OANDA Review: Investigating Numerous Withdrawal & Trade Manipulation Complaints

Have you made profitable trades on the OANDA platform but failed to withdraw anything? Have you been subject to manipulations in stop-loss and other trade orders? Did the United States-based forex broker delay both your deposits and withdrawals? In between, did the customer support service fail to resolve your queries? You are not alone! Several traders have reported these incidents on broker review platforms such as WikiFX. In this OANDA review article, we have examined these allegations for you to glance at. Read on!

OANDA Overview: Company Profile & Account Types

OANDA claims to be a full-fledged brokerage entity with services across CFDs, including

• Forex
• Shares
• Indices
• Cryptocurrencies
• Metals
• Commodities

All the popular forex pairs, including EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF and NZD/USD, are available on the brokers platform.

At the same time, you can invest in shares of Apple, Amazon, CISCO Systems, Tesla, Alibaba Group, etc.

Indices available on the platform for trading include Australia 200, Europe 50 and China 50.

Popular cryptocurrencies are available on the trading platform. These include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ether, Cardano and Chainlink.

Metal traders can place bets on gold, silver and copper using the brokers platform.

Commodity traders can invest in Brent crude oil, soybeans, natural gas, sugar, wheat, corn, etc.

It offers three accounts - Standard, Premium and Premium Plus. Below, we have listed a few trading conditions associated with these accounts.

Top Forex Trading Complaints Against OANDA

Investigating the Recent Abusive Trading Claim

A US-based trader claimed online about trading according to the guidelines set by OANDA and earned a huge profit. However, as the trader requested a withdrawal, the trading firm allegedly denied, citing abusive trades by the former. Responding to the charges, the trader shared proof of no abusive trades. Despite this, the trader was informed of an investigation to be carried out by the broker in his account, which would allegedly be in a locked out stage before the final conclusion comes. Here is the most recent allegation shared through this OANDA review.

Withdrawal Glitches Concerning Profitable Trades

Several traders have taken strong exception to the brokerage firm preventing them from accessing withdrawals. Some of them had multiple deposits, wherein withdrawals were allowed earlier. However, as their experience grew with the broker, they faced denials when withdrawing funds. Here are multiple such complaints on this theme.

Invested Above $72,000, Found Only $3,000 Upon Withdrawal, A Trader Claimed

A user from Vietnam stated that he joined the closed Zalo group, which, according to him, traded on his behalf, earning him 200-400,000 VND per day. The user was made to enter the OANDA app. The user invested over $72,000; however, the broker allowed him to withdraw $3,000. Revealing further, the trader accused the broker of asking $24,000 for a VIP account upgrade. While the trader requested OANDA to deduct the fee from the withdrawal amount, it could not be done successfully. The trader shared this negative OANDA review, explaining how he was lured into investing and was allegedly cheated by the broker.

Suspicious Stop-Loss Execution on AUDJPY — Alleged Price Manipulation Concern

A trader from Japan reported a questionable trade execution while shorting AUD/JPY. The user entered a sell position at 97.422 with a stop loss set at 97.717. However, about an hour later, the position was closed at 97.967, significantly higher than the set stop-loss level.

What raised concern is the price discrepancy across platforms:

• Other trading platforms showed the highest price around 97.55.
• One platform (Anda JP) showed a higher spike near 97.81.
• But the traders position was stopped out at an even higher level of 97.967.

This suggests a possible issue, such as:

• Abnormal price spike (price feed discrepancy)
• Excessive slippage beyond expected market movement
• Potential manipulation or unreliable pricing by the broker

The trader warned others that while small trades may seem fine, there could be significant risks when trading larger amounts, especially if such execution irregularities occur. Check out the entire complaint.

Illegitimate Tax Demand for Withdrawals

A trader from Taiwan reported that the customer service of the options USD.com platform claimed to be an OANDA company. According to the complaint statement, the broker allegedly dismissed the withdrawal application. While dismissing the application, the trading firm allegedly stated that the move happened because the account‘s total assets surpassed the tax regulations of the National Taxation Bureau of the Republic of China. Due to this, the broker allegedly demanded 20% of the payment within 48 hours. More trouble as the trader’s account was reportedly frozen. For which, a penalty would be debited from the account. Affected by the overall trading experience, the user shared this OANDA review.

Some App-related Glitches

Several traders have highlighted deficiencies concerning the functioning of the OANDA trading app. According to the users, the app remains inaccessible during price spikes or strong market movements. Due to the connection problems, even charts did not show properly on the OANDA login, a user from the United Kingdom alleged. Check out the multiple complaints against the broker.

Platform Lockouts, Trade Disruptions & Withdrawal Difficulties

The user reports multiple serious issues while trading with OANDA, raising concerns about platform reliability and fund access.

• Platform instability: The mobile trading platform is described as very glitchy, with users being locked out of the system unexpectedly.
• Trade disruption: The user claimed having been kicked out of trades during these issues, potentially limiting profits.
• Withdrawal problems: After submitting four withdrawal requests, the user received responses stating the system was down, preventing successful processing.
• Deposit vs withdrawal imbalance: While depositing funds was easy, withdrawing them proved difficult, creating suspicion about the brokers practices.
• Lack of support: No real-time phone support is available, leaving users stuck in unhelpful FAQ loops without proper assistance.

Overall, the complaint portrayed frustration with technical issues, poor customer support, and withdrawal challenges, leading the user to feel the service borders on being unreliable or potentially problematic.

OANDA Imposed a Fine of $600,000 by the US Regulator

User complaints shared above can be attributable to the alleged compliance failures in the OANDA operation, as found by the National Futures Association (NFA). The compliance issues include inadequate capital practices and issues concerning client transparency. Failure to comply led to a fine of $600,000 by the NFA on OANDA. Despite OANDA settling the case without agreeing to or denying the charges, the Business Conduct Committee (BCC) of the regulator found the trading firm wrong on several regulatory breaches. These alleged offenses include the wrong calculation of its net capital, which measures how a firm can absorb losses, by OANDA.

OANDA WikiFX Review: The Regulatory Status Update

While the complaints sounded alarming, OANDA does have a solid regulatory backing. It has forex licenses from as many as seven regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and NFA. The score for the broker thus reads good at 8.24 out of 10. However, the trading firm must consider the complaints seriously and look to resolve them at the earliest to continue gaining customer loyalty.

For more such broker exposure updates, download the WikiFX app.