Exness Scam: Leverage & Unscheduled Maintenance

[Manav]

A big scam going on in Exness in the name of Leverage and Unscheduled Maintenance. If you open a trade and if you want to manage your margin requirement they can block access to personal area all of a sudden without any prior notice. Then, all you can do is either to close the trade in loss or just keep staring at your screen with folded hands. You don't have any liberty to increase leverage or fund your account to avoid margin call because access to personal area is blocked. When you contact them about this issue, they will come up with following response:

"We understand that you were experiencing difficulty accessing Exness website on XXXXXX due to its temporary unavailability. As a result, you could neither deposit to trading account XXXXX, not modify its leverage. At the same time, we insist that the only place for managing trading is the trading terminal (standard MetaTrader4, mobile MetaTrader4, Exness Webterminal)."




Before jumping to present case i will first quickly explain a previous incident with this broker which happened in recent past.

Previous Incident: I am trading with exness since 2010. Everything was working fine until the month of July, 2016 when i withdrew around $60K profit through Neteller. That was the first time ever when i withdrew this much of money within a month from Exness. Things turned suddenly thereafter. On 26-July i noticed a strange incident. I had leveraged positions open under my MT4 terminal and when price started moving against my trade i logged in to my personal area to increase leverage (exness offers upto unlimited leverage). Due to some glitch the leverage value under my MT4 terminal & online personal area were showing differently resulting which i was unable to change leverage. I reached out to support & explained them about this issue and i was given 24-48 hours to resolve the issue. However, they failed to resolved it within given timeframe & ultimately the same trade got stopped out on 29-Jul. I suffered loss of over $20K due to this entire issue. I reached out to exness asking for compensation but they bluntly denied it again & again for 5-6 times. It took me almost 40-45 days to convince them & at-last i was compensated against those trades. I was assured that this sort of incidence will not happen again. I am primarily trading with this broker since more than 6 years & i was little bit attached towards it due to it's automatic withdrawal. So, at first i thought to ignore this incident and started trading as usual.

In case you want to read in detail about this incident with all supportive info. then you can read it here in sequential order [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]


More than a month has been passed since previous issue was resolved and i was trading normally but this time Exness again came up with another issue which costed me $13K.

Current Incident: On 25-Oct-2016 everything was working fine until i opened a GBP/AUD 12.00 lot long position. As soon as price started moving against my trade, i rushed to login to my personal area so that i can maintain sufficient margin by increasing leverage value & adding a little more funds to avoid any steep fall due to market volatility. To my shocked, i noticed that i was unable to access my personal area properly and my access was restricted all of a sudden. I rushed to live support and i was told that there was some "unscheduled maintenance" work going on and everything will be back to normal very soon [See chat log]. I waited for almost an hour but no luck, my access was still restricted and i couldn't do anything except of staring at my MT4 terminal screen with folded hands. I shot an email to their support department asking about this issue and i was told "If you face any losses due to this you can register a complaint online from this link once the personal area is functional" [See Screenshot 1].



Adding to my bad luck the GBP/AUD took a sharp plunge hitted the margin call & took sharp up-turn (The trade just went 3 pips down after hitting the margin call & shot more than 100 pips from there) [See Screenshot 2] . Even if i was able to increase leverage i could have avoided that steep loss that time but since my access to personal area was restricted by exness i couldn't do so.



When i approached exness explaining my situation i was bluntly denied compensation and i was told that since MT4 terminal was working fine i could have managed the margin requirement from MT4 terminal itself [See screenshot 3]. Here, i asked them how i can i manage margin requirement from MT4 terminal except closing the same trade in loss? But, as expected i didn't receive any response on this even after repeatedly asking.



I tried explaining them again & again that during previous similar incident also they awarded compensation (though that happened after almost 40-45 days) [See screenshot 4] then why they are denying it this time but they fails to understand.



I tried explaining them in simplest possible manner but they still fails to understand or might be they don't want to listen anything:

- In previous case (ticket# 24987), there was an issue causing different margin values in MT4 terminal & personal area due to which i was unable to change the leverage. It took me 40-45 days to convince complaints department. In short, there was margin requirement and i wanted to increase leverage but i was unable to do so. MT4 terminal was working fine that time. Trade was compensated after 40-45 days.

- In the present case, i wanted to increase leverage and fund account to avoid margin call but access to personal area was restricted. I was unable to increase leverage in present case too. In short, there was margin requirement and i wanted to increase leverage but i was unable to do so. MT4 terminal was working fine in present case too. Compensation request denied.

Exness accepted there was an issue. They accepted, it affected my trade but still they don't want to compensate. They keep stressing that since the MT4 terminal was working fine i could have managed the margin requirement from there itself. However, i fails to understand how margin can be fully controlled in the trading platform alone when trade was running in loss. To maintain margin, can we increase leverage from MT4 terminal, can we add money from trading platform alone? If no, how can we manage margin requirement from platform alone except closing it in loss?

Last time it took me 40-45 days to convince them and it looks this time they again want me to entertain them by arguing for another 40-45 days. Even though i was specifically told that "if you face any losses due to this you can register a complain online once the personal area is functional". When i did, they bluntly denied my complaint continuously [See screenshot 5, 6, 7].



I am not sure i left with anymore option here except of continuously arguing with them for another month or two and still that doesn't guarantee whether i will be compensated.

Important Note: I never faced this sort of issues previously during last 6 years of my trading. Might be because i was dealing with small money until mid of this year. When i become confident that this broker can be fully trusted & as soon as i started putting big money since mid of this year, exness started showing their true face.

Since this is a long post, i might have missed some info. In case i really did, kindly let me know i will update this post with more information.

 

[FxMaster]

Its r

A big scam going on in Exness in the name of Leverage and Unscheduled Maintenance. If you open a trade and if you want to manage your margin requirement they can block access to personal area all of a sudden without any prior notice. Then, all you can do is either to close the trade in loss or just keep staring at your screen with folded hands. You don't have any liberty to increase leverage or fund your account to avoid margin call because access to personal area is blocked. When you contact them about this issue, they will come up with following response:

"We understand that you were experiencing difficulty accessing Exness website on XXXXXX due to its temporary unavailability. As a result, you could neither deposit to trading account XXXXX, not modify its leverage. At the same time, we insist that the only place for managing trading is the trading terminal (standard MetaTrader4, mobile MetaTrader4, Exness Webterminal)."

View attachment 28382 View attachment 28383


Before jumping to present case i will first quickly explain a previous incident with this broker which happened in recent past.

Previous Incident: I am trading with exness since 2010. Everything was working fine until the month of July, 2016 when i withdrew around $60K profit through Neteller. That was the first time ever when i withdrew this much of money within a month from Exness. Things turned suddenly thereafter. On 26-July i noticed a strange incident. I had leveraged positions open under my MT4 terminal and when price started moving against my trade i logged in to my personal area to increase leverage (exness offers upto unlimited leverage). Due to some glitch the leverage value under my MT4 terminal & online personal area were showing differently resulting which i was unable to change leverage. I reached out to support & explained them about this issue and i was given 24-48 hours to resolve the issue. However, they failed to resolved it within given timeframe & ultimately the same trade got stopped out on 29-Jul. I suffered loss of over $20K due to this entire issue. I reached out to exness asking for compensation but they bluntly denied it again & again for 5-6 times. It took me almost 40-45 days to convince them & at-last i was compensated against those trades. I was assured that this sort of incidence will not happen again. I am primarily trading with this broker since more than 6 years & i was little bit attached towards it due to it's automatic withdrawal. So, at first i thought to ignore this incident and started trading as usual.

In case you want to read in detail about this incident with all supportive info. then you can read it here in sequential order [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ]


More than a month has been passed since previous issue was resolved and i was trading normally but this time Exness again came up with another issue which costed me $13K.

Current Incident: On 25-Oct-2016 everything was working fine until i opened a GBP/AUD 12.00 lot long position. As soon as price started moving against my trade, i rushed to login to my personal area so that i can maintain sufficient margin by increasing leverage value & adding a little more funds to avoid any steep fall due to market volatility. To my shocked, i noticed that i was unable to access my personal area properly and my access was restricted all of a sudden. I rushed to live support and i was told that there was some "unscheduled maintenance" work going on and everything will be back to normal very soon [See chat log]. I waited for almost an hour but no luck, my access was still restricted and i couldn't do anything except of staring at my MT4 terminal screen with folded hands. I shot an email to their support department asking about this issue and i was told "If you face any losses due to this you can register a complaint online from this link once the personal area is functional" [See Screenshot 1].

View attachment 28385

Adding to my bad luck the GBP/AUD took a sharp plunge hitted the margin call & took sharp up-turn (The trade just went 3 pips down after hitting the margin call & shot more than 100 pips from there) [See Screenshot 2] . Even if i was able to increase leverage i could have avoided that steep loss that time but since my access to personal area was restricted by exness i couldn't do so.

View attachment 28386

When i approached exness explaining my situation i was bluntly denied compensation and i was told that since MT4 terminal was working fine i could have managed the margin requirement from MT4 terminal itself [See screenshot 3]. Here, i asked them how i can i manage margin requirement from MT4 terminal except closing the same trade in loss? But, as expected i didn't receive any response on this even after repeatedly asking.

View attachment 28387

I tried explaining them again & again that during previous similar incident also they awarded compensation (though that happened after almost 40-45 days) [See screenshot 4] then why they are denying it this time but they fails to understand.

View attachment 28388

I tried explaining them in simplest possible manner but they still fails to understand or might be they don't want to listen anything:

- In previous case (ticket# 24987), there was an issue causing different margin values in MT4 terminal & personal area due to which i was unable to change the leverage. It took me 40-45 days to convince complaints department. In short, there was margin requirement and i wanted to increase leverage but i was unable to do so. MT4 terminal was working fine that time. Trade was compensated after 40-45 days.

- In the present case, i wanted to increase leverage and fund account to avoid margin call but access to personal area was restricted. I was unable to increase leverage in present case too. In short, there was margin requirement and i wanted to increase leverage but i was unable to do so. MT4 terminal was working fine in present case too. Compensation request denied.

Exness accepted there was an issue. They accepted, it affected my trade but still they don't want to compensate. They keep stressing that since the MT4 terminal was working fine i could have managed the margin requirement from there itself. However, i fails to understand how margin can be fully controlled in the trading platform alone when trade was running in loss. To maintain margin, can we increase leverage from MT4 terminal, can we add money from trading platform alone? If no, how can we manage margin requirement from platform alone except closing it in loss?

Last time it took me 40-45 days to convince them and it looks this time they again want me to entertain them by arguing for another 40-45 days. Even though i was specifically told that "if you face any losses due to this you can register a complain online once the personal area is functional". When i did, they bluntly denied my complaint continuously [See screenshot 5, 6, 7].

View attachment 28389 View attachment 28390 View attachment 28391

I am not sure i left with anymore option here except of continuously arguing with them for another month or two and still that doesn't guarantee whether i will be compensated.

Important Note: I never faced this sort of issues previously during last 6 years of my trading. Might be because i was dealing with small money until mid of this year. When i become confident that this broker can be fully trusted & as soon as i started putting big money since mid of this year, exness started showing their true face.

Since this is a long post, i might have missed some info. In case i really did, kindly let me know i will update this post with more information.

Its running fine or still the same situation?

 

[Manav]

Its r

Its running fine or still the same situation?

Still the same situation. They are not ready to hear my case at all. They keep insisting that MT4 terminal was working fine so i could have managed my margin requirement from terminal itself. Even after repeatedly asking how i could have done that except of closing trades in loss, they fails to respond.

Basically, they restricted my access to personal area all of a sudden in the middle of volatile market without any prior notice due which i was unable to fund my account or increase leverage to maintain sufficient margin in my account. When i contacted their support they even asked me to register a complain if i suffer any loss due to this issue. But when i did, they bluntly denying my claim.

Now if this issue doesn't qualify for the compensation since MT4 terminal was working then why support guy told me to file a complaint if i suffer any loss due to this issue? Instead he could have clearly told that MT4 is working properly & you can maintain margin requirements from MT4 terminal instead of waiting for personal area to become functional. No one is answering this even.

 

[FxMaster]

Still the same situation. They are not ready to hear my case at all. They keep insisting that MT4 terminal was working fine so i could have managed my margin requirement from terminal itself. Even after repeatedly asking how i could have done that except of closing trades in loss, they fails to respond.

Basically, they restricted my access to personal area all of a sudden in the middle of volatile market without any prior notice due which i was unable to fund my account or increase leverage to maintain sufficient margin in my account. When i contacted their support they even asked me to register a complain if i suffer any loss due to this issue. But when i did, they bluntly denying my claim.

Now if this issue doesn't qualify for the compensation since MT4 terminal was working then why support guy told me to file a complaint if i suffer any loss due to this issue? Instead he could have clearly told that MT4 is working properly & you can maintain margin requirements from MT4 terminal instead of waiting for personal area to become functional. No one is answering this even.

View attachment 28427

I think we do have active exness Rep here in FPA, you can invite him/her to answer here.

 

[Manav]

I think we do have active exness Rep here in FPA, you can invite him/her to answer here.

Thank you. Just invited the representative.

 

[Pharaoh]

If I might make a suggestion for future trading.

Don't trade so heavily that a move against your position would require an increase in leverage or an additional deposit.

 

[Manav]

If I might make a suggestion for future trading.

Don't trade so heavily that a move against your position would require an increase in leverage or an additional deposit.

Yes, I understood your point but i believe 150 pips difference was not too heavy either provided i had an option to extend the SL by additional funding which i frequently use to do with exness (though i accept that was my mistake i believed on reliability of exness platform) but at the same time is it feasible for a forex broker to restrict all of a sudden your activities in the middle of volatile market in the name of 'unscheduled maintenance'? $1000-$2000 i would have ignored but $13000 is not a small amount which i can let it go just due to their own server issue.

 

[Georgii Bartenev]

Dear Manav, moderators, and other forum participants,

thank you very much for waiting for my reply here.

Please allow me to continue the conversation with Manav from this point.

First of all, thank you for sharing your experience with Exness here.

I have studied this case by reading all of your posts sent from the Feedback part of your Member area as well as the replies from our Complaints department.

Before I begin, let me comment on the previous case that you encountered.

It was related to the incorrect free margin in the Member area which led to limited variety of leverage options. Thus, the margin was also incorrectly reflected in the trading platform. After the issue was reported to have been resolved, we further established that the leverage values still may not have entirely corresponded to the equity values at your trading account in the MT4. As far as various pieces of server information needed to be checked (NZDUSDm prices, leverage change data) and a number of conclusions had to be made (whether the leverage was changing in line with the equity changes), the final decision took longer than the standard time of 20 days as stipulated by our General business terms.

Now to the case in question.

The website issue that you are referring to was about having no access to the Member area. The Complaints department have referred to it as ‘unscheduled’ because it was not planned. I’d like to point out that we carry out all scheduled maintenances at weekends.

The issue we are discussing here was dealt with right after it was first reported to our IT. Unfortunately, it was not possible for us to notify clients of it beforehand for obvious reasons. Needless to say, our only objective in this matter was to get rid of the issue as soon as possible as we did not ‘block access to personal area’ but rather took every step to restore it.

More importantly, the focus of your complaint was the trade that was stopped out while you were trying to access the Member area to either change the leverage or make a deposit.

As far as I gather, the main arguments of why the compensation requests have been denied are these (as per the interchange of messages in the relevant ticket):

1. The trade was held for slightly more than 2 hours - Exness could not guarantee that a possible deposit would have been credited instantly. 98% of our deposits are instant, while the standard time for a deposit to be credited to a trading account is 24 hours.
2. The trading server was working fine while the trade was open.
3. The trade could be controlled in the trading platform and the execution of the trade was correct.
4. The results that you were trying to achieve through the Member area could be achieved through MT4 as well (the idea behind this argument is that avoiding stop-loss by increasing the margin level can be also achieved through MT4).

This brings me to the difference between the two cases you are comparing: the 1st case had impact on the trading account in the MT4, whose margin and margin level were incorrect due to the website issue, whereas the 2nd case did not affect the MT4 at all. So, in case 1 ‘there was margin requirement and you wanted to increase leverage but you were unable to do so’, yet the MT trading account was affected as it was displaying incorrect margin and margin level, which makes it different from case 2. Consequently, the decisions in these two cases differ as well.

Apart from that, as you mentioned Exness did confirm that there was a website issue that limited access to Member areas, but unfortunately nowhere in the ticket could I find that Exness accepted the fact that the issue affected the trade. On the contrary, Exness has firmly expressed the point that in spite of the website issue the trading in the MT4 was unrestricted, and, therefore, the trade was not affected by the issue. In other words, the issue affected the website, whereas the main place to trade is the MT4, which was unaffected.

As far as the Support department is concerned, the scope of their responsibilities does not allow them to guarantee that a particular claim will be satisfied and compensation provided. At the same time, they did advise filing a complaint as this was the only option to decide on whether the issue affected the trade. Meanwhile, the Complaints department are certain that despite this website situation all trading activity could still be normally performed in the MT4 (or Webterminal).

Finally, I would like to assure you that the amount of possible compensation is never taken into consideration when handling clients’ complaints. All what matters is whether a particular trade was affected by a particular issue. If the Complaints department consider a trade to have been affected by an issue, they take measures to compensate for it.

At the moment the ticket in the Feedback is not closed and the dialogue is still continuing.

I will be monitoring further updates from the Complaints department.

 

[Manav]

Hi Exness,

Before I begin, let me comment on the previous case that you encountered....

In previous instance too, no one was ready to listen to my case. I was instantly given compensation against 2 small trades ($1K-$2K) but the big $16000 trade was denied for more than 5-6 times by the complaints department. Finally, with the help of one of your colleague "Georgii Bartenev" i was somehow able to convince the complaints department and i was granted compensation of $16K but that happened after continuous argument of more than 40-45 days. So, i strongly disagree with your statement that ".......amount of possible compensation is never taken into consideration when handling clients’ complaints". Unfortunately, it looks like he is not active anymore so this case again became complicated.

Now, i don't want to put more stress on previous case since that was resolved but if you carefully come to endpoint of both the cases then you will notice, under both the cases i wanted to increase leverage but i was unable to do so. Anyways, coming to current issue:

98% of our deposits are instant, while the standard time for a deposit to be credited to a trading account is 24 hours....

I am an active Exness trader since 2010 (u can see from the attached screenshot) & in the mean time i made countless number of deposits. There was not even a single instance where my deposit was not carried out instantly so i didn't see any reason to believe that my deposit will not be carried out instantly when i really need it.

The results that you were trying to achieve through the Member area could be achieved through MT4 as well

Margin level could have been managed by either closing trades in loss or by hedging (which also indirectly resulted in accepting loss upto the hedged amount) which i never intended to do so. Other than this is there still any option which i could have exercised to achieve the desired margin level from within MT4 terminal?

As far as the Support department is concerned, the scope of their responsibilities does not allow them to guarantee....

I followed what was conveyed to me by the support staff. I am no magician and neither i have access to the documents which list out support department scope of responsibilities.

Even for a moment if i forget the additional funding thing & consider alone the Leverage option then also my trade could have been saved if i was able to increase leverage to the maximum (as can be seen from my previous screenshot) but i was unable to do so due to restricted access to personal area.

 

[Georgii Bartenev]

Dear Manav,
Thank you for your reply.
Please let me kindly inform you, that this information has been passed to our specialists and currently is under review.
We will update information in the thread right after we will get a reply from our Complaints department.
Thank you for your patience.