Some of you may think that Performance Testing is just plug in the account numbers, fill in a few blanks, and post the test. Most MT4 sharing sites have things set up so that anyone can get their results up quickly.

The FPA isn't like other sites. We have standards. These include...

Checking to make certain that someone isn't trying to hide negative results.

Escalating minimum balances after failures.

Letting traders know which sites are linked.

Making sure that the whole trade history is visible.

Anita's job would be a lot easier if she didn't do this sort of checking, but sometimes easier isn't better.

Not carefully checking, cross-checking, and rechecking would make it simpler for scoundrels, scammers, and other scumbags to use Performance Testing to try to encourage unsuspecting traders to buy products that are likely to lead to large losses.


Today, I'd like to address 2 issues where Anita did her job very well...

UltraPips

The first case involved UltraPips. The investor password was changed. This sort of thing happens from time to time, so Anita sent a note to Teria Seah, the owner of UltraPips, asking for the new investor password. Teria sent a replacement password. This should have been the end of the issue.

Instead, the new password didn't work. Anita politely requested that it be rechecked. Teria Seah sent a second password. That one also didn't work. Anita asked again, and included the address of the MT4 server, just in case that had changed. Teria provided a 3rd password that didn't work.

At this point, Anita asked me how best to approach the situation. I told her this sort of behavior is a common way to try to hide a floating loss that's grown very large. Not surprisingly, UltraPips was showing a significant floating loss at the time the password issue began. I told Anita that the usual tactic used by a person wanting to hide results is to waste as much time as possible while hoping that the floating loss is overcome. I suggested giving the company owner a very short deadline to provide a correct password. If a usable password wasn't provided, I told her to stop the test, mark it as abandoned, and make appropriate notes on it.

Anita emailed Teria Seah and gave her a 24 hour deadline to provide a correct password. Teria then emailed me to complain that Anita's behavior was unprofessional and had bad customer service skills. I explained to Teria that her inability to provide Anita with a correct password had raised a red flag. Teria isn't Anita's customer. FPA readers are Anita's customers. Protecting readers from misleading tests is a critical part of Anita's job.

Since I try to be a nice person, I extended the deadline until the end of the week. About half the time, being a nice person dealing with forex companies works for me. The other half makes me wonder what sort of people I'm dealing with. :(

Had Teria Seah then provided a correct password, this would have been the end of the situation. Instead, she sent a note to Anita giving a new excuse for the delay and asked Anita to remove the test. Anita stopped the test, marked it as abandoned, and included a note about not being able to get a new password.

Teria Seah then emailed me again, demanding to know if the test had negative comments added. I told her that the FPA does not remove test data and that comments on the situation had been added.

This was not what Teria Seah wanted to hear. She didn't bother to check to see that the test was on display and mis-interpreted something Anita said as an indication that the test was removed. She then used this incorrect assessment of the situation to accuse me of having no idea Anita had removed a test.

Things spiraled downward from there. Teria Seah evidently thinks it's ok to provide incorrect passwords 3 times in a row during a period of deep drawdown. She also seems to feel that any attempt to expose these actions is a sign of a problem with FPA employees, not with her own actions. Teria seems to think that hurling insults and improper language somehow gives support to her arguments. I was not surprised when Teria also repeatedly ducked the issue when I mentioned a fake 5 star review for UltraPips that came from her location. In Teria's world, it seems that everything bad is someone else's fault, not hers.

I don't know if Teria is a full scale scammer or not. I know that she is able to turn on and off updates on her MyFxBook account to control showing periods of bad performance of her UltraPips EA. I also know that Teria Seah is someone I personally recommend against doing business with.


EAR16

Anita alerted me early on that something seemed a little suspicious with EAR16's Performance Test submission. What she showed me did indicate a possible link to another group of websites that had a bad history in Performance Testing. The original core of that group was TraderSurfing.com.

TraderSurfing and associated websites had multiple tests running. Most of the test accounts showed high initial profits and then either leveled off or even lost a big part of the profits. Then the exact same test accounts of 2 of the better performing tests were re-submitted to the FPA as “new” products belonging to other websites.

This attempt to sell the exact same product under multiple names finally got so bad that all testing of this group's products was ended. They were specifically informed that they were no longer welcome to submit accounts for Performance Testing. At least one additional attempt to slip another test past Anita failed.

I looked at Anita's suspicions of EAR16. It was enough to warrant further investigation, but not to completely reject the test. I told her to approve the test, but to gather more information for me. I also did some research, and now wish I'd had time to do it more quickly.

That's when things got interesting...

There was a report of spam messages promoting EAR16 being sent from “peace@forexarmy.com”.

There was spam from “Pace Army” at a gmail address promoting EAR16.

Then there was an emailed attack against Broker Arbitrage. It had a fake return address of “scamm@forexpeacearmy.com”. Whoever created this wasn't smart enough to realize that if the FPA had a special email address for scams, the FPA would spell Scam correctly. :D

The message headers and and content of these spam messages filled in some gaps in the information linking EAR16 to TraderSurfing. Between that, some of my own investigations, and what Anita found, it was enough to take action. All testing on EAR16 plus the test for the associated website Quantum-HFT have been stopped.

This issue isn't over. There are several more Performance Tests that Anita suspects of being part of the EAR16/TraderSurfing group. If enough evidence is found, those tests will also be stopped.



I want to personally thank Anita for her actions in these cases. Sellers submitting tests like to complain that tests don't get approved instantly. They think Anita's job is to process all tests submitted by sellers quickly as possible.

Anita doesn't work for sellers of EAs, Signals, or Managed Accounts. She works for FPA members. Her job is to make sure that Performance Testing is as accurate and honest as possible. This takes more time, but it's worth it.
 
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