Hankotrade

Our investigation into Hankotrade found an operation with the classic markings of an investment scam. If you are weighing a deposit — or trying to get one back — read this first.

Who is Hankotrade?

Hankotrade markets itself as an online trading and investment service. Its public site is presented at https://hankotrade.com. It claims to be based in Seychelles. As with most operations of this kind, the polished front end conceals a lack of the basic protections a real, regulated broker is required to provide.

Is Hankotrade regulated?

Hankotrade provides no verifiable regulatory licence. An unregulated broker answers to no one: it can freeze withdrawals, invent fees, and disappear with deposits, all without consequence. This alone is reason enough to stay away.

Red flags we identified

• No credible physical address or verifiable corporate record
• Offshore or shell-company registration used to avoid oversight
• Aggressive “account managers” coaching clients to deposit
• Unrealistic profit claims and pressure to deposit more
• Account dashboards that show “gains” with no real market exposure

Our analysis

Hankotrade was previously verified as being registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. However, upon re-checking, we found that the FSA had cancelled the registration. Furthermore, the SVG FSA has publicly stated that it neither regulates nor licences forex trading activities. Additionally, Hankotrade does not claim to be supervised or authorised by any other major regulator, which poses a potential risk to its investors. All of the above indicates that Hankotrade may be illegitimate.

Can you recover money lost to Hankotrade?

If you have deposited with Hankotrade, do not pay any further “fees” to withdraw — that is part of the trap. Funds sent to operations like this can sometimes be traced on-chain and pursued through the exchanges and processors that received them. Whether recovery is realistic depends on how you paid and how quickly you act.