How to Tell If a Trading Signal Service Is Legit: 9 Checks

Signal services are easy to start and hard to judge. The marketing is similar everywhere: a few big wins, a chart going up. The checks below look past that.

The Nine Checks

1. 1.A full record. Wins and losses, every call, not a highlight reel.
2. 2.Plans before the move. Entry, stop and targets are written before price moves, with a timestamp.
3. 3.A stop on every signal. No stop means you cannot know your risk.
4. 4.Backtest versus live. Backtested results are clearly labeled as backtests, because they are hypothetical.
5. 5.Risk stated in R. Targets and stops are expressed so you can see the payoff and the cost.
6. 6.Honest drawdown. The worst losing stretch is shown next to the gain.
7. 7.A trial. You can see the signals before you pay.
8. 8.No guarantees. Nobody can promise returns. Language like 'guaranteed' or 'risk free' is a red flag.
9. 9.No access to your money. You place your own trades. Never share passwords or give withdrawal permissions.

Red Flags in Plain Sight

• →Only winning trades are shown.
• →Results have no dates or sample size.
• →Countdown timers and 'last spots' pressure.
• →A track record that cannot be checked or exported.
• →Vague terms like 'high accuracy' with no definition.

What a Transparent Record Looks Like

It shows every closed call, including the stop-outs, with the R result. It tells you the time period and the number of calls. And when a figure comes from a saved filter or a backtest, it says so, because those numbers are not the same as live results across everything the service sent.