A scandal has erupted on the r/Forex forum around the broker XM Global Limited. Users are complaining en masse about chart manipulation and outright scamming that begins as soon as it comes to real trading and making a profit.

According to user Fine-Field-5890, he noticed how huge shadow candles suddenly appear on the XM platform and disappear literally within a couple of seconds, as if nothing had happened. The author checked the charts of other brokers (Pepperstone, IC Markets, FP Markets) and made sure there were no such spikes there at all. In his opinion, this is classic "stop-loss hunting" when a broker artificially draws chart wicks to knock client's positions out of the market. Now the author plans to withdraw his funds and switch brokers.

User xCueMe commented on this situation. According to him, XM positions itself as beginner-friendly, but this is a trap. As long as you are losing your deposit and regularly topping up your account, you are a "valuable client". But as soon as you start earning steadily, the broker begins inventing problems, accuses you of violating vague rules, and blocks accounts for "suspicious activity". He also notes that the platform's main income is built on the IB system (referral program), where analyst bloggers lure in newcomers to get a percentage of their trades, while XM earns on the spreads.

User Echoes_OfLogic confirmed these words by sharing a boilerplate letter about the blocking of his account. In it, XM accuses the client of "cashback arbitrage" and bonus manipulation, although it provides no specific evidence or explanations, and calls the decision to close the account final.

User AdmirableLadder7469 told about another trick used by the broker: during the release of important news, the system freezes up completely, and orders are executed at the "best available price", which turned out to be $30 higher than the stated one. As a result, a trade that was supposed to bring profit wiped out the entire deposit. Meanwhile, tech support simply hid behind standard canned replies about "company policy".

User Then_Cardiologist160 explained that terms like ECN or STP are often just marketing, since most CFD brokers operate on the B-Book model, that is, they act as the counterparty to the client's trade and profit from his losses. Therefore, as user AlanG888888 rightly advises, whenever you see any strange movements on the chart, you should always compare quotes with another independent source and document everything with screenshots.