Scalping is risky because most traders that enter scalping have the mindset of making quick money in it, and it is one of the quickest methods to make profits. Scalping can be predicted with good strategies and is profitable if used with reliable brokers such as CMC, Pepperstone, or FP Markets.
I been scalping since 1987, mainly ES Emini S&P last 20 years. I prefer to scalp/day trade currency futures and use forex for long term trading. Pip spreads generally too wide to scalp. Americans too gullible to realize that their commissions paid is the spread. I learned the correct way, learned long term first. Charting, then very few indicators, I don't use indicators that generate signals but I look at relationships between price and indicator. Look for divergences that generally don't make sense. Also, study average length of up and down swings, want to only take buys early and middle of trending swing. I keep many stats, this is where the bucks come, better one knows past out comes, better idea of using in future. People generally do scalping cause lack of funds and scalping is hardest form of trading. Rather funny in my mind.
Traders also prefer scalping as it offers many potential opportunities for trading whose profits can be amplified using leverage.
As we all know Scalping is an attempt to make a profit from small price movements You need to follow charts and make trading strategies for that. If one is aware of this, he or she can go for scalping.
Scalping is definitely risky because of the high frequency of trades involved. That's why it's only suitable for those who have a good experience and knowledge about the market.
That might involves overtrading when we take too much trades and over trading plus over leveraging your account might cause some serious blows in my opinion.
It's just a risky as any other kind of trading. You need to have an edge so that you win at a higher rate than that required to break even, considering your risk reward ratio. If you don't have an edge, it just delays the inevitable ultimate loss. Edge? Scalping to make £100 for £1,000 risk, so r:r 1:10 means you have to win more than: 10 /(10 + 1) = 0.90909 percent of the time to make money in the long run. Pros: Soft landing for newbie, takes time to lose Cons: Hard to extract an edge from (1 - 0.90909...), deception of doing well until you lose it all.