The Online Trading Course Industry’s Hidden Fraud Problem

Opening Part VI of How Not to Get Scammed by AI Trading Apps, Felix Bick turns attention to a category of fraud distinct from direct investment schemes: trading education itself, and Chapter 45 explains why this industry deserves the same scrutiny as any investment platform.

Bick frames the landscape honestly: the legitimate online education industry — courses teaching real skills in trading, investing, and financial analysis — coexists with a substantial fraudulent segment selling access, community, and lifestyle aspiration rather than genuinely useful education. Distinguishing between them requires looking past marketing to the actual substance and outcomes of what’s being sold.

The chapter details a consistent funnel structure Bick has observed across course-based scams: a free webinar or short video establishing the instructor’s supposed expertise and success, followed by an upsell to a paid course, often followed by further upsells to “mastermind” groups, mentorship programs, or exclusive trading signal services at escalating price points.

Bick makes an important structural point about why this category deserves particular attention: the financial education industry’s scale means it’s a significant category of harm in its own right, separate from direct trading fraud, since a course purchase doesn’t directly promise investment returns and therefore may fall outside some consumer protection frameworks that specifically address investment fraud.

This last point is genuinely important — because a course seller typically isn’t directly promising to invest your money, this category can sometimes escape the regulatory scrutiny applied to investment platforms, even when the underlying deception around expected outcomes is just as significant.

For anyone considering a paid trading course, this chapter of How Not to Get Scammed by AI Trading Apps offers Felix Bick’s essential framing for a category of financial harm that’s often overlooked relative to direct investment fraud.