This Prop Firm’s $85M Vanished Overnight amid Allegations of a Potential Scam and Cloning

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FundedFirm,
a proprietary trading platform targeting retail traders, faces serious
allegations of operating an alleged fraudulent scheme after dramatically
reducing its claimed payout figures from $95 million to $9.5 million following
public scrutiny. It seems
that the prop copied a website of another popular trading company and offered
dummy accounts to influencers.

FundedFirm Slashes Payout
Claims by 90% amid Mounting Scrutiny

The
platform, which launched just months ago, has drawn criticism from traders and
online community for what appears to be a series of misleading claims and
questionable business practices. The controversy intensified after the firm
quietly adjusted its stated payout figures following an exposé video released
on November 26.

YouTuber
Rohit Kumar released a video titled “Biggest Scam in Prop Firm
History,” in which he presents alleged evidence suggesting that FundedFirm
is not conducting legitimate operations.

Further
investigation reveals that FundedFirm’s website appears to be largely copied
from established competitor FundedNext, including identical marketing language
and similar images with only minor color modifications. The platform claims to
have over 700,000 active members, yet maintains minimal social media presence
with only 2,700 Instagram followers.

Traders
point to several red flags, including the platform’s limited presence on review
sites. Despite claiming millions in payouts, FundedFirm has accumulated only
seven Trustpilot reviews, posted in suspicious clusters during August and
November 2024.

They
claimed to have paid $95M
in payouts within just 3-4 months of launching. Even
after revising it to $9.5M, it’s still unrealistic,” TheTrustedProp commented. “For
context: Established firms like FundedNext, operating for years, paid $95M with
22,690 Trustpilot reviews.”

It appears
that FundedFirm simply copied the entire content of the FundedNext
website, overlooking the details. This resembles the actions of clone brokers, which
have been a longstanding issue in the FX/CFD industry.

Ironically,
FundedNext was recently added to the Indian
regulator’s warning list
. Meanwhile, the allegedly impersonating brand
operates without major issues, targeting traders in India.

Dummy Accounts

TheTrustedProp
claims that FundedFirm has been approaching influencers with offers of dummy
accounts pre-loaded with artificial trading results, presumably to create
misleading promotional content.

“Shockingly,
many influencers promoting FundedFirm are the same ones who previously claimed,
‘All prop firms are scams’,” TheTrusedProp added. “Now, they’ve turned around
and started promoting their own prop firms while smearing legitimate
competitors.”

Such
actions undoubtedly harm the proprietary trading industry, which is under
increasing scrutiny from regulators worldwide. In March, Belgium’s FSMA issued
a warning to retail investors about the dubious
practices of some prop firms
. Italy’s Consob is also closely monitoring the
sector, as
confirmed by Marco Martire
, the local country manager for Fintokei.

Despite
claiming to operate from the UAE, the firm’s legal status remains unclear, with
no visible registration numbers or regulatory credentials on its platform.
Attempts to verify the company’s registration through UAE government portals
have proved unsuccessful.

TheTrusredProp
claims that FundedFirm targets traders from third-world countries, luring them
with false payouts and influencer endorsements. A prop firm comparison platform
has labeled this specific project a “scam” and warned: “Don’t
fall for these traps.”

Currently,
proprietary trading firms are regulated under laws related to consumer
protection, data privacy, and international sanctions. While many of these
firms are based in jurisdictions such
as the U.S., U.K., UAE, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
, a significant
number also operate within the EU.

In early
June, the Czech regulatory authority indicated that some proprietary trading
models, particularly those offering funded trader services, might
fall under the MiFID regulatory framework
. This could potentially affect
FTMO, a leading proprietary trading firm headquartered in the Czech Republic,
if these regulatory changes are implemented.

Finance Magnates reached out to FundedFirm for comment and to understand their side of the story. However, as of the publication of this article, no response has been received.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

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