The Forex EA market is flooded with products that promise 500% monthly returns, "guaranteed profits," and "set-and-forget millionaire makers." Most of them are garbage. Some are outright scams.
As someone who actually built and published a validated EA on the MQL5 Market, I've seen both sides. Here are the five red flags I look for:
1. No verified track record. If they can't show you a verified Myfxbook or MQL5 signal, walk away. Screenshots of MT4 profit tabs are meaningless — they take 30 seconds to fake.
2. Unrealistic return claims. Any EA claiming consistent 20%+ monthly returns is either lying, using martingale (which will blow up eventually), or curve-fitted to historical data.
3. No mention of risk management. A real EA talks about drawdown limits, lot sizing logic, and daily loss caps. A scam EA talks about "how much money you'll make."
4. Not published on MQL5 Market. The MQL5 Market requires validation by MetaQuotes. It's not foolproof, but it filters out the worst offenders.
5. Pressure tactics. "Only 10 copies left!" "Price goes up tomorrow!" Real products don't need artificial urgency.
[Full article coming soon — this is a placeholder.]