A broker is regulated by the FCA, ASIC or CySEC and shows its license number on its site.

Trading attracts more predators than most industries, and the good ones do not look like scams. They look generous. The offer that promises a 200% deposit bonus, the account manager who calls to help you place trades, the platform whose returns only go up — these are designed to feel like opportunity rather than risk. Regulators publish the resulting complaint patterns, and they repeat with remarkable consistency.

This quiz shows you realistic broker scenarios and asks you to spot the trap. The reliable defences are unglamorous: verify the licence number on the regulator's own website rather than trusting a badge on the broker's homepage, be suspicious of any urgency around depositing, and treat a demand for a fee before you can withdraw as proof that the money was never there. Withdrawals, not deposits, are where a broker's honesty actually shows.