Last updated · first published · reviewed by the Smart Money Verified Team
Is This Trading Platform Licensed?
Fake trading apps and websites are now the most common way people lose large sums online. Here is how to check a platform against free public registers in a few minutes — before any money moves.
The short answer
Search the platform's exact legal name on FINRA BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org) for stocks and options, on NFA BASIC (nfa.futures.org/basicnet) for futures and forex, and on cftc.gov/check for derivatives registration and the RED List of unregistered foreign firms. Crypto-only platforms usually sit outside securities registration, so check the FinCEN money services list and your state regulator instead.
If nothing comes back under the exact legal name, the platform is not licensed to serve you — regardless of what its website, app store listing, or support agent says.
Which register applies to which platform?
Covers: Stocks, options, mutual funds, ETFs — anything run by a broker-dealer
Shows: Registration status, states, regulatory actions, customer complaints
Covers: Futures, commodities, retail forex, commodity pools
Shows: NFA membership, CFTC registration, disciplinary and arbitration history
Covers: Derivatives and commodity platforms, plus foreign solicitors
Shows: Registration status and the RED List of unregistered entities targeting Americans
Covers: Money services businesses, including many crypto platforms
Shows: Federal money services registration and the states claimed
How do you check a platform, step by step?
1Find the legal entity behind the brand
Scroll to the website footer or open the terms of service and app store listing. You are looking for a company name, a registration number, and a country. If none of that exists anywhere, that alone is your answer.
2Search the register that matches what it trades
A platform offering stocks is a different animal from one offering futures or crypto. Searching the wrong register produces a false "not found" — and a false sense of danger or safety.
3Treat crypto-only platforms differently
Most crypto spot platforms are not registered as broker-dealers, and that is not automatically a red flag — but it does mean the securities protections you might assume are simply not there.
4Check whether the platform has already been flagged
Regulators publish alert lists of firms impersonating registered businesses or soliciting without registration. A single search here catches many fakes instantly.
5Read the withdrawal terms before you deposit anything
On a real platform, getting money out is ordinary and the fees are disclosed up front. On a fake one, the withdrawal step is where the demands begin.
Why is the withdrawal step where fakes reveal themselves?
Growing balance, blocked withdrawal
A fraudulent platform can show any number it likes on your screen. The deposits are real; the balance is not. The scheme only pays off for the operator at the moment you try to take money out, so that is when the fees appear — a tax, a compliance charge, an account upgrade, a liquidity deposit.
Every payment you make at that stage is an additional loss. If this is happening now, stop paying, screenshot everything, and report it. And treat anyone who contacts you afterwards offering to recover the money for an upfront fee as a second scam — that follow-up is a standard part of the pattern.
What are the warning signs and reassuring signs?
Warning signs
- The legal entity name appears in no register you can search yourself
- Deposits go to a crypto wallet address, a personal bank account, or a name different from the platform
- You were introduced through social media, a dating app, or a group chat
- The balance on screen grows steadily and never dips the way a real market does
- A fee, tax, or "unlock" payment is demanded before you can withdraw
- Support exists only on WhatsApp or Telegram, with no verifiable office or phone number
- They cite an offshore licence number as the reason United States registration is not needed
Reassuring signs
- The operating company is named plainly and matches a live registration record
- The website domain and address match what the regulator lists
- Withdrawal rules, timelines, and fees are published before you open an account
- Customer funds are described as held at a named bank or clearing firm
- For brokerage platforms, SIPC membership is stated and confirmable on sipc.org
- The platform never pressures you to deposit quickly or to add "just a little more"
Where do you report an unlicensed platform?
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov — the main federal channel for online investment fraud.
- CFTC at cftc.gov/complaint for futures, forex, and commodity platforms.
- SEC at sec.gov/tcr for anything involving securities.
- FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, which shares reports with law enforcement nationwide.
- Your state securities regulator, found through nasaa.org.
- Your bank, card issuer, or crypto exchange — immediately, since some transfers can still be flagged or frozen.
What to do next
Find the platform's legal entity name, search it in the register that matches what it trades, and only then decide whether to deposit anything.
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Who writes these guides
Written and reviewed by the Smart Money Verified Team. We build every guide from primary regulator material, we take no payment from any company we write about, and we say plainly when public records cannot answer a question. Our guides are education, not financial advice.
Primary sources we work from
How we check things: our methodology · disclosures