Trading involves risk and you can lose money. Results vary.
1What The FTC Said About Online Trading Academy
The FTC said the company made misleading claims about how much students could earn with its trading strategy.
Courses often cost thousands of dollars and many students financed them. The FTC also said the company asked people seeking refunds to sign contracts that stopped them from posting negative reviews.
2The 2020 Settlement
In September 2020 Online Trading Academy and its founder Eyal Shachar settled the FTC charges.
The settlement set a $362 million judgment, partly suspended because the defendants could not pay it all. The company had to forgive the debt of thousands of customers who financed courses, and it can no longer use contracts that block reviews.
What the FTC said about the courses
Send my free AI trading guide →3Refunds For Former Students
The FTC mailed checks totaling more than $5.4 million to about 31,000 former students.
Check the FTC's official Online Trading Academy refund page for current details. Be careful with anyone who offers to get your money back for a fee.
4How We Would Test Any Trading Program Today
Start on demo money, keep withdrawals easy, and walk away from anything that promises fixed returns.
A demo account runs on real prices with fake money, so you see how a strategy behaves before risking a dollar. Check that the broker is regulated where you live, and make a small withdrawal early to prove the money comes back. Trading involves risk and you can lose money.
- Run it on a demo account for two to four weeks
- Check the broker's regulator on its official site
- Withdraw a small amount early to test payouts
Ready to start? Our free guide on letting AI trade for you walks you through it step by step, and our shut down and sued money programs guides cover the rest of this topic.
Questions people ask
Did Online Trading Academy have to pay refunds?
Yes. The FTC mailed more than $5.4 million in refund checks to about 31,000 former students.
Was Online Trading Academy debt forgiven?
The 2020 settlement required the company to forgive the debt of thousands of customers who financed courses.
Who founded Online Trading Academy?
Eyal Shachar founded Online Trading Academy and was named in the FTC settlement.
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