We have all seen the influencers with the flashy lifestyle, the houses, the cars, portraying a false image of what trading really is.
In this episode I sat down with Moe and Yousef, who have worked with brokers and financial institutions, to break down how to tell the fake ones from the real ones.
Key takeaways
It is not only the lifestyle that is fake, a lot of these sellers do not even know how to trade and just act successful to sell a course.
Check which brokers they are associated with and research before you buy anything, because the industry has a lot of bad actors.
A regulated broker sends statements, so a legitimate trader can show deposits, withdrawals and profit over a full year.
If the track record is on an unregulated broker, the numbers can be faked, and you have to ask what they are hiding.
A small handful of traders are genuinely successful and have documented the whole journey, so take inspiration instead of putting yourself down.
Grow the account slowly and stack small consistent wins rather than chasing one big win that a single loss can wipe out.
Why so much of it is fake
I have seen this firsthand. Salesmen on phone calls, not just social media, inventing stories about flying in from Australia to close a deal.
When courses got a little obsolete, some moved to selling trading software and still acted like that was how they got rich.
As Moe put it, a lot of these people get promotional offers to sell that lifestyle and profit on behalf of their followers. The real defence is your own research.
“Would someone with a right mind stack a hundred lots on a pair with his hard-earned money?”
Show me the receipts
Yousef made the point that a profitable trader who has done this for years has a track record. If they trade on a regulated institution, you can just ask for a statement.
Ask for a full year showing how much they deposited, withdrew and made in profit. Someone real will have plenty of that. Someone real will not tell you it is personal information.
The same goes for prop firm flexing. If someone claims 800,000 in prop profits, ask how much they spent on challenges. If they spent 30,000 to make 20, that is not profitable.
The real ones, and how to take inspiration
There are traders who genuinely know how to trade and have a good lifestyle. There are not many, but they exist and they have shown their journey from the start.
Do not look at them with a pessimistic mindset and think you are far behind. That has zero advantage for your journey.
Change your perspective. That person is on the same journey you are on, and they made it, so it is proof you can too.
Grow slowly and stay in control
Moe shared his approach. On a 500 account, aim for about 10 a day, exit at a 5 loss, and over 22 trading days that compounds into real growth.
Treat it as an additional source of income until you are good enough to go full time. Small wins over the long term beat one big win that a single loss can remove.
When a trade does run far past your target, stay calm. Moe uses a counter app, counting down how many 10s it takes to reach the goal, so a big move is a bonus rather than a reason to get greedy.
Skip the flashy pitches and compare only verified prop firms on Propvator with the best discounts.