Gallant Capital Market: A £61,900 Forex-CFD “Tax” Scam, and an Honest 31% Recovery

This is the case I point to when a client asks me to promise a number. I cannot. D.H. did almost everything right after she realised — she still only got 31% back, because the money moved to Bitcoin within hours of each deposit. Speed is the whole game, and the scammers were faster at the start.

Initial Contact

D.H. found Gallant Capital Market through a polished advert and a website that mimicked a regulated firm down to the fake registration number. She deposited in stages over a month, encouraged by a steadily rising “portfolio.”

She contacted us the day a “HMRC withholding tax” of 18% was demanded before her withdrawal could be processed. She had already sensed something was wrong. Her instinct was right; her timing, through no fault of her own, was the problem.

Point of Compromise

The deposits went to a UK bank account in a money-mule name, then were converted to BTC and pushed onward the same day. By the time D.H. paid her fourth deposit, the first had already passed through two hops.

The “withholding tax” was the tell. No tax authority collects a percentage up front to release a private investment withdrawal. It is a closing move — one last extraction before the operator goes dark.

EXHIBIT A · CLIENT STATEMENT“The withdrawal page literally showed a countdown timer and an HMRC logo. It said my funds were ready and only the tax stood in the way. I nearly paid it. I am glad I called you instead of the number on that page.”

Investigation Log

1. 01
   Stop-loss advice

   First instruction: do not pay the “tax.” Paying it would have added to the loss with zero chance of release. She stopped.

2. 02
   Bank recall and APP claim

   Because the first leg was a UK bank transfer, we moved immediately on a recall and supported an Authorised Push Payment (APP) reimbursement claim with her bank.

3. 03
   Chain tracing to BTC

   We traced the converted BTC across hops to two exchange deposit addresses and documented the path for compliance teams.

4. 04
   Coordinated filings

   Action Fraud report, FCA clone-firm alert reference, and freeze requests to the receiving exchanges, all cross-referenced.

5. 05
   Partial reimbursement

   Her bank reimbursed part of the earliest transfer under the APP rules; one exchange returned a small frozen balance. The bulk had already been withdrawn to private wallets.

Disposition

Indicators on File

• A “tax authority” demanding an up-front percentage to release your own funds.
• A registration number that looks real but does not match the named firm on the regulator’s register.
• Countdown timers and official logos on a withdrawal page — manufactured urgency.
• Deposits routed to a personal or business bank account rather than the brokerage.
• Pressure to deposit “just a little more” before withdrawing.