Beware of Learn to Trade & SmartCharts Scam

Please read below before making any payment to learn to Trade, SmartCharts, or Knowledge to Action

Overview of Greg Secker, Company Director
Early Career Claims (1990s–Early 2000s)
Secker often promotes himself as a "master trader" who retired young after success at major firms. However, investigations have questioned the scale of his achievements, portraying him more as an IT developer than a top trader.
- Thomas Cook Financial Services (Early 1990s): Secker claims he started here, developing foreign exchange trading systems. No independent verification of major profits; he describes it as an entry-level role. Link: Greg Secker Official Bio
- Virtual Trading Desk (Mid-1990s): He claims to have run this new FX business, trading from home and making millions by age 27, leading to early retirement. Critics note this was more tech-focused than high-stakes trading. Link: IdeaMensch Interview (2017)
- Mellon Financial Corporation (Late 1990s): Secker says he was a Vice President here, managing FX trading. Reports suggest his role was in systems development, not frontline trading, and he left to start his own ventures. No evidence of "top trader" status with massive personal gains. Link: Guardian Article (2012)
- Overall Scepticism: Early promotions (e.g., videos showing £19k trades in minutes from helicopters) have been called exaggerated or staged. No public trading records verify claims. Link: BBC Report (2012)

Company Timeline and Operations

Secker founded his education empire in 2003 and gradually rebranded it. No evidence of proprietary trading by his companies using SmartCharts or otherwise—focus is on selling courses/software and funnelling to the broker.

Knowledge to Action (KTA) (2003–~2012): Original company (Company No. 04840493), offering forex seminars with "get rich quick" promises. Old website: www.knowledgetoaction.co.uk (now defunct). Rebranded to Learn to Trade amid complaints. Link: Companies House Filing History

Learn to Trade (2011–Present): Main education arm (Company No. 07655992), selling courses (£2k–£10k) via free seminars/webinars. Claims to have trained 400k+ people, but no prop trading in filings. Dormant status in recent accounts. Link: Official Site

SmartCharts (2013–Present): AI trading software hyped as beginner-friendly with signals/indicators. Sold via courses; no company use for profits shown in records. Link: SmartCharts Site

Capital Index (2014–2026 Name changed on 5th Feb 2026 VANTOS MARKETS (UK) LIMITED: UK broker (Company No. 09532185, FCA FRN 709693) for CFDs/forex. Secker controlled until Dec 2025, transferred to Vinalytics Ltd (BVI). Tiny revenue (£857k in 2024), wide spreads, no prop trading. Link: Companies House Accounts (See attached PDF for 2024 details)

Other Entities: Greg Secker Foundation (2010, charity; no trading). K2AF Trading Ltd (2011, minimal activity). No trading evidence across groups. Link: Secker's LinkedIn

News Reports and Investigations

Reports span over a decade and focus on misleading claims, complaints, and regulatory issues.

Guardian (Feb 2012): "This Man Could Make You Rich. Or Could He?" Questions KTA's grand forex claims; notes Secker's "VP at Mellon" but highlights unverified success. Link: Article
BBC (Oct 2012): "'Get Rich Quick' Seminars Put to the Test." Undercover test reveals hype (e.g., £19k in minutes), client losses (£19k+ on courses), and unqualified trainers. Link: Article
Stuff.co.nz (Mar 2014): "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Profiles Secker's wealth claims ($50M fund, Aston Martin gifts) but notes seminar upsells. Link: Article
ASIC Alert (2016): Australian regulator warned on KTA/Learn to Trade misconduct; client lawsuits over misleading claims. Link: Forex Peace Army Thread
Philippines Raid (Sep 2018): NBI raided the Learn to Trade office for fraud/unlicensed trading; no actual trading was found despite promises. Charges dismissed (2019), but SEC warnings issued. Video: GMA Report
Bloomberg (Dec 2024): "Learn to Trade: Greg Secker's Trader Training Company Subject of Complaints." Details police reports (Essex fraud probes), YouTube ban, misleading claims, and ties to Capital Index. Link: Article
Other Reports: Quora/Reddit threads on false trader claims (ongoing). YouTube exposes: Downfall Video (2023); Sued for Defamation (2023)

Reviews, Complaints, and X Posts

Smartcharts by Gregg Secker is a scam

Service use: Live Length of use: 0-3 Months

I enrolled in the Smartcharts trading course. I was charged £3,069 and was promised a 15k account, with 80% for me and 20% for the Company. When I paid, I was told the 15k is not available to share monthly; instead, I had to pay more money to fund the Account and Trade. I was not happy with this; it was only after 2 days that I discovered it’s not for me. I requested a refund, and they refused. I’m so devastated

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/13139/learntotradegroup-review

£1000 /day, Upsells, and NO refunds.

Service use: Live Length of use: 6-12 Months

I'm from UK. Learn to trade in 3 days is impossible, with pre recorded webinars at £1000 /day. Then BE AWARE of the up sell team, as this is where the experts manipulate to get the maximum of your hard earned cash. By the way NO REFUNDS. This is my experience after 8 months of trading and countless hours of screen time also losing many days of work to attend webinars. I can compare it to golf. If you have best coaches in the world and train many hours everyday, you will not be a pro and win a major tournament within 2 years. Fact 1) 400 000 people trained 800 or (2%) reviewed and not all good.
They offer extra strategies in exchange for good reviews, and you will notice 5 star reviews are all the newbies .
Fact 2 ) £5000000 spent on Smartcharts programme that struggles to give a winning signal.I am down 75 %
Fact 3) pseudonyms are used on the FB learn to trade page for the coaches .
Fact 4 ) THEY HAVE YOUR Dr./Cr. Card details but don't accept bank debit orders or direct deposit.
Fact 5) I'm in UK but initial capital was banked in Australia.
Fact 6) when you start to figure them out the support is stopped immediately. No REPLY to emails phone calls. The deal I was manipulated was £36000 for a funded account of 100000 and 20% of profits of coarse. Please take the time to do the proper research and when you read the smallprint "you can loose your entire investment" BELIEVE IT ! The catch is 3% per month for 3 months in a row limited to 2 years. There were people in the webinars on their 4th year already that could not achieve the 3% 3 months still doing the same courses.
Thanks for reading and hopefully they will do some jailtime.

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/13139/learntotradegroup-review

Learn to trade £87 for a £10,000 trading account.

Service use: Other Length of use: Have not used

So I pay the £87 (actually £88 was taken out of my account, then you have to book a day of training, I had to organise a day off work at short notice as they expect you to do it within the next few days, I am all happy at this point, I knew they were going to be pushing extra to this at cost, but as they said you get the 10K account to trade and the training to be profitable straight away, I was happy to do this / believe this is what I would get. No, basically they slag off MT4, saying it's useless to trade on and say you need SMART CHARTS, which does seem so good, that even my pet could trade using this platform. At the end of the day's 'so-called training', they say you need to pay the discounted price of 5K + £ 69 per month to get smart charts (which I can not afford), and there's no mention of the 10K account to trade that I paid for...They say, "Leave your number, and we'll call you." I explained that there really isn't any point, since I can't afford it unless you offer a payment plan. They call, (George) speaks down to me because I say I can't afford it, say what could I pay per month, I say £200 a month, then he asks why I cant afford it, so I say I'm a single working class parent who has to pay all my bills and bringing my 3 children up on my own isn't cheap. He said, "Well, we have made this affordable for everyone." I said, "Well, you clearly haven't, as I can't afford the 5k." Then he just said, "Come back to us in the future when you have!" I am annoyed that I took the day off work for nothing, it seems. just to be talked down to. I did say I feel ripped off, as there was no mention of the 10K account without smart charts, then he said you will get an email with the details in 7 working days.

https://www.forexpeacearmy.com/forex-reviews/13139/learntotradegroup-review

Common Themes: High-pressure sales, no refunds, poor results, broker issues (voided trades). 86% user loss rate reported. Links: Trustpilot; FPA Reviews
X Posts on Investigations: Recent complaints call him a "scam artist." Example: Fraud Probe Post (Apr 2025)

Financials and Ownership of the Brokerage Learn to Trade and Smart Charts, we still believe that Greg Secker is the overall owner

Capital Index (UK) Limited, Name Changed on the 5th Feb 2026 to VANTOS MARKETS (UK) LIMITED. 2024 Accounts: Small-scale for a brokerage; Just £857k revenue, £18k loss, £2.58M client money. Heavy group reliance. They make more money from selling courses, not from trading activities, spread fees or commissions. This is very strange. Link: Companies House
Ownership Shift: from Greg Secker to Vinalytics (BVI) in Dec 2025 for anonymity. Address: Ellen Skelton Building, Tortola, VG1110.