Is ExpertOption A Scam Or Legit? Is ExpertOption Safe?

What license does ExpertOption have？Investigate Safety from Basic Information

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, ExpertOption is a broker in the binary options market, offering various tradable assets and high leverage. As interest grows among traders regarding the legitimacy and safety of ExpertOption, we investigated the following three points on the official website and WikiFX.

Basic information 1. Company information and features

The company information and features of ExpertOption are as follows:

Name	ExpertOption
Operating Company	EOLabs LLC
Establishment	2014
Country of Registration	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
URL	https://expertoption.com/
Customer Support Phone Number	+44 20 3868 3160
customer support email	help@eo.support
chat support	Unavailable
Facebook	https://facebook.com/expertoption
Instagram	https://instagram.com/expertoption
Youtube	https://www.youtube.com/expertoption

Customer support: ExpertOption's official website is translated into 18 languages. Customer service is available in multiple languages and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (Monday to Sunday).

Fees & Commissions: Spreads are variable depending on the chosen account type but can go as low as 0.1 pips on certain instruments. Expert Option also charges commissions. These will consist of $5 on any winning trades. With regards to the commission on payouts, the broker can take up to 5% on winning trades, which is below the industry standard.

Trading Assets: Expert Option offers over 100 trading instruments, including Stock, Indices, Metals, Commodities, ETFs.

Account Types: Expert Option provides a broad selection of account types. These consist of the Micro Account, Basic Account, Silver Account, Gold Account, Platinum Account, and Exclusive Account, with minimum deposit from as low as $10 to $5000. While Exclusive Account is an exception, investors who want to open this account need to be invited only.

Products Offered	100+trading assets, Stock, Indices, Metals, Commodities, ETFs
Leverage	500:1
Account type	Micro (from $10), Basic ( from $50), Silver (from $500), Gold (from $2500), Platinum (from $5,000) Exclusive ( Invitation Only)
Demo Account	Yes
Trading platform	ExpertOption platform
Spread	From 0.1 pips
Minimum Deposit	$10
Payment Options
Scalping	Yes
Social Trading	Yes
Promos & Bonuses	Yes
Countries Not Accepted	United States, Canada, Switzerland, Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Bulgaria, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden

Basic Information 2. License to acquire

We researched that Expert Option does not hold a license on WikiFX.

What is a financial license？

A financial license is a “business license for financial business” issued by the financial supervisory authority of each country. To obtain a license, an examination by the supervisory authority and a deposit of funds may be required, which is one of the important indicators to determine the reliability of a FX company. The level of difficulty in obtaining the license and the regulations differ depending on the country or institution issuing the license.

The results are as follows:

WikiFX Risk Alert: WikiFX's investigation into Expert Option reveals that the broker lacks a legitimate license for its business activities, based on a thorough check with regulatory bodies and ongoing monitoring of the broker's operations. Notably, ExpertOption's name is absent from the lists of licensed brokers on the websites of major, respected regulators such as the FCA, ASIC. This indicates that ExpertOption is not operating in compliance with necessary regulatory standards. What's more, ExpertOption is also on the list of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) and this agency issues a warning list that ExpertOption is unregulated. As a result, WikiFX has labeled ExpertOption as “No license,” to give traders risk alerts.

WikiFX Low-score Warning: WikiFX evaluates brokers using a comprehensive scoring system that cover five key areas: Regulatory compliance, Licensing, Business operations, Software, and Risk Management. With this framework in mind, we'll conduct an in-depth review of these five dimensions to uncover the reasons behind ExpertOption's low score.

Regulatory: Expert Option functions without regulation in offering financial services to investors, presenting a high level of risk. Operating in the financial sector without appropriate regulatory compliance is likely to lead to failure. Consequently, ExpertOption received a score of “0.00” in this aspect, reflecting WikiFX's emphasis on investors' funds safety.

License: Expert Option does not hold any valid license issued by regulatory authorities, which means it does not operate under the necessary oversight to ensure investor protection and compensation for funds.

Business: Expert Option asserts its establishment in 2014 and is presently in active operation. The platform offers a wide array of trading assets such as currencies, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. In this specific aspect, ExpertOption demonstrates commendable performance, earning a score of 6.99.

Software: Regarding trading software, ExpertOption does not offer the MT4 or MT5 platforms. Rather, it features a complex trading platform, which may not be suitable for novice or inexperienced traders.

Risk Management: Expert Option fails to provideclients with any risk management tools. Such tools are crucial in trading, as they help traders minimize their potential losses through strategic risk control measures.

Basic Information 3. User Asset Protection

No segregated account provided: Expert Option does not specify on its official site or in its “Terms and Conditions” document that it segregates management funds from client funds. This practice, commonly adopted by reputable brokers to safeguard investors, is notably absent in ExpertOption's disclosures. For example, Titan FX clearly say that client funds are held in full in a separate account that is completely independent of Titan FX's operating funds. Under this policy, client funds are never used to fund our operations. If there is a problem, they guarantee up to 20,000 euros (about 2.6 million yen) per complaint.

Is ExpertOption legit or safe？

We can also investigate whether ExpertOption is a scam through some user reviews on some big review websites, like Trustpoilt.

Here are some of the ones we picked up that might be relevant.

ExpertOption reviews on Trustpoilt:

1. They made me join them promising a 100% bonus...

2. ExpertOption mobile trading is a honst broker.

3. My Profitable account disappeared...

Review 1. They made me join them promising a 100% bonus...

This trader expressed frustration with ExpertOption that enticed him to join by promising a 100% bonus, only to discover conditions that were not initially clear. After depositing funds and receiving the bonus, they were informed that any attempt to withdraw funds would result in the loss of the bonus. Despite trading for a while, he found himself unable to withdraw their money without forfeiting the bonus, leading to disappointment and the conclusion that the situation is unfair.

Review 2. ExpertOption mobile trading is a honst broker.

This trader commends ExpertOption Mobile Trading for being a trustworthy broker, emphasizing the significance of honesty. He also highlighted the platform's capability to buy and sell shares at current quotes without any delays, indicating seamless integration with the broader market. This responsiveness and reliability in transactions serve as a testament to ExpertOption's reputation as a proven broker, according to the trader's positive experience.

Review 3. My Profitable account disappeared...

This trader experienced the sudden disappearance of their profitable account on a trading platform, along with all deposits, under the pretext of a terms of service violation, a claim made after the trader had confirmed eligibility to use the platform with a customer service representative. Feeling scammed, the trader warns others about the platform's practices of taking deposits and profits without justification and mentions being blocked from posting reviews on Google Play, leading them to share their grievance on another forum.v

Researching reviews from WikiFX “Truth Reveal”

On WikiFX, there are also some user reviews posted:

Reviews posted on WikiFX are mixed with negative ones and positive ones. Let's first check one negative review and see what happened to this trader when he traded with this broker.

This trader from Hong Kong expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the broker, claiming it's the worst he'd ever encountered. Expert Option prevented them from withdrawing their funds and even blocked his Skrill, credit card and USDT.

Let's also check some positive reviews present.

This reviewer praises the broker for prioritizing quality services and appreciates the availability of a user-friendly application across all platforms, including MacOS. He said that encountering brokers offering MacOS software is uncommon, giving this broker a high recognization.

This trader expresses high satisfaction with ExpertOption, praising its platform as excellent for trading. They highlight the platform's user-friendly interface, which is easy to navigate, and express confidence in its potential for making good money. The trader has no current plans to switch to another trading platform, indicating a strong preference for ExpertOption as one of the best platforms available for reliable trading opportunities.

WikiFX Original Research Results

At WikiFX, deciding if a broker is trustworthy or a scam involves looking into reported scams, conducting field visits, and evaluating the broker's withdrawal problems.

The results are as follows:

Independent Investigation 1. Scam Exposures

WikiFX's exposure section serves as the mouth of truth, where many exposure cases gather here. Many victims shared their real experience when trading with this broker, 100% being defrauded. Within the exposure area, it becomes evident that there are 8 documented instances of scam activities linked to this broker, with a majority facing issues in withdrawing funds, leading to reports of financial losses and other malpractices.

A Filipino trader has alleged that this brokerage firm is experiencing issues with client withdrawals. The trader reports submitting a withdrawal request, but the funds have not yet been credited to their bank account.

Independent investigation 2. Field survey results

In WikiFX's “Field Investigation” column, we actually visit local offices and investigate whether or not they are shell companies.

As of March 5, 2024, WikiFX has not conducted an on-site investigation of ExpertOption.

Therefore, it is unclear whether ExpertOption's office is a shell company.

Independent investigation 3: ExpertOption Wthdrawals Policy

When it comes to funding options, ExpertOption claims to offer over 20 payment methods to offer quick and convenient deposit and withdrawal. However, many users complaint that Expert Option has severe withdrawal problems. Now, let's check its payment policies to see where problems are. “The company is not responsible for any delay or cancelation of funds transaction which was caused by the payment method provider.” While it's understandable for the company not to be responsible for delays or cancellations caused by third-party payment providers, the clause entirely puts the onus on the client to resolve any issues. This can be inconvenient and time-consuming for clients, especially if the issue originates from the company's integration with the payment provider. Besides, the policy restricts clients to contacting the payment provider's support and only notifying the company. This might limit the client's ability to seek recourse directly from the company if the issue stems from their platform or integration.

The disclosure regarding deposit methods, particularly the emphasis on e-payment speed, creates an asymmetry of information in this document. While highlighting efficient deposit options is a positive aspect, the complete absence of details on withdrawal processing times and fees raises concerns about transparency.

Conclusion

ExpertOption, with a low WikiFX score of just 1.55 out of 10, presents significant risks regarding its reliability and trustworthiness as a brokerage platform. Such a low rating typically reflects issues like inadequate regulatory compliance, lack of transparency in financial transaction, or problems with fund withdrawals, among other critical operational aspects. Anyway, traders should exercise extra caution given ExpertOption's notably low score, and consider more reputable and highly rated brokers for safer investment.