New Year
New Bribery Attempt

The Forex Peace Army does not accept bribes.

I was hoping to make it all the way to February before something like this happened.

The Bribe Offer

The message below was sent on January 18, 2020. Since it came in from a Gmail account, I have no idea if this guy truly represents the broker or if he really works for the online reputation improvement firm he claims to represent. Because of this, I am editing out some information in order not to unfairly damage the reputation of those who might not really be involved.

He included a screenshot showing some negative posts and reviews for the broker.

This was bad enough as a simple bribery attempt. Lxxx is worse than someone who only offers bribes. Several of the most recent complaints are from his fellow countrymen. Lxxx isn’t just unethical. He also doesn’t care what happens to his own neighbors. His loyalty is only to whoever is offering him money.

He’s also very determined to get this deal done. On the 20th, he sent a followup requesting a quick answer. On the 21st, he sent another request for a reply as soon as possible.

I’m going to send my reply as soon as I get this posted. I will say…

Dear Lxxx

I’m in charge of the FPA’s forums and reviews. Please see the link below to find the FPA’s fee schedule for this service as well as some other information you need to see…

(Link to this blog post)

Best regards,
Bill K.
Forex Peace Army

My Answer to the Bribe Offer

Lxxx, I’m putting the full answer below so you and everyone else out there can read it…

Hello Lxxx and all FPA readers,

The Forex Peace Army does not accept bribes.

Some people seem surprised that the FPA doesn’t accept bribes to remove negative reviews. One SEO specialist I was talking to was stunned when he finally figured out that I was dead serious about this policy.  He was sure all online review sites did this.

The reasons the FPA doesn’t accept bribes are very simple. First, being ethical is one of the requirements of working here.  The FPA was founded to help clients get issues resolved and to warn against companies that treat clients unfairly.  Second, if I accepted bribes, I could make a lot of money for a very short time. Then real FPA members would notice the complaints disappearing and the site would lose all credibility. Long-time loyal members would leave. Advertisers would leave. Then I and everyone else here would be looking for new jobs.

Some advertisers have been surprised that they didn’t get special rights in the reviews. Surprise! An advertising campaign buys banner space. No special removals of bad reviews are part of any advertising package. Most advertisers understand, but a few decided to spend their ad money on sites that don’t mind hiding client complaints in exchange for money.

To help make sure that advertisers don’t get any special treatment in the reviews, the logins used by review moderators block the banner ads. I also can’t see who’s currently got banners running at the FPA. This helps make sure that moderation of reviews is as fair and unbiased as possible.

Even after all these years of coldly turning down bribe attempts, some people are still stupid enough to believe the Forex Peace Army takes money to remove complaints. I keep hoping after all the bribe offers that have been turned down that word would spread. Instead, there’s always some new idiot who’s sure that the FPA is ready to leap at the chance to destroy its reputation in exchange for a few dollars.

Many scammers were very angry when they found out that no one here at the FPA wanted their dirty money. Not as bribes and not even for advertising campaigns. Since bribery didn’t work, many scammers decided to try spreading lies. If they couldn’t hide the existence of unhappy clients, the could try to damage the reputation of the site that does the most to help those clients warn others. The simple fact is that no matter how many false claims they make, the FPA does not and never has accepted bribes. As long as the current people working at the FPA are here, the FPA will never accept bribes.

Bribes don’t work to control what’s posted at the FPA. Lies don’t work to keep potential clients from seeing complaints. Threats of violence won’t change how all reviews for all companies go through exactly the same moderation and screening process. Denial of Service attacks sometimes block access to the site for a short time here and there, but the FPA is always upgrading the defenses. Clients have a right to post their complaints and companies are openly invited to answer those complaints.

Lxxx, I promised you a fee schedule.  I’m going to keep my promise.  Here it is…

If you send me $1, nothing will be removed.
If you send me $1000, nothing will be removed.
If you send me $10,000, nothing will be removed.
If you send me $100,000, nothing will be removed.
Keep sending more and nothing will be removed.

So, Lxxx, the real cost is zero, because the FPA doesn’t sell what you want to buy.  If you or anyone else doesn’t believe me, please go ahead and send all the money you like and watch nothing be removed.   This will change your unethical bribe attempt into a test to show the FPA’s ethics can’t be purchased, so you will at least get a few karma points for your efforts. 🙂

If you really are working on behalf of the poorly rated broker you mentioned, please send them the link to this article.  Then tell them to come to the FPA and address the complaints left by their clients.  That’s a much better way to improve their reputation than trying to pay to hide client problems.

Best regards,
Bill

P.S. Just in case you are still wondering, THE FPA DOES NOT ACCEPT BRIBES.