In the last few days, clients of most Forex, CFD, or crypto brokers have received email notifications that Apple has removed the MetaTrader app from its AppStore. The trading software developed by MetaQuote Ltd, officially based in Cyprus, is the market leader and is used by tens of millions of traders. Many scammers also use the MetaTrader software to defraud victims via the so-called Pig Butchering approach. Apparently, Apple has reacted to critical MetaTrader reports by removing it.
Key data
| Trading name | MetaTrader |
| Domain | www.metaquotes.net |
| Social media | LinkedIn, Twitter |
| Legal entity | MetaQuotes Ltd (Cyprus MetaQuotes Software Corp (Bahamas) and many more |
| Jurisdiction | Cyprus |
| Related individuals | Renat Fatkhullin, founder and CEO (LinkedIn) Christoforos Theodoulou (LinkedIn) |
The Pig Butchering Approach
The online trading industry has known for a long time that MetaTrader, in combination with AnyDesk or TeamViewer, is the preferred tool for trading scammers. On September 9, 2022, Forbes ran an extensive article about a major Pig Butchering scam where scammers used MetaTrader to pretend legitimate trading to victims. Pig Butchering is just a new term for the boiler room scams we have known for decades.
MetaTrader is used by many legitimate brokers and their traders. However, MetaTrader also allows licensees to use a Virtual Dealer plug-in, which can be used by scammers to “manipulate those market prices, and simulate account balances, profits or losses. Everything looks and feels real, but it’s all a fabrication.”
Millions of computers around the world run with MetaTrader. In the US and the UK, EU, or Asian countries. MetaTrader is also the preferred client terminal of the Israeli PandaTS white-label broker platform on which both regulated brokers and scam brokers run.
In Google Play, both MT 4 and MT 5 are still available for download. Both have been downloaded more than 10 million times so far.
The Short MetaQuotes Narrative
MetaTrader was initially developed in Russia some 20 years ago. It has been rolled out through companies in the Bahamas, the US, and Europe. In 2003, according to filings with the US SEC, Renat Fatkhullin filed a corresponding patent with the Russian Patent and Trademark Office (Rospatent).
Renat Fatkhullin is still CEO of Metaquotes Group and director of MetaQuotes Ltd in Cyprus. The MetaTrader trademark was first registered through MetaQuotes Software Corp in the Bahamas and then transferred to MetaQuotes Ltd in Cyprus. Who the beneficial owners of MetaQuotes Group are besides Renat Fatkullin is unknown.
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We would like to know more about the Russian MetaQuotes Group. If you have any information, we would be grateful if you could share it with us via our whistleblower system, Whistle42.
