Chain Links – The online platform http://chain-links.net/ advertised itself as a broker. The website can no longer be accessed at the moment. Profitable investments were possible here.
Are you encountering difficulties with the distribution of your investment? Our lawyers can help you with claims against Chain Links.
Chain Links – online brokers with serious intentions?
Currently there is a very high number of investment service providers such as Chain Links. This means that investing in the volatile financial markets has never been as easy as it is now, but also as risky.
Especially because there are many options, choosing an online broker can be time-consuming and challenging. This is especially true if you want to match your investment plans.
Are you considering investing with Chain Links? In this case, the following aspects are important for you as an investor.
- Access to the global financial markets is made easier and more interesting for investors through online investments.
- A good place to start for investors who want to find out about shares, futures, options and cryptocurrencies is a website like this one.
- Officially licensed online brokers, reputable portals, costs and brokerage commissions, product options and customer feedback are just some of the features you should factor into your final decision.
The following information is general advice for investors – regardless of the platform you invest in.
Is the financial services provider Chain Links licensed?
Both financial markets and investor protection benefit from codes of conduct and organisational responsibilities. Equity service providers and companies like Chain Links must comply with a set of standards of conduct. The same applies to their employees. This is to prevent conflicts and associated disadvantages for investors.
This includes the obligation of the company to inform its own customers about the most important characteristics of the transaction before concluding a securities transaction. This applies both to the individual investor and to the investment itself. In line with this idea, further disclosures are mandatory for customers who wish to engage in highly speculative or risky transactions.
Providers, like Chain Links, have a responsibility towards their corporate clients. This goes well beyond the provision of an offer or service.
Is the provider licensed to distribute financial products? You should definitely determine this. For this purpose, you can use the broker check directory of a financial regulator and type the brand name of the service provider into the search box.
Chain Links: What does the financial service provider guarantee and does it explain general risks?
Assess how serious the Chain Links offer is. Is the interest rate you were offered exceptionally high? Can you make a lot of money with just a fewEUR?
Most of these offers are nothing more than misleading. Be aware that there are always con artists behind these tempting options. As a rule, not the least is invested in these investment offers. Consequently, investigate how confidence-inspiring the offer from Chain Links is.
Scams are often carried out by con artists in a similar way. Investment products that are supposed to be lucrative are announced in prominent positions on the Internet. The criminals claim that they will receive a lot of wealth. At the beginning, the investment amounts tend to be small.
Those who register are contacted by a fictitious broker or trader. The scam victims then get access to an alleged investment software after paying the money.
Dubious special offers can also be identified by promises of returns that are obviously above the market average.
An investor’s risk of losing assets increases in direct proportion to the expected return, even with chain links. One opportunity to find out about the usual market return is the business sections of newspapers or the website of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
Likewise, you should treat recommendations for companies with exceptional growth potential with caution. Low prices and very low trading volumes make penny stocks, for example, extremely vulnerable to speculation and manipulation.
What are the dangers of the grey capital market?
Only a small part of the financial market participants, such as Chain Links, are subject to official regulation and supervision. In the grey capital market, there are providers who do not even need approval from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and only have to follow a few regulatory rules.
Only invest in the grey capital market if you are convinced of the provider’s liquidity and know it as a company. As said, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority has no control over these providers.
The grey capital market holds a variety of possibilities. There are:
- Profit participation rights and other hybrid forms of bonds
- Crowdfunding offers
- Loans with subordination clauses
- Ordinary bonds
- Direct investments such as in timber, precious metals or other commodities
One thing is certain: it is unclear what the final outcome will be for the investor.
Do you find it difficult to understand the financial product on offer? Then you should gather as much information as possible before making a decision.
Don’t buy anything you don’t fully understand! When it comes to financial investments, the more experience you need, the more sophisticated the product.
It also doesn’t make sense to concentrate all your assets on one product. Spread your risk across chain links.
To avoid being influenced inappropriately, it is advisable to always focus on the product itself rather than the name or presentation of the financial service.
Complications with the distribution – seek legal assistance
Investors are repeatedly wooed by an “online broker” or a call centre employee after they have set up an account on the supposed online trading platform. The aim is to persuade the investor to increase his long-term investments in order to maximise profits. This is also a legitimate goal of the online broker Chain Links.
Shortly after the customer has deposited his money, preliminary profit developments are displayed on his account, if applicable. This should encourage the investor to invest in the financial instrument on an ongoing basis.
The operators of the trading platform, on the other hand, can use fraud software to fake account changes and profits without the consumer noticing.
Make sure that the accounts can be authorised equally at Chain Links.
In reality, no trading takes place at all on quite a few online trading platforms. Rather, the money deposited is transferred by the fraudsters to bank accounts outside Germany. This is not initially registered by the buyers.
The “brokers” delay the payout beyond the stated profits by demanding payment of apparently due taxes and commission costs from the investors. The deceptive manoeuvres only benefit the intention to increase profits.
Sooner or later, the contact breaks off completely. The capital paid in is no longer there. From this point on, the only thing left to do is to go to a lawyer to take further action.
Duty to inform about costs and commissions
Before investing, find out from Chain Links how much of your investment sum will be used to cover costs, fees and commissions. This is a good time to fully check the information provided by the service providers!
Investors must be made aware of all fees assessed and their effect on the margin of investment service providers. In addition, the costs must be presented separately.
If you request a breakdown of all costs, the financial service providers are under an obligation to provide you with this information.
For obvious reasons, a service provider like Chain Links is usually interested in as many transactions as possible. In quite a few cases, the costs are so exorbitant that it is difficult to make a profit. The costs can even eat up the money invested in a very short time.
Therefore, be sure to pay attention to the costs! The broker’s trading fees must be publicly visible. The clarity of the structure of the costs is also set out in the legal regulations and licensing.
In the context of a violation, the provider can be deprived of its regulatory licence.
Payment of Chain Links Denied? Hire a lawyer immediately
Investors who are affected by losses at a company like Chain Links, or who have difficulties having their winnings paid out, should first of all stop further deposits. It is then advisable in any case to find a lawyer and have him clarify all the options for getting your money back.
It is important:
do not lose hope under any circumstances, seek legal help, act quickly
Do you have questions about the service provider Chain Links? In this case, our lawyers are at your disposal.
Feel free to contact us to discuss Chain Links.