TONY HETHERINGTON: WiseFX currency trading software offers a success rate of over 50%, is it a scam?

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R. S. writes: Have you seen the offer from WiseFX for currency trading software with a success rate of over 50 per cent, all fully automated? I am very doubtful. Its website at getwisefx.com does not reveal a lot. I called the Financial Conduct Authority, but was told this is ‘a grey area’, and I should report any worries to Action Fraud.

If the claims made by WiseFX were true, the Chancellor of the Exchequer could solve Britain’s economic issues at a stroke by paying £20,000 for its software, loading it on to the Treasury’s computer and letting it work 24/7, notching up automatic profits by predicting exchange rates.

He might even get the WiseFX program for less, some customers say. Of course, you need a pot of cash to start trading. WiseFX suggests £10,000 and claims 2014 saw ‘a 121 per cent return’.

Big claims: WiseFX talks of 121 per cent returns

According to its website: ‘WiseFX is the brainchild of semi-retired traders, who came together in the mid-2000s having recognised a growing trend globally to automation in trading.’

Its software ‘eliminates many of the risks associated with human interaction linked to greed, ego and fatigue’.

But can you trust this? The company connected to the software is WiseFX Europe Ltd, whose registered address is a block of serviced offices in the City where staff take in mail for anyone who pays, with no sign of WiseFX.

The firm’s sole director is 36-year-old Jonathan Chubb, who lives in Ireland. In its advertising, WiseFX uses an article from the Aberdeen Press & Journal, boasting of the software’s success and quoting Chubb as saying: ‘We are looking forward to further European expansion following a successful launch in London.’

But the newspaper told me this was in a paid-for advert dressed up to look like an article. Earlier this year Chubb was sentenced at Dublin Criminal Court to 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to stealing €8,600 (£6,300). While working for a lettings agent, he gave tenants his bank details so rent went to him, not property owners.

Chubb has not been working alone. He teamed up with Mark Brewer, 42, and his wife Kendall Twigden, 25, who brought the software with them from New Zealand. And here, I am indebted to Auckland-based journalist Matt Nippert, who knows Brewer well. He told me that in 1993 Brewer was jailed for ‘sexual violation’ after demanding sex from a girl of 16 who was being interviewed for a job at the life insurance company where he worked.

Exposed: Jonathan Chubb, pictured right leaving court in Dublin, and Mark Brewer, left, run WiseFX

In 1997, Brewer was declared bankrupt over unpaid credit card bills. He was bankrupted again in 2010 and though this was annulled when his debts were paid, he was prosecuted and fined for managing a company while bankrupt.

The company, where Twigden also worked, marketed costly software for horse racing bets. It collapsed and Brewer became head salesman at Phoenix Forex, a company registered in Twigden’s name, which sold costly software for trading in currencies.

Two years ago the New Zealand watchdog warned that Brewer’s advertising claims were ‘untrue’. The firm said its software yielded annual profits of between 50 and 65 per cent, but the watchdog said: ‘Phoenix Forex has been unable to provide any evidence to support this.’

The firm collapsed with debts of £1million and investors claimed the software produced losses, not profits. Brewer has since popped up in London, calling himself Marcus Henderson. WiseFX suggests investors open an account with Admiral Markets, a broker licensed by the FCA. WiseFX tells investors: ‘[Admiral] has an agreement with WiseFX to accept the software instructions on their trading platforms.’ But Admiral boss Iain Rogers says there is no such agreement.

Attempts to contact Brewer failed. An email drew a response from Maria Mladenova who claimed WiseFX was the target of a vendetta. No one from WiseFX replied to questions about the criminal records of Brewer and Chubb, or false marketing claims. Avoid WiseFX like the plague.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email [email protected]. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned