PipStop

Recently I've touched on investing schemes, and the due diligence and caution that needs to be exercised by individual investors.

I've also mentioned how the British Columbia Securities Commissions, which may be one of the most stringent of financial regulatory authorities (for good reason) in the world, has created an investor awareness website at www.investright.org.

The following is a great video created by the BCSC entitled "Scams in online social networks."

I see increasing credence in this. As Trading Post continues to create a community of traders, we inevitable encounter outsized expectations, overzealous individuals and short-term minded individuals.

As an example, go by two of the largest Forex forums in the world at www.forexfactory.com and www.fxstreet.com. While there is much good that happens at both, with a healthy exchange of information, and moderation of comments is done (more so at Forex Factory), it is a fact that ANYONE can create an anonymous profile and post whatever thoughts and opinions they like - all in the spirit of honesty, transparency and integrity.

Unfortunately, if you look at an extreme example such as www.forexbastards.com or now more commonly known as www.forexpeacearmy.com, you see how comments and opinions can absolutely get out of hand, and often reality becomes tinged with fantasy - in other words it comes down to which anonymous person who's sitting at a desk, typing away on his/her keyboard, in some far off land do you believe?