Phoenix Investment Group - The Next FX-Experts!

No.

Phoenix Investment Group is a new HYIP that opened yesterday.

I was able to contact one of their traders, and I did an interview (an online interview) with him. He goes by the name "Balajti John." Let's get straight into it... Here's the interview. Comments to follow:

cenhancer: G'day mate, it's Chancer.
Johnny DJ: Good morning
Johnny DJ:
Johnny DJ: I'll be back in 20 minutes. I'm going to eat my launch
Johnny DJ: k ?
cenhancer: No worries mate.
cenhancer: I'll stick around for a while.
Johnny DJ: k
Johnny DJ: back
cenhancer: I was wondering if I could ask you some questions in relation to PhoenixVest?
Johnny DJ: yes you can
Johnny DJ: it's a new hyip site tough
cenhancer: I'll get straight to them, and as I'm sure you understand these days we look for something a little more with our DD, so don't take any of them personally if they seem 'negative' I'm merely asking questions!
cenhancer: What is your name? Who are you within PhoenixVest?
Johnny DJ: I'm John
Johnny DJ: And I'm only their trader
Johnny DJ: I know George around 2 months now
cenhancer: Balajti John, from the About Us page?
Johnny DJ: yes
Johnny DJ: Romania
Johnny DJ:
cenhancer: Cool! Are you able to provide any proof of identity?
Johnny DJ: why do you need that?
Johnny DJ: *nervous smiley*
Johnny DJ: I don't want to disclouse my self to anyone
cenhancer: How can you offer such high returns?
cenhancer: You must be trading pretty high leverage.
Johnny DJ: I'm an experienced trader
Johnny DJ: 1:500
Johnny DJ:
cenhancer: But doesn't that bring with it a large amount of risk?
cenhancer: You could lose it all in a moment.
Johnny DJ: I have lost 4-5 years ago
Johnny DJ: not now
Johnny DJ:
Johnny DJ: More than 3 years I'm trading ONLY in profit
cenhancer: What pairs do you mainly trade?
Johnny DJ: E/U very often, G/U, G/J, E/J, U/J and U/CAD
cenhancer: So you are trying to tell me you haven't had a single losing trade in 3 years?
Johnny DJ: no no no
Johnny DJ: I said trading in profit
Johnny DJ: that means, after 1 month, I have profit
Johnny DJ: including my loss and my profit
Johnny DJ: so let's say I make 50% profit in a month
Johnny DJ: that means I traded around 60%
Johnny DJ: 0% loss
Johnny DJ: 10% loss
cenhancer: To support the 200% plan you would have to make around 200%+ a month. (As there are fees, commissions, etc. to take into account.)
Johnny DJ: I'm talking about 20 trading days
cenhancer: Are you able to consistently do this?
Johnny DJ: on phoenix, they have other offline investments as I was told
cenhancer: Which broker do you use?
Johnny DJ: Oanda and Marketiva
Johnny DJ: I trade e-gold on Marketiva
Johnny DJ: and I trade my money on Oanda
cenhancer: Are you able to provide any proof of your account beyond a screenshot?
Johnny DJ: *nervous smiley*
Johnny DJ: like I said
Johnny DJ: I don't want to disclouse such things
Johnny DJ: I'm posting everyday my tradings summary on that forum that you saw
cenhancer: Yet FX-E have let trusted members of the community log into their trading accounts in real time, and NSFG provide managed accounts and real time updates (including their plans for trading before they make them.) You have to understand, it is easy to fake a screenshot - and it is easy to talk about trades AFTER you have made them.
cenhancer: Is there some other way you can establish your legitimacy?
Johnny DJ: sorry but no
Johnny DJ: If someone wants to benefit from my services, they choose me
cenhancer: Can I choose you directly, and have you trade for me (in a MA setup) therefore proving your abilities?
Johnny DJ: MA setup? what do you mean ?
Johnny DJ: I trade only on my platforms, with my accounts
cenhancer: A Managed Account.
Johnny DJ: lol
cenhancer: When did Phoenix approach you?
Johnny DJ: 2 months ago George (admin) choosed me from a bunch of traders on Marketiva
Johnny DJ: the site opened yesterday
Johnny DJ: so Monday is trade day
Johnny DJ:
cenhancer: Is it possible you are an unwitting pawn, and they are a scam? Have you seen any proof to back any of their claims, such as 200% a month/
Johnny DJ: I don't really think they are a scam
Johnny DJ: They were working hard to get this togheter
Johnny DJ: And we have some good traders I know very good
Johnny DJ: like Henry and Wiyaja
Johnny DJ: maybe you know them
cenhancer: Do you think any of you have the ability to make 200% a month, consistently?
cenhancer: And to prove it?
Johnny DJ: I don't think so
Johnny DJ: that means 100% profit
Johnny DJ: It can be done only in some cases
Johnny DJ: but not consistently
cenhancer: Yet the site offers a 200% (100% profit) a month plan
Johnny DJ: yeah
Johnny DJ: I asked about that too, and George said they have offline businesses too
cenhancer: Did he give you any indication as to what they were? What could consistently generate such high returns?
Johnny DJ: So the traders will have to take care of the first 2 plans
cenhancer: And if he can generate such high returns 'offline' why would he need traders?
Johnny DJ: Because he wants to develope his business maybe
Johnny DJ: He didn't gave me any indication
Johnny DJ: My problem is only to trade
Johnny DJ: He gives me 1K gold and I trade then
Johnny DJ: that's all
Johnny DJ:
cenhancer: Are you able to provide screenshots of your trading history at least?
Johnny DJ: lol. they are being deleted on every friday
Johnny DJ: and screenshot of my acocunt, I don't provide to anyone
cenhancer: Would any of the contracted traders provide such information?
Johnny DJ: what do you mean ?
cenhancer: Do you think any of the other traders would actually be able to provide any proof of their trades?
cenhancer: Rather than just saying they have?
Johnny DJ: hmm. Henry has a site
Johnny DJ: but I don't think Wiyaja would show you anything
Johnny DJ: we have policy
cenhancer: Unfortunately for Henry I don't speak German.
Johnny DJ: he speaks english
cenhancer: His site is in German.

Well there you have it people.

The parts where I added "nervous smiley" were actually portions of the conversation where he used a nervous smiley to respond to my questions.

I think it's pretty clear from that interview that Phoenix Investment Group are pretty dodgy looking.

I have a theory - a bunch of scammer admins grabbed some of the known traders off Marketiva and contracted them to trade for the PhoenixVest program.

Balajti John probably is actually trading, but is he as good or as professional as what we see from people like Kenneth from NSFG? I doubt it. Most Marketiva traders are risk-takers, bold, and without consistency, just trying to clock up pips. Good for their own accounts, but in charge of so many other people's? From what I have seen over the past few months - no.

I know of very, very few traders who use Marketiva professionally. It's like a kiddie pool or sand box - a great way to get an introduction but not much more. Marketiva itself offers referral commissions, and people have cried wolf over them being a scammer broker in the past.

That's beside the point. I think Phoenix Group has enlisted the help of some traders, quite possibly real traders, to unwittingly help them in their scam.

It's a great little ploy to bring in the punters. It's also possible the trader's aren't real, or are fakes masquerading as the real guys. Either way, I would stay away from Phoenix Investment Network.

They claim they are part of the Phoenix Group - who the hell are they? Sounds like a cheap NME/Phoenix Surf knock off to me. Probably a bad choice to knock off at the moment as their reputation lessens as well.

The plans are 2% daily, 10% daily for 12 days and 200% in a month.

The site has the whole "Dream Team" template going for it, and prides itself on "Custom Script Program."

With a $1 deposit minimum, and all the stuff already listed...

Put these guys in the scam box.

They could claw their way out of the box of course - look at Fx-Experts, there was a lot of ill-will towards it at first, and many people shunned it, but Marcos proved himself. The ball is in their court, and somehow I don't think they'll be returning it.

I'd stay well away from them, pending any further miraculous developments.

And if the traders are real and unwitting pawns, I feel sorry for them!

I won't go into too much more as by now, the interview should be pretty self-explanatory, and I think I pointed out the inconsistencies and lack of proof within the actual interview if you read slightly between-the-lines! We demand much more from our programs these days. I'd do some more research, double check if the traders are real, etc. but there's not much point - there's no golden carrot dangling here to motivate me to dig any deeper. If you find out they're no good from the get-go, why go further? Unless an intriguing new bit of proof pops up.

You can find their site at Phoenix Investment Network.

Verdict: Guilty Until Proven Innocent.

Recommendation: Try FX-Experts instead.