Really?

So they designed a system that reacts to huge orders being placed that can then be cancelled

sounds clever.
but then thats what you get for cutting corners.

when in vegas i didnt need to chip n pin or swipe my currency card in a shop....much higher possibility of fraud if some one gets mugged of their cards....but hey ho if it saves time then fk fraud....rant over.

The Michael Lewis book "Flash Boys" is a decent read.

martin lewis bro ?

Be careful when googling flash boys

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financial-crime
/11558768/Flash-crash-trader-Navinder-Singh-Sarao
-is-a-hero-says-fund-manager.html

Seems like the US DoJ is FoS as per.

What I find strange about this is I'd have assumed anyone putting up a large bid/offer or whatever would have to have the cash or shares behind it to back it, otherwise it's a bit .. insane.

And I doubt this man had the amount to move these vast markets that much, it doesn't make sense?

I also think spoofing is impossible to prove.  If a price is say $10 and you set up a sell trade of $10.50 and a buy of $9.50 you can argue that the purpose of these is to provide liquidity to someone who wants to buy or sell a large volume, but if the price gradually moves towards your orders, you would want to cancel them as your large spread has now gone.