By: Charley Warady

When the initial boom of the Forex market hit the Internet, and more and more people started trading and investing, it immediately became fertile ground for the shady characters of the world to jump in and commit numerous instances of Forex fraud. The market got hit hard by brokers, software developers, trade signal providers, and others whose only interest was to scam people out of their money and get out quickly.

The Forex market's reputation suffered. The Forex market became known for its scams rather than its trading. But that has changed. It's changed because the legitimate businesses have lasted through the Forex fraud debacle and have risen to the top. However, just because the bottom feeders are less prevalent doesn't mean they don't exist. Any Forex trader, novice or experienced, needs to be careful.

Free trials

Generally speaking, the groups in the Forex fraud business are not interested in giving their targets free trials. They want to get your money and get out. They certainly don't want to hang around while you're testing their system. If a service offers a free trial, whether it's a demo account with a Forex broker, or a free trial with a robot trading system, or free signals from a Forex signal provider, these are all indications that the business is probably legitimate.

If they don't offer a free trial, ask for one. You may not get one, but you'll certainly get their attention. There are so many services regarding Forex today, there is no reason why you shouldn't get what you want. And if you can't, perhaps it's time to move on.

First impressions

In all relationships, they say, you only have one opportunity for a first impression. The same is true for Forex tools and services. If someone is going to do business by Forex fraud, they are not really interested in a professional website. As a matter of fact, one of two things usually becomes apparent. The first thing that is a tipoff is if the website appears to be put together by a four year old. If it looks like it took about ten minutes to get the website up and running, it probably did. The second thing to look at is at the other end of the spectrum. If the website looks so slick and “in your face” that a used car salesman would be subtle in comparison, it's time to question validity.

Always check for contact information and support. People involved in Forex fraud kind of shy away from their targets being able to get in touch with them.

Check things out

Particularly with robot traders and Forex signal providers, many of them will include impressive statistical success rates. Like anything else, if it sounds too good to be true; it probably is. You can always check the charts they might have on their site against real charts from the same time period. You can check quotes they give against historical quotes from another source. Don't take their word for it. Spend some time to check it out.

Independent sources

Most importantly, look up some independent reviews. There are sources available that will tell you about Forex fraud and its perpetrators.

There are so many great, dependable, and legitimate Forex instruments out there. With a little research on anyone's part, the chances of being a victim of Forex fraud these days are practically nil. Just be careful.