepage.

Third, start with the smallest possible challenge fee and attempt an early withdrawal to test the firm’s sincerity before committing larger sums. If you experience any delay or excuse when requesting a payout, cease all activity and report the firm to consumer protection bodies and online forums. Finally, keep meticulous records of all communications, screenshots of your trades, and bank statements, as these can be vital in any recovery attempt or legal action. Trust your gut: if a withdrawal process feels like a battle rather than a routine transaction, you are almost certainly dealing with a scam.