Can Instagram Forex Traders Make Anyone Rich?

Except for the obvious and cynical answer to the titular question that Instagram traders can make themselves rich by selling you signals, pitching worthless courses, or earning IB commission from brokers (or all this together), the issue at hand is rather serious and the answer to it is really important considering how widespread IG is, especially among people lacking financial literacy.

The situation with fake IG posters pretending to be affluent traders earning millions from Forex or other financial markets has been a topic of both mainstream and industry-specific journalism. Such social network accounts target newbies looking to earn a quick buck. They also tend to aim at very young people (often even younger than 18) — the less experienced is the victim, the less financial knowledge they have and the more attractive is the opulent lifestyle presented by a pretending Instagram trader.

Images like this:

...or this:

...and, of course, like this:

...attract young audience that is fascinated by all these attributes of the rich. Then, the Instagram trader just needs to invite them to join his or her "team" and rip them off their initial deposit, training cost, or monthly subscription fee.

Most such IG traders post their pictures with rented cars, houses, and jets. Rarely, they can afford to buy some of this stuff using their affiliate earnings or training/signals fees. In some cases, they don't even post original content but use the stock or "borrowed" photos to lure followers.

In more believable cases, Forex mentors and traders don't post rich kid lifestyle photos — instead, they post lots of motivational memes, half of them with the main character of The Wolf of Wall Street portrayed as a modern-day hero. Account statements showing lots of trades in the green — made up or real — are also popular posts on such social accounts. After all, what else is there to post if you are to sell something Forex-related? Photos from the course lessons? Some IG posters do that, but those are boring. Charts and analysis? Boring! Education? This sometimes happens, but IG is poorly suited for such posts. So, as a result, we have an environment where popularity is conquered those who put up the most outrageous spectacle of faux rich. In the end, it is the very structure and marketing self-positioning of Instagram as a social network for sharing lifestyle photos that leads to proliferation of phony traders showcasing Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

It is hard to imagine that a legit trader would degrade to this Wolf of Instagram kind of behavior. However, all people are different and, perhaps, there are some that really earn well by trading and show their wealth off on IG without any malicious intent? It is hard to say, but according to our own survey, one third of our website's visitors believe that such Instagram accounts are genuine traders.

If you want to share your thoughts on the phenomenon of Instagram traders, please join our Forex forum for a discussion.