What to do if a broker won't return your money

If a broker is refusing to return your money, the most important first move is to stop sending more. Scam operations often extract the largest sums after the victim is already worried, by promising that 'one more payment' — a tax, a fee, a top-up — will unlock everything. It never does.

Take a breath and shift into evidence mode. Your goal now is not to argue with the broker but to document everything and route your complaint to people who can actually act.

Gather, in one place: every deposit receipt and bank/card statement showing money sent; all emails, chat logs and messages; screenshots of your account balance and any withdrawal requests and rejections; the broker's name, website, company registration details and any regulator/licence number it claims; and the names or handles of anyone who contacted you.

Dates matter. A clear timeline — when you deposited, when you asked to withdraw, what you were told — makes your complaint far stronger and helps regulators and banks act quickly.

Look up the firm on the official public register of the regulator it claims to hold a licence from — for example the FCA in the UK, the AMF in France, CySEC in Cyprus, ASIC in Australia, or BaFin in Germany. Match the exact company name, licence number and website. Clone firms often copy a real firm's details, so verify the contact details on the register, not the ones the broker gave you.

If the firm is genuinely regulated, you have formal complaint routes. If it is not on any register — or is on a regulator's public warning list — treat it as a scam and prioritise reporting it to police/fraud lines and your bank.

1) File a formal written complaint with the broker and give it the deadline stated in its complaints policy. 2) If it is regulated, escalate to the regulator and to any applicable ombudsman or investor-compensation scheme (for example the Financial Ombudsman Service in the UK, or an investor compensation fund where one exists). 3) Contact your bank or card provider immediately about a chargeback or payment recall — there are time limits, so do this early. 4) Report the fraud to your national fraud/cybercrime service and, where relevant, to the regulator's scam-reporting line.

Be realistic and honest with yourself: recovery is possible but not guaranteed, especially with offshore or unregulated firms. The sooner you act and the better your records, the better your odds.

After a loss, you may be approached by someone promising to recover your money for an up-front fee. This is almost always a second scam that targets known victims — sometimes run by the same people. No legitimate recovery service asks for payment up front to 'unlock' funds.

Only trust official channels: your regulator, your bank, and law-enforcement fraud services. Anyone who contacts you out of the blue offering to get your money back should be treated as a fresh threat, not a solution.