Quick Verdict: $3,000,000 FTC Settlement and a Co-Founder’s Criminal Record
Is Warrior Trading Legit? Ross Cameron’s Warrior Trading is one of the most visible day trading platforms online.
However, prospective students should be aware of significant regulatory actions.
In April 2022, the company agreed to pay $3 Million to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges regarding misleading earnings claims.
Additionally, public court records reveal that the company's co-founder, Jeffrey Fortis, was charged with felony sexual penetration and misdemeanor child molesting and he pled guilty to two acts of lewd conduct. Given these factors, we advise extreme caution.
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If you are researching day trading courses, you have likely seen Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading. His YouTube advertisements frequently showcase significant trading gains.
However, a "deep dive" into public records reveals a complex history involving federal regulatory settlements, failed lawsuits against critics, and a co-founder with a serious criminal record.
The Criminal Record of Co-Founder Jeffrey Fortis
While Ross Cameron is the public face of the brand, corporate filings tie the company’s history to Jeffrey Peter Fortis.
Fortis is a former Colusa County police detective. A shareholder agreement allocated Warrior Trading’s 1,540 shares between Cameron (1,078) and Fortis (462), roughly 30% — a substantial owner, not a hired instructor.
Court documents obtained by BestStockStrategy reveal a disturbing background. Jeffrey Fortis was charged with a felony including Sexual Penetration of a minor and misdemeanor Child Molesting.
A forensic examination of the seized computers was conducted by the Marysville Police Department at the request of the Yuba County Sheriff's Office.
The examiner reported keyword hits indicating someone using the computer had searched for terms relating to child pornography, while also recording that the hits were few in number and that no such images were found on the devices.
A later evidence-release motion filed in the case states that all computers and cellular phones seized were forensically examined and were not found to contain evidence of further crimes.
Public records showing charges against Warrior Trading Co-Founder Jeffrey Fortis
The case was prosecuted in Colusa County Superior Court (Case No. CR54044). The felony complaint was endorsed on 25 May 2012, charging four counts arising from conduct alleged between 3 and 15 June 2011. On 3 April 2013, Count 1 (PC 289(h), sexual penetration) and Count 2 (PC 647.6(a), child molesting) were DISMISSED, and Fortis entered a plea of guilty to two misdemeanor counts under California Penal Code Section 647(a). On 5 June 2013, imposition of sentence was suspended and he was placed on 36 months' probation, with conditions including no contact with the victim and no unsupervised contact with minors.
The Wrongful Termination Lawsuit:
Fortis later sued Warrior Trading for wrongful termination. In that civil suit, Warrior Trading’s defense alleged that Fortis was fired for cause due to various issues, including:
- Offering cocaine to another employee at a work function.
- Possessing a firearm in the workplace.
- Unauthorized use of company funds.
Read the Public Records:
+ Jeffrey Fortis Felony Complaint (PDF)
+ Civil Lawsuit Summary (PDF)
The $3 Million FTC Settlement (2022)
In April 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against Warrior Trading, Warrior Operating Inc., and Ross Cameron.
The FTC's complaint alleged that the defendants engaged in deceptive practices regarding the potential for consumers to earn money. The Commission specifically challenged the company's claims that consumers could earn a full-time income with minimal capital.
The Outcome:
Without admitting or denying the allegations, Warrior Trading and Ross Cameron agreed to a Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and a $3,000,000 monetary judgment to provide refunds to consumers.
+ Read the Full Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction, Monetary Judgement and Other Relief
+ Read 22 FTC consumer complaints against Warrior Trading (2018–2021)
Warrior Trading's own marketing made the opposite claim. The "Swing Trade Warrior" YouTube channel — carrying Warrior Trading branding and linking to warriortrading.com/register — stated in its About section that while over 90% of retail traders are said to fail, their community is over 80% profitable, and credited education for the difference.
The FTC's analysis of actual customer brokerage records found the opposite: "the vast majority of customers made no money or lost money."
What 22 FTC Complaints Actually Say
Between April 2018 and January 2021, consumers filed 22 complaints against Warrior Trading with the Federal Trade Commission. They are allegations, not court findings. Read together, they describe the same commercial pattern the FTC later sued over: a price that was not the price, a refund that was not a refund, and rules that tried to stop customers from saying so.
Do not take any one complaint as proof. Three of them are worth reading because they independently match documents you can check.
Hidden subscription, Illinois, January 2019. An email advertised a course at $497. The confirmation showed four payments of $147 — $588. The card was then charged $785 after a $197 monthly renewal the customer says was never disclosed. One wrote that the terms link sat below the order button, and that they were locked out while still being billed.
Refund trap, Texas, April 2018. A customer paid $3,009.30 for the course plus $997 for a year of community access, $4,006 total, after seeing a satisfaction guarantee. To get the refund they were told to finish four modules — described as roughly 20 hours of video and on the order of 80 essay questions. They stopped, filed a Discover dispute, and Discover denied it after Warrior responded. Quote from the complaint: “You could watch an hour of him saying you have to have a system, hit mute for an hour, come back and he is still saying ‘And that’s why you have to have a system.’”
Review suppression, California, March 2019. A customer posted a negative Trustpilot review, then received an email saying they had violated the terms of service, which banned “derogatory” comments. The account was shut down and the review was removed. The FTC coded that complaint under the Consumer Review Fairness Act — the federal law that makes it illegal to use contract terms to stop honest reviews. Warrior Trading’s own terms, captured on 31 January 2019 at warriortrading.com/disclaimer, included clause 15: “Not to post or make any defamatory, disparaging or false statements… or bad or harmful reviews.” Clause 17: “Not to issue chargeback disputes against Warrior Trading.”
These 22 complaints are the customer-level version of what the FTC put in its 2022 case. They are not a substitute for that case. The case is the authority. The complaints show the pattern was visible years earlier.
Read 22 FTC consumer complaints against Warrior Trading (2018–2021)
warriortrading.com/disclaimer, 31 January 2019. Clause 15 bans “bad or harmful reviews.” Clause 17 bans chargebacks.
Warrior Trading marketing, Bates WARRIOR TRADING 00087. “We help on average 8.5 out of 10 students (based on survey results of March 2017) become better traders.” The FTC later found the vast majority of customers made no money or lost money.
A student who said the “live” webinar was not live
On 7 December 2018, a BestStockStrategy student named Francisco wrote that he joined a Warrior Trading webinar advertised as live, concluded it was “super fake and set up,” asked Ross about it in a live-stream chat, and was banned and blocked. His words: “I felt cheated and lied to.” This is one student’s account, not a finding. It is here because it is a dated, first-party report of the same presentation problem the marketing pages above are built on.
Student message, 7 December 2018. Highlighted line: “I felt cheated and lied to.”
Ross Cameron Net Worth: Trading Profits or Course Sales?
Ross Cameron frequently flaunts a lifestyle of luxury, leading many to search for Ross Cameron's net worth. While his actual financials are private, industry estimates suggest his net worth could be upwards of $25 Million.
However, the source of this wealth is a subject of debate.
+ The Marketing: Ross claims to make millions from day trading small-cap stocks.
+ The Reality: The FTC complaint alleged that Warrior Trading made misleading claims about the potential for consumers to earn money.
The "Guru" Business Model:
While students (according to the FTC and broker data) often lose money, the business of Warrior Trading is incredibly lucrative. Between course fees, chat room subscriptions, and simulator costs, the company generates massive revenue regardless of whether the students win or lose.
It is our opinion that the vast majority of Ross Cameron’s net worth is likely derived from marketing and subscriptions, rather than the scalable application of his trading strategy.
Professional Associations: The Raging Bull Connection
Before Warrior Trading became a household name, Ross Cameron was associated with Raging Bull.
Raging Bull Sued by the FTC for Running a $137MM Scam
The “NYC Architect” claim
Warrior Trading has marketed Cameron’s story as “From NYC Architect to Day Trader.” His own bio said he worked at a New York design firm from 2006–2010 and left “before completing my exams and become a registered Architect.” The New York State Education Department issued a certification dated 20 October 2017 that a search of its records found no architecture license in the name of Ross Cameron. An earlier bio, written when he was a moderator at Jason Bond Picks, describes a Bachelors degree in Fine Art and a career as a designer — with no mention of architecture.
Brokerage Data: Do Students Make Money?
Beyond the FTC findings, industry insiders have commented on the performance of Warrior Trading students.
The FTC's complaint is explicit on this point: "the vast majority of customer accounts actually lost money, with numerous consumers losing thousands of dollars trading on top of the thousands they paid Warrior Trading." That is a federal regulator's finding, entered in a case Warrior settled for $3,000,000 — not a disputed claim.
SureTrader — a brokerage founded by Guy Gentile and used by many Warrior Trading students — published a blog post stating that nearly all clients referred to SureTrader by Warrior Trading lost money, and that even with zero commissions and fees they would still have had a net loss.
SureTrader has since ceased operations and the post is no longer online; the quotation is preserved in a contemporaneous 2017 screenshot.
That broker-side observation is consistent with what the FTC found independently: an analysis of customer brokerage records from May 2018 to May 2021 showed "the vast majority of customers made no money or lost money."
This data aligns with the FTC's allegation that Warrior Trading's marketing exaggerated the likelihood of student success.
Warrior Trading vs. Free Speech: The Emmett Moore Case
Warrior Trading has a history of litigating against critics. However, they do not always win.
In the case of Cameron vs. Moore (Case No. CV CV 17-1538, Yolo County Superior Court, Department Three — tentative ruling issued 1 March 2018), Ross Cameron and his company sued an individual named Emmett Moore.
The Result: On March 1, 2018, the Superior Court of California GRANTED Emmett Moore's Anti-SLAPP Motion (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). The court found that the complaint arose out of the defendant's protected speech.
This ruling is significant because Anti-SLAPP laws are designed to prevent companies from using lawsuits to silence valid public criticism. The court’s decision to strike the complaint validates the right of individuals to speak freely about public figures in the trading space.
A Better Way: The "Financed Bull" Strategy
The FTC action and the failure rates cited by brokers highlight the extreme difficulty of day trading.
At BestStockStrategy, we teach the "Financed Bull" strategy. We utilize options mathematics rather than day-trading volatility. By buying call debit spreads and financing them by selling naked puts on high-quality companies, you can participate in the upside for "free" while maintaining mathematically superior risk management.
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Stop Gambling. Start Winning.
I've discussed options trading vs. day trading, and while I believe that options trading is vastly superior.
Learn a strategy that prioritizes capital preservation and mathematical probability.
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Consumer Resources
If you have concerns about a trading product, you can contact the following agencies:
+ Federal Trade Commission: Report Fraud
+ SEC Whistleblower Program: Submit a Tip
Conclusion: Warrior Trading and Ross Cameron Review
Ross Cameron is a skilled marketer and a genuinely capable day trader. That is not the question. The question is whether his students make money — and the FTC's complaint, along with brokerage data from a firm that served them, suggests most do not.
While there are claims that they front-run their members and that their members lose money, I feel that since virtually all day traders end up losing money, Warrior Trading is likely no worse than Humbled Trader, ZipTrader, Steven Dux or TJR Trades / Tyler Riches.
Warrior isn't the only one charging a premium for content you may be able to find for free — read my Peachy Investor (Brittney Pernell) review
Warrior Trading isn't the only day-trading educator worth scrutinizing. See my breakdown of whether Humbled Trader's Shay Huang is legit — a course business that, in my opinion, runs on memberships rather than trading profits.
See also my review of Investing With Brandon (Brandon Arnett).
Source Documents & References:
3) Local press coverage of the Fortis case (Daily Democrat screenshot, with third-party annotations) — reports that Fortis is a former Colusa County police detective: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ACEV8VYtwX-NjLK7EYXsagVjyWPyIpws/view
4) Jeffrey Fortis Sued Warrior Trading and claimed wrongful termination after Ross Cameron fired Jeffrey Fortis for theft, poor performance and other issues: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DdFy33yvhS4Jf2GSoRSWpiRBjXt-Pciw/view?usp=drive_link
5) FTC Complaint: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sfkqNpAOicPgXCSKbHPqZb6jvK6g3Awv/view?usp=sharing
6) Ross Cameron may have claimed to be an architect, which is false, and, if he did make those claims, it's a crime in NY State: NY State Education Dept certificate: no architecture license on record for Ross Cameron (20 Oct 2017)
NY State Education Dept certificate: no architecture license on record for Ross Cameron (20 Oct 2017)
7) Guy Gentile of Sure Trader says that "nearly all" Warrior Trading students lose money: drive.google.com/open?id=1ity50wbj6CrLr87hyBLIbgntmA0SLKid
8) More info about Warrior Trading students potentially losing money: drive.google.com/open?id=10O5Xkyzpjs_8y7F5whu8dy21RJg9FlcV
9) Guy Gentile's (Founder of Suretrader) thoughts on Warrior Trading: drive.google.com/open?id=1S-bz6vjAf8DcNieM54i_msnqzfKn1Se3
10) Warrior Trading and Ross Cameron also filed a frivolous lawsuit and lost an anti-SLAPP case in California when attempting to chill free speech: drive.google.com/file/d/1IJzDKbcZxZiOrAtWeYSn4I9WSXBEOrcY/view?usp=sharing
11) Message that Warrior Trading sent to their members when they were under FTC investigation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lxLl7kmvSu0Xh8AxZFUDiYehbX6MFYhh/view?usp=drive_link
12) Ross Cameron used to work with Raging Bull (charged with running a $137MM fraud): drive.google.com/file/d/1BKaam1RaqXxWEuK90sptpKgLIktTZXIn/view?usp=sharing
13) Warrior Trading claims that 80% of their members are profitable (the FTC claims that this is false): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AqQAinzAIcb_pKCuCDpc72sa96wD7Xnd/view
14) Read the individual FTC Complaints (through 2020) lodged against Warrior Trading - Read 22 FTC consumer complaints against Warrior Trading (2018–2021)