Risk scorecard
Each area is scored 0 (clean) to 10 (worst). Higher means more risk.
Regulation
8/10 · CriticalOnly an unverifiable offshore claim (Mwali/MISA T2023384, a non recognised registrar) with no verify link, while taking deposits; Saint Lucia incorporation is not a licence.
Identity & transparency
6/10 · HighThe legal entity and address are disclosed, but no owners or managers are named, client and country counts are placeholders, and the firm misstates its founding year.
Withdrawals & conduct
7/10 · HighMultiple independent users describe the same fund integrity trap: withdrawals shown successful then refused, with demands to deposit more to release funds. User reported, not yet regulator confirmed.
Reputation
7/10 · HighFlagged as high risk or scam across review sites and a broker directory; no genuine positive footprint; the positive coverage is paid PR.
Website claims
8/10 · CriticalFalse 'founded 2018' history and a 'London Summit Awards 2023' app award on a website created in 2024, plus an unverifiable licence presented as full regulation.
Operational history
7/10 · HighVerifiable track record under two years (domain January 2024), while the site advertises six plus years; longevity cannot count when it is unevidenced.
Who they are
A quick desk file on the company behind the brand.
A quick profile of the operation behind mercadosinvest.com.
- Brand: MercadosInvest (MERCADOS)
- Legal entity: SmartServe Ltd, an International Business Company
- Registered: Ground Floor, The Sotheby Building, Rodney Village, Rodney Bay, Gros-Islet, Saint Lucia
- Website: mercadosinvest.com, in Spanish, with an /en version
- Only licence claimed: Mwali International Services Authority (MISA, Comoros), number T2023384, unconfirmed
- Offers: forex, CFDs, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices and commodities through an in house mobile app; 250 USD minimum deposit; copy and social trading
- Not accepted: the United States and some other countries; marketing targets Latin America, chiefly Argentina and Mexico
- Age claim: the site says 'founded 2018', but the domain dates only to January 2024
Regulation
Who really oversees this broker, and what each licence is worth to you.
Proof of regulation on an official register: No
We could not confirm this broker on any genuine regulator’s register.
Licences the broker publishes
Mwali International Services Authority (MISA)
Why we reached this verdict
How the evidence adds up.
We rate MercadosInvest a likely scam for five main reasons.
- No verifiable regulation. The site says it is 'authorised and regulated' by the Mwali authority (MISA) in the Comoros under number T2023384. MISA is a non recognised offshore registrar that the Comoros central bank has publicly disavowed, so even a genuine MISA licence protects nobody. The broker links no way to verify the number, and the issuer's registrar publishes no searchable per licence record, so the claim cannot be confirmed. Being an International Business Company in Saint Lucia is not a licence either: the Saint Lucia FSRA states plainly that forex business is not licensed there.
- It misstates its own age and record. The About page claims the firm was 'founded in 2018' and won a 'London Summit Awards 2023' app award. The domain mercadosinvest.com was first registered in January 2024, and the company was registered in Saint Lucia in 2024. A 2023 award for an app whose website did not exist until 2024 is not credible, and the real operating history is under two years.
- Clients describe a withdrawal trap. Independent users, mostly in Argentina, report the same sequence through 2025: a withdrawal first shows as 'successful', then changes to 'pending' and is refused, after which staff press them to deposit more money before any funds are released. A demand to pay more in order to release your own money has no legitimate purpose.
- The public footprint does not match the claims. The site claims '12k+ clients', yet there are no genuine customer reviews on Trustpilot, and the positive coverage is a burst of near identical paid articles placed in Mexican and Argentine news outlets in late 2024.
- Young, anonymous and deposit taking. No owners, directors or staff are named, the platform is an in house app with no MetaTrader, and it collects a 250 USD minimum deposit. An operation under two years old with no verifiable regulation and no named people carries high risk by its nature.
Evidence ledger
Every finding, with its source and how strongly it points.
E1The domain mercadosinvest.com was first registered on 19 January 2024, which contradicts the site's claim to have operated since 2018.
StrongRDAP (Verisign registry)E2The broker's own About page states the firm was 'fundada en 2018' (founded in 2018) and won a 'London Summit Awards 2023' app award, neither of which is credible for a website created in January 2024.
E3The only regulatory claim is a Mwali (MISA, Comoros) licence number T2023384; the site publishes no link to verify it, and MISA is a non recognised offshore registrar that offers little protection.
ModerateMercadosInvest legal pageE4Saint Lucia's regulator, the FSRA, supervises insurance, banks, credit unions, money services and virtual assets but not forex trading, and states that claims of FSRA licensing or affiliation by forex businesses are false and misleading; SmartServe Ltd is only an International Business Company there.
ModerateFSRA Saint LuciaE5Multiple users, mostly in Argentina during 2025, report the same pattern: a withdrawal shows as 'successful', then changes to 'pending' and is refused, after which staff pressure them to deposit more money before funds are released.
StrongA third-party broker directory (user exposure reports) and Spanish language review sitesE6Trustpilot holds no genuine customer reviews for mercadosinvest.com, despite the site claiming more than 12,000 clients worldwide.
ModerateTrustpilotE7A burst of near identical promotional articles appeared in Mexican and Argentine news outlets between August and October 2024, consistent with a paid launch campaign rather than organic reputation built since 2018.
ModerateSponsored articles in Mexican and Argentine news outletsE8The UK FCA published a warning on 21 January 2026 about a similarly named operation, 'Mercado Invest', at the different domain mercado-invest.net; we could not establish that the same people run mercadosinvest.com, so this is noted but not attributed to this broker.
ModerateFCA Warning ListE9The operating entity SmartServe Ltd and a registered Saint Lucia address are disclosed consistently across the site and third party listings, a point in the firm's favour on basic transparency.
The other side
The strongest case in this broker’s favour.
In fairness, here is the strongest case for giving MercadosInvest the benefit of the doubt, and why it does not change our view.
- The MISA licence might be genuine. Some offshore brokers do buy a real Mwali registration. We could not confirm or disprove T2023384, because the issuer's registrar has no public per licence search. Even if it exists, it is a near worthless offshore registration, not real protection for your deposits.
- The complaints are user reports, not a regulator finding. No financial regulator has published an enforcement action or a warning naming mercadosinvest.com, and the user accounts we found are not backed by bank or court records. They are specific and consistent, but they are testimony.
- A similarly named FCA warning is on a different website. The UK FCA warned in January 2026 about 'Mercado Invest' at mercado-invest.net. That is a different domain, and we could not establish that the same people run both, so we do not treat it as this broker's warning.
- Disclosure is partial, not absent. The company name and a registered address are shown consistently, which is more than the worst clone sites manage.
What would change this
What we would need to see to revise the verdict.
We would revisit this verdict if the facts changed.
- The Mwali registrar, or another official register, showing licence T2023384 as genuinely held by SmartServe Ltd and in force.
- A real, verifiable trading licence from a credible regulator that actually protects client funds.
- A consistent record of clients confirming that withdrawals are paid in full and on time, with no demand for extra deposits.
- Evidence that the operation genuinely dates to 2018 under a named predecessor website, rather than the January 2024 domain we found.
Check it yourself
Official registers and warning lists. Verify every claim first-hand.
MercadosInvest legal/licence page
The broker's own page naming its only claimed licence, Mwali (MISA) T2023384
FSRA Saint Lucia (national regulator)
Saint Lucia's regulator; its supervised sectors do not include forex trading
Trustpilot page for the domain
Independent review page; check whether any genuine client reviews exist
FCA warning: Mercado Invest (different domain)
UK warning about a similarly named site, mercado-invest.net; not confirmed to be the same operator
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this broker’s safety.
Is MercadosInvest a scam?
We rate MercadosInvest a likely scam. It takes deposits for online trading but has no verifiable regulation, misstates its age, and multiple users report that withdrawals are blocked and met with demands to deposit more money. Treat it as high risk and avoid depositing.
Is MercadosInvest a fraud?
We cannot state as a legal fact that MercadosInvest commits fraud, because no court or regulator has made that finding. What we can say is that we assess the risk of fraud as high: the conduct clients describe, where money goes in and withdrawals are then refused unless more is paid, is the classic advance fee pattern. No regulator warning names this exact website at the time of writing.
Is MercadosInvest regulated?
No credible regulator oversees it. The site claims a licence from the Mwali authority (MISA) in the Comoros, number T2023384, but MISA is a non recognised offshore registrar and we could not confirm the number anywhere official. Being registered as a company in Saint Lucia is not a financial licence.
Can I withdraw my money from MercadosInvest?
Many users say they cannot. The common account is that a withdrawal shows as 'successful', then turns to 'pending' and is refused, after which staff ask for a further deposit before releasing funds. Paying more to unlock a withdrawal almost never works.
Is my money safe with MercadosInvest?
We do not consider it safe. There is no verified licence, no compensation scheme, no named management, and an offshore structure that gives clients little recourse if funds are not returned.
Who owns MercadosInvest?
The site says it is operated by SmartServe Ltd, an International Business Company registered in Saint Lucia. No individual owners, directors or managers are named anywhere on the site, which is a transparency red flag for a firm that holds client deposits.
How old is MercadosInvest, and was it really founded in 2018?
The operation is under two years old. Its website domain was first registered in January 2024, and the company was registered in Saint Lucia in 2024. The 'founded in 2018' claim on the About page is not supported by any evidence we found.
What is the Mwali (MISA) licence T2023384 worth?
Very little. The Mwali International Services Authority is widely treated as a non recognised offshore registrar, and the Comoros central bank has publicly disavowed licences issued under it. Even if the number is genuine, it provides essentially no protection for your deposits, and here we could not confirm it at all.
Is MercadosInvest licensed in Saint Lucia?
No. Saint Lucia's regulator, the FSRA, states that forex business is not licensed in Saint Lucia and that documents claiming registration, licensing or affiliation with the Authority are false and misleading. A company can be incorporated there, but that is only a company registration, not a trading licence.
What should I do if I was scammed by MercadosInvest?
Stop sending money, especially any fee or tax to release a withdrawal. Gather your records, ask your bank about a chargeback or transfer recall, and report the case to your national financial regulator and police. Be wary of recovery services that ask for an upfront fee, as they often target victims a second time.
What does MercadosInvest offer, and what is the minimum deposit?
It offers forex, CFDs, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices and commodities through its own mobile app, with copy and social trading. The minimum deposit is reported as 250 USD. There is no MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5.
Is MercadosInvest a clone of a regulated company?
We found no evidence that it impersonates a specific well known brand, so it is not a classic clone. The main problem is different: it operates without verifiable regulation and shows the hallmarks of a withdrawal trap. A separate, similarly named site, mercado-invest.net, carries an FCA warning, but we could not confirm it is run by the same people.
What we recommend
The practical takeaway from everything above.
What we suggest for anyone considering or already using MercadosInvest.
- Do not deposit new money. If a 'manager' asks you to pay a fee, tax or extra deposit to unlock a withdrawal, stop; that is the withdrawal trap, and paying more rarely returns your funds.
- If you have money on the platform, request a full withdrawal in writing and keep records of every message and transaction.
- If you funded the account by card or bank transfer, ask your bank about a chargeback or transfer recall, and report the matter to your local financial regulator or police.
- Prefer brokers licensed by a strong regulator, for example the FCA, ASIC or CySEC, whose licence you can check on the regulator's own register.
This is an independent assessment of risk, not a legal ruling. Scores and verdicts follow the Wikilix broker-safety methodology and can change as new evidence appears. Review scores are treated with caution when a broker’s reviews look manipulated. Last reviewed October 11, 2026. If any detail here is out of date or incorrect, or you represent this broker, please contact us.
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