PlatinumGlobalMarket: Fake Trading Platform Impersonates UK Finance Influencer Samuel Leach
PlatinumGlobalMarket impersonates UK finance influencer Samuel Leach to run a textbook advance-fee investment scam. Victims see fabricated profits of up to $200,000 — but can’t withdraw a cent without paying escalating “fees.”
What you need to know
- platinumglobalmarket.com uses the name and reputation of Samuel Leach, a well-known UK finance YouTuber and trading educator, to appear legitimate
- Victims are lured with promises of crypto, forex, and futures trading — then shown fake account balances with enormous profits
- When victims try to withdraw, they’re hit with demands for a $5,320 “Wirex card fee” and escalating charges. The money is never released
- The site is live and actively scamming as of June 24, 2026. WHOIS shows a Chinese-friendly registrar configuration
The Samuel Leach connection
Samuel Leach is a real person. He runs Samuel & Co Trading, has 200,000+ YouTube subscribers, and teaches people how to trade. He is not behind platinumglobalmarket.com.
The scammers are using his name, his image, and his credibility to convince victims that this is a legitimate operation. The site even references “Samuel Leach’s trading signals” and implies an endorsement that does not exist.
This is a textbook impersonation scam : steal a public figure’s identity, build a fake platform around it, and use their reputation as a shield while you drain victims’ accounts.
How the scam works
A victim on Signal-Arnaques described the full playbook:
Step 1 — The hook. The victim invested an initial $5,000 after seeing what appeared to be Samuel Leach’s platform. They also signed up for $300/month “trading signals.”
Step 2 — The honeymoon. For two years, the victim paid $300/month and watched their account balance grow to a fabricated $200,000. The platform showed daily profits, active trades, everything designed to look real.
Step 3 — The block. When the victim requested a withdrawal, the platform demanded a $5,320 “Wirex card fee” to “process” the payout. After paying, more fees followed. The $200,000 balance was never accessible.
“Scam! They use the name Samuel Leach. I invested $5,000 USD and paid $300 a month for two years. They showed my account at $200,000 but when I tried to withdraw, they asked for a $5,320 Wirex card fee. I paid, then they wanted more. Total scam.” — Victim report, June 24, 2026
This is the classic advance-fee fraud pattern: the money you see on screen is fiction, designed to extract more real money from you before you realize nothing will ever be paid out.
The technical trail
Behind the glossy interface, platinumglobalmarket.com is bare-bones:
- Registrar : eName (China) — a budget registrar frequently used by scam operations
- Trust score : 1 % on ScamDoc
- Live status : Still online (HTTP 200, PHP 8.4, LiteSpeed, Cloudflare Turnstile)
- Domain age : Registered September 2025 — old enough to appear established
The site uses Cloudflare Turnstile to block automated inspection — a red flag in itself. Legitimate trading platforms do not hide behind anti-bot walls.
What to do if you invested
1. Stop paying immediately. Every “fee” they demand is just another layer of the scam. You will never unlock your funds by paying more.
2. Request a chargeback. If you paid by credit or debit card, contact your bank and request a chargeback for “services not rendered” or “fraud.” You typically have 120 days from the transaction date.
3. Report the platform. File a report on Scamwatcher to warn other potential victims. The ScamDoc page for platinumglobalmarket.com is also available for victim reports.
4. Check the FCA register. Samuel Leach’s real company (Samuel & Co Trading) is FCA-registered. platinumglobalmarket.com is not. Always verify financial platforms at register.fca.org.uk.
If you’ve encountered platinumglobalmarket.com or a similar impersonation scam, leave a comment. Your report helps the next person spot the fake before they lose money.