Can a broker do this?

We all think that when the big opportunity comes to cash in we will make it. Here is how I missed mine.

I don't really use my forex mini account since I opened a standard however around in June after end of my exams I deposited £200 into my mini.

Today I was going through my account history and noticed a funny deposit in June. My broker (FXCM) took £200 from my bank account but through an error on their part deposited £20,000 onto my forex account instead of £200.

The 20 grand (pounds) was there for 2 hours, if I had realised I could have bought 2 million pounds worth of currency (100:1 leverage) and capturing a normal move (50 points) would have given me £5,000

When they realised their mistake they took the £20k back and put in 200.

7/25/08 7:16 PM Depos xxx - Wire - yyy zzz 20,000.00 20,049.78
7/25/08 9:25 PM Withd Reversal - xxx - Wire yyy zzz -20,000.00 49.78

I had a chat:

Kelly: No, not your bank, Ilia, it was an error on our part on 7/25/08
Kelly: The error was realized and the correct funds were deposited into your account.
Ilia: Unfortunate thanks

Grr this sucks.

Hi ilia,
What they would do if you lose 5 gran?

In the USA where FXCM is Bank deposit errors are legally reversable.
Do you really think you are entitled to 20,000 because of a deposit error? Really?

Of course they can do that and are compelled to by law in the USA.

Oh no I was referring to do what would happen if I gained 5 grand. Surely they would not take that back and would in fact only take back the 20grand and if I lose 5 grand seeing as it was their mistake not mine I would only lose the £200 which was to be initially deposited there?

Heh. I don't think you can have it favor you in both circumstances. Either they'd take your gains, or they'd charge you the losses, either way... I think it's safe to say the broker will do what's in their own best interest.

Why would you even contemplate trading money that you know for sure is not yours?

That would be cheating, would it not?

Even if you won, I doubt that they'll credit your account with your winnings--and they'd be right, too.

We complain about cheating brokers, but I think it should work both ways.

No offense meant.

this just happened to me too, but from a broker based outside the USA. if a bank transfer error is made in my favour, i know that we are NOT entitled to use that money, it's actually theft. you must inform the bank.

but what happens if your forex broker deposits the wrong amount into your trading account? i've had this happen to me and they haven't corrected their error for over 6 months now. surely forex brokers are not the same as banks, so we aren't legally liable if we trade with that extra money (which was caused by their mistake)?

Hi...
I'm looking for Free Forex Platforms that save live prices in a file as history data as like as Metatrader...
How many platforms do you know with this ability?
Regards