Key Takeaways
- The broker has been offline for years: 500pips.net announced a freeze in December 2021. Its successor, Pips.fm stopped responding by January 2023, and neither domain is registered today.
- We found no licence: The FCA register doesn't list 500pips, and its operator, Pepper Group LLC, was incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2020.
- Its own FAQ made withdrawals costly: A 3.5% withdrawal fee, a charge on every profitable trade, and bonuses locked behind trading volume all sat in the broker's published terms.
- Your bank is still worth asking: Card chargeback windows have probably closed, though UK credit card payments can also be claimed under Section 75, which allows more time.
This 500pips review is for past clients and for anyone who has been contacted about an old 500pips account. The broker stopped trading years ago, so the useful questions now are what went wrong and whether any money can still be recovered. The details below come from archived copies of the broker's website, a FinTelegram investigation, and client reports. The last section covers the steps still open to you.
Quick Summary: 500pips was an unregulated CFD and forex broker run by Pepper Group LLC, a company registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, although its website listed a Luxembourg phone number and claimed the brand dated from 2018. It offered six account tiers from Basic to Black, a $250 minimum deposit, and its own web trading platform. The broker froze its activities in December 2021; its successor site Pips.fm had stopped responding by January 2023, and clients have reported balances they couldn't withdraw.
Our rating: 1.5/5. Not recommended.
Is 500pips Still Operating?
500pips is no longer operating. In December 2021, the 500pips.net homepage carried a notice saying Pepper Group LLC, the site's owner, had been "acquired and merged". It was freezing its activities, while telling clients they could still withdraw under company policy. The brand carried on under a successor site, Pips.fm, which was live by March 2022.
By January 2023, posters on the ForexPeaceArmy forum said the Pips.fm site had stopped responding, and their emails were bouncing. One client later wrote that accounts were moved to another entity, PIX Trade, in early 2023 without their agreement, and that PIX Trade disappeared from the internet in late 2023. Today, neither 500pips.net nor pips.fm is registered, and the old 500pips.net address was listed for sale on a domain marketplace in March 2023.
500pips from incorporation to unregistered domains.
If anyone contacts you now about an old 500pips or Pips.fm balance, you should treat the call as a warning sign. Fake recovery firms work from the client lists of failed brokers and usually ask for a fee up front. Our guide to UK-regulated brokers covers how to handle an unexpected call from a trading company.
Was 500pips Regulated?
We found no licence for 500pips from any recognised regulator, and the FCA register doesn't list it. The broker was run by Pepper Group LLC, which FinTelegram reported was incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2020 through a local trustee company. St Vincent and the Grenadines is a common base for an offshore broker, and a company registration there doesn't amount to a forex licence.
The broker's own pages told a different story. Its FAQ described 500pips as "a regulated investment broker"; its company page said client funds were held in segregated accounts, and the contact page gave a Luxembourg phone number. The same company page claimed 500pips was created in 2018, two years before Pepper Group LLC was incorporated.
FinTelegram also found the broker being promoted in July 2021 through Oil Profit, a fraudulent investment ad campaign. Its Trustpilot profile at the time showed a 4.7-star rating from 34 reviews, most of them written by accounts that had posted only once.
Without a licence, clients didn't have a compensation scheme, a financial ombudsman or any enforced rule on keeping their money separate from the company's. Our safety guides explain what each of those protections covers.
500pips Withdrawal Fees and Complaints
The broker's FAQ listed several charges that reduced what clients could take out:
- Withdrawal fee: A 3.5% service fee applied to most withdrawals, with a $30 minimum and a $3,500 cap per withdrawal.
- Profit clearance fee: Every profitable position paid a fee of 1.50 to 5.00 in the account currency, depending on the size of the profit.
- Dormant account fee: Accounts without a trade for 60 days paid $10 a month until trading resumed or the balance reached zero.
- Locked bonuses: Bonus money stayed unavailable for trading or withdrawal until the client had generated a set trading volume.
The same FAQ said most withdrawals were processed in 3 to 5 business days, and each request had to be confirmed with the client's account manager. Leverage went up to 1:200, and account tiers from Basic to Platinum depended on monthly trading volume, measured in "traders points", so the level of service rose with how much a client traded.
Client posts on the ForexPeaceArmy forum describe how this ended: bounced emails, a site that stopped loading, and one client who said a balance above €100,000 couldn't be withdrawn.
Our team has seen this pattern in complaints about many unregulated brokers. Fees and bonus conditions look minor at sign-up, and they only start to matter when a client asks for money back. An account manager whose approval is needed for every withdrawal adds one more point where a request can stall, which is why you should read a broker's fee and bonus terms before your first deposit. If a bonus has been added to your account without your asking, you can refuse it in writing and keep a copy.
What to Do If You Have Money With 500pips
Your options are limited this long after the broker stopped trading, though some routes may still be open.
- Your card issuer or bank: You should ask what can still be done. Card chargeback windows have probably closed on deposits from 2021 to 2023, though UK credit card payments can also be claimed under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which has a longer time limit.
- Your records: You should keep deposit receipts, account statements, screenshots and emails, including anything you received from Pips.fm or PIX Trade.
- A report to the authorities: In the UK, you can report the broker to the FCA and to Action Fraud, and elsewhere to your national financial regulator. Reports rarely return money, though regulators use them to warn other investors.
- Recovery offers: Firms promising to retrieve lost funds for an upfront fee are a known second scam aimed at the same victims, and you should turn them down.
500pips Review: The Bottom Line
500pips was an unregulated CFD broker run by an offshore company, promoted through a fraudulent ad campaign and priced with fees that cut into withdrawals and profits. It froze in December 2021, its successor site stopped responding by January 2023, and one client reports that the final entity, PIX Trade, went offline later that year.
Our rating is 1.5 out of 5. If you're choosing a broker now, you should start with the licence and confirm it on the regulator's own register, and our regulation guides list brokers checked against each regulator.
Frequently Asked Questions About 500pips
Is 500pips a scam?
We haven't found a regulator's ruling on 500pips, so this review sticks to the documented details. The broker held no licence that we could find, described itself as regulated anyway, was promoted through the Oil Profit fraud campaign, and froze client activity in December 2021. Clients later reported unanswered emails and balances they couldn't withdraw. On that record, it wasn't a safe place for your money.
Is 500pips regulated?
It isn't, and we found no sign that it ever was. The FCA register doesn't list 500pips, and its operator, Pepper Group LLC, was a company registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines. The broker's FAQ still called it "a regulated investment broker", which no register supports. Clients therefore didn't have a compensation scheme or a financial ombudsman to turn to.
Can I still withdraw money from 500pips?
A withdrawal through the broker isn't possible now. Neither 500pips.net nor pips.fm is registered, and clients reported bouncing emails by January 2023. Your card issuer or bank is the more practical route, although chargeback windows have probably closed. UK credit card payments may still be claimable under Section 75, so you should ask your card provider and keep every record of your deposits.
Is 500pips the same as Pips.fm and PIX Trade?
They appear to be one chain. The ForexPeaceArmy thread on the broker is titled "Pips.Fm formerly 500pips.net", and a client there reported that Pips.fm accounts were moved to PIX Trade in early 2023 without consent. PIX Trade then went offline in late 2023, according to the same report. The link rests on client accounts, since neither later site named its operator.
What fees did 500pips charge?
The broker's FAQ listed a 3.5% withdrawal fee with a $30 minimum and a $3,500 cap, a profit clearance fee of 1.50 to 5.00 on each profitable position, and a $10 monthly fee on accounts without a trade for 60 days. Bonus money also stayed locked until clients met a trading volume requirement, so part of a balance could be out of reach at any time.
