FXCM forex broker scam check

I am considering trading forex through Forex Capital Markets, a forex brokerage firm located in New York City. Their website can be found at www.fxcm.com. I have been practicing forex trading using their FXCM Trading Station II platform and I have been trying to come up with $5000 to open an account with them in a few weeks; but before I go forward opening an account with them or with any other forex broker, I need to make sure they are on the up and up. So I contacted FXCM today to initiate an inquiry with regard to some accusations made on a number of different message boards by former FXCM customers who claim that FXCM is a scam.

An agent from FXCM responded to my initial inquiry by assuring me that FXCM wants all their customers to be successful (this in response to accusations that they target newbies who don’t know anything about forex trading because they know the newbies will all lose their deposit which of course will go into the FXCM bank accounts as profit). The agent wrote:

…if our clients are unsuccessful with their trading they will end up either closing their account out or trading less in general which means we make less money overall if that happens. Hence it is in our interest to help our clients.

The agent did admit that the demo platform I use for my practice sessions is not exactly the same as the live account. That is a definite big concern for me because it means I can’t rely on the reports from the demo to give me an idea of the results I can expect in a live trading environment. It means my practice sessions are essentially useless because the data is completely irrelevant.