Welcome to our Rob Booker follow-up investigation, in which we look into Hal Booker, Hal Robb, Osmai FX (osmai.global), and IC Markets (icmarkets.com).
On March 17, 2021, we published an article titled “Rob Booker Review – Is Robbooker.com Reliable?”
The article discussed the trading platform and products of Rob Booker, which have garnered both positive and negative feedback from users.
We pointed out the lack of transparency on the part of Rob Booker, as the personal and career information of the man behind the platform is unknown.
We also discussed the popularity of Rob Booker on various social media platforms and the flaws in his approach to trading, such as the focus on technical analysis at the expense of risk management.
We advised potential users to be cautious about investing in the products and services of Rob Booker.
We received multiple comments on that article about Hal Booker and his trading activities.
Some commenters allege that he is involved in a Ponzi scheme, while others criticize his courses and strategies.
One commenter states that he met Rob Booker in 2004 when he was a forex mentor and educator who sold e-book courses on forex trading systems, robots, memberships, and mentorship.
Another commenter alleges that Rob Booker charges commission on his trades through IC Markets and still sells lifetime membership courses that are misleading.
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For example, one commenter writes:
Hal Booker is now trading as Hal Robb and is with OSMAI FX, trading customers’ money on the IC Markets platform out of Australia.
As a former employee, I can attest that the owners are unscrupulous and dishonest. I recommend asking for his real ID to be sent to you, or better still, withdrawing your money while you still can.
This is a clever Ponzi scheme that has been executed before. IC Markets’ funds are not held in safe fiduciary accounts, and their stop losses will not provide protection as in other FX companies.
Similar companies run by Booker have folded in a similar manner in the past, resulting in everyone losing everything. It would be crazy to invest even a small amount of money with them.
So who is Hal Booker/Hal Robb and are Osmai FX (osmai.global) and IC Markets legit or is this all one big SCAM?
RobBooker.com & MarketWealth.com
Currently, the website robbooker.com redirects to marketwealth.com, which appears to be a financial blog owned by Scott Welsh, who has been trading since 1994, starting with stocks and later Forex in 2009, and automated Fx strategies in 2012, and who currently trades stocks, futures, options, and Forex.
He claims to have finished second in the World Cup Trading Championships in 2020 in the Forex division, with a return of +74.5% using an automated strategy, and that he has achieved a return of over 100% in thirteen months on two separate occasions with stocks and a Forex robot.
But some parts of the site lead back to the Rob Booker original site. For example, a link from the Contact page to the FAQ leads to faq.robbooker.com/robbookerhelp/hc/en-us.html.
IC Markets
Based on their About page, IC Markets appears to be a reputable and regulated Forex CFD provider operated by Raw Trading Ltd.
They are regulated by the Financial Services Authority of Seychelles and have strict compliance and audit standards in place.
To comply with local laws, they do not accept clients from the U.S., Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Iran, and North Korea.
Based on an Italy CONSOB warning, it appears that Raw Trading Ltd, which operates the website icmarkets.com, has been ordered to be blacked out in Italy by the commission due to offering financial services without proper authorization. However, it is important to note that the measure does not concern the Cypriot investment firm IC Markets (EU) Ltd, which is authorized to operate in Italy.
There are different IC Markets websites for each regulatory entity. For example:
ICMarkets.eu is authorized and regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and provides services to European clients (except for Belgium).
ICMarkets.com.au provides services in Australia and is regulated by ASIC (Australian Securities & Investments Commission).
Trustpilot ranks them 4.9/5 stars based on 26,881 reviews, however, some customers have reported several issues, such as difficulties with withdrawing money, system errors preventing trades from opening or closing, and poor customer service from unresponsive and unhelpful staff.
Overall, based on this information, IC Markets appears to be a trustworthy company to trade with.
Note however that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning about a “clone firm” calling itself ICMarkets. The fraudsters are using the name of an authorized firm to try to convince people that they work for a legitimate company. Some of the domains the scammers use are:
- icmarketpro.com
- icm-market.com
- i-cmarketz.com
- ic-forexmarket.com
Hal Robb & Osmai FX
Moving forward we look into osmai.global.
The domain osmai.global was registered on December 21, 2020, for 3 years through IONOS SE/1&1 Internet Limited, and is hosted by Wix.
According to SimilarWeb.com, Osmai FX employs 1-10 people and is based in Thailand. It received less than 5,000 visitors on January 2023.
It has a Semrush Authority Score of 0% and has just one backlink from a domain listing website.
Opening the Osmai Global website we encounter a risk acknowledgment page, which tells you that this website provides general information only and is not an offer or financial/legal advice and that the company is not authorized by any financial regulatory body and is not liable for any loss resulting from decisions made based on the information provided.
Once we accept, we are led to a funnel page provided by OSMAI Management Limited, in which there is a video and text that explains how OSMAI FX is a client-controlled, trader-led Forex platform that offers a hands-off copy-trade service. It allows you to remain in control and only pay a success fee of 30% based on profit and high-water mark.
The trader you will be copying is Hal Robb, a professional forex trader with 14 years of experience who trades on behalf of his clients and himself.
Since he started trading for OSMAI FX in 2020, he claims to have achieved an average of 18.21% for their clients, outpacing every other meaningful index or market in that time.
The platform provides clear and transparent reporting, and you can withdraw money at any time. The minimum investment is £2,000 or the equivalent in your local currency, and the average leverage is 4/1 per trade.
The platform uses tried and tested trading strategies, such as daily harmonic patterns, trend retrace, counter-trend, and scalping.
Links to a privacy policy, terms and conditions, and disclaimer, all lead to the same risk statement we mentioned above.
There’s a live chat widget and contact form but no other contact methods, such as a telephone number and email address.
On Google, however, we find a review about Osmai FX, which says that Osmai FX is an investment scheme claiming to offer a reliable alternative investment opportunity, generating returns from Forex trading with “minimal risk” and slow, steady returns.
The scheme claims to have generated 42% annual returns since 2016, despite having no public evidence of its existence until December 2020.
They conclude by saying that the scheme is likely to be a Ponzi scheme, where returns are funded by investors’ own money or that of others, and investors should avoid investing in it.
This article is followed by a series of comments discussing Osmai FX and expressing skepticism about its legitimacy.
Some commenters express skepticism and allege that it may be a Ponzi scheme, while others defend it and claim to have received their returns.
Who is behind Osmai FX?
On their company, LinkedIn page we find two people who work for Osmai FX, one of them, the Co-Founder, is Scott Hattrell from Chiang Mai, Thailand, while the other one is an Employed Operations Manager from Greater Guildford Area, UK, perhaps that is Hal Robb? Or Ben Hawkes maybe (more about him below).
Scott Hattrell is also a Business Consultant for Osmai Management LTD. Beforehand he was a Storeman and Warehouse Manager. His email is scott@osmaimanagement.com.
So apparently there’s another website we need to check: OsmaiManagement.com.
Osmai FX also has a YouTube channel with 28 subscribers since June 10, 2020.
One of their videos is an answer by Ben Hawkes to the bondreview.co.uk review we cited above.
In the video he says that Harold Hal Robb is not the owner of the company, but just the trader they employ.
He also identifies himself as the founder of Osmai FX.
To the allegation about claiming they started in 2016, he answers that the claim is referring to the mother company, Osmai Management (see below), and not to Osmai FX, which was indeed started in 2020.
He also says that Hal Robb trades for eastwestforex.com, a website that is not accessible at the moment. There is also a Facebook page for East-West Forex which lists an email address (info@eastwestforex.com) and a Bangkok, Thailand telephone number (+66 96 547 9459).
There’s also a Hal Robb YouTube channel with just one video showing Robb’s house and explaining how over the past 5 years, he has averaged 4.1% per month for his clients.
The email address listed on the Osmai FX YouTube is info@osmaimanagement.com.
On their Facebook page, they provide a phone number: +44 333 800 2646, which is a valid UK number.
Osmai Management LTD
According to osmaimanagement.com, OSMAI Management specializes in asset protection for individuals and businesses, offering tailor-made solutions to achieve various objectives such as succession planning and protection against third-party threats.
Their services include investment and yield opportunities, estate planning, business and development finance, and property and business taxation. They also have a network of professional service providers to complement their core business areas.
OSMAI Management grows its business primarily through referrals from satisfied clients and professional introducers.
Osmai Global is one of their projects.
Bottom Line
To summarize, we could not find any evidence of IC Markets, Hal Robb, or Osmai Global being a scam.
Also, we were not able to find any person by the name of Hal Booker or any connection between Rob Booker and Hal Robb.
Osmai Global is a funnel-type website that connects users to the broker IC Markets and allows them to pair their account with Hal Robb, an expert trader, to copy his trades.
While there is no evidence to suggest that Hal Robb or OSMAI FX is a scam, it is important to note that past performance is not a guarantee of future results, and there is always a risk involved in trading financial markets.
If you have fallen victim to online scams, please inform us by commenting below. If you have suffered a substantial financial loss, do not despair. We are here to assist you in recovering your funds!
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