I wouldn't go as far as to call it a scam. Is he selling dreams to dreamers? Yes. But, you can't absolve people from wanting a magic pill to make them rich and talented. Even though Oliver Velez says day trading is not easy, he intentionally promotes it like it is, to get the suckers in. These saps think that if they religiously follow him and call him boss and master, give him their money, that one day they can be like Oliver Velez...lol, I don't know who is to blame...the sucker, or the person who parts the sucker from his/her money.
What is deceptive about Oliver Velez's trading is the profit he is making. If you watch his tidbits live on Periscope, you will see he is consistently making $2000-5000. You would think, wow he is one of the best traders I've seen and maybe I can do that too. What he doesn't show you is how he is making it and why you can't make that kind of money.
He tends to trades stocks that are around $100-200, like Apple, BABA, etc. He is going for a profit target of $0.20-0.30. But his position size is 8,000-10,000 shares, which with a profit target of 30 cents ends up being $2000-3000. So he takes a trade in the morning with a large share size and starts taking profits when he is about 20 cents in the money. After he closes out majority of his position and has less than 2,000 shares left, he starts to broadcast live on Periscope so as to show people he is making +$2000 profit with less than 2,000 shares...so everyone thinks either that:
A. he must be the best trader in the world making $1-2 profit per share or
B. I could do that with that share size too.
But the reality is that 10,000 shares of Apple at $200/share is $2 million in buying power required, and for comparison, he gives you an initial account with a $50k buying power, which is like 300 shares of Apple.
So, is his strategy good enough to consitently make a profit of $0.20 on a $200 stock? Yes. Can you make thousands of dollars without a huge account? No. Meanwhile, he will milk you $125/mo for data fees.
In any way you look at it, Oliver Velez is a great trader, even an elite trader. I would not blame Oliver Velez for people's own ignorance for wanting an easy way to make money and/or a lazy way to get educated. People want to get around the years of education/practice/experience needed to master this occupation. All good salespeople will prey upon this human nature of people wanting the magic pill to bypass the hard work.