PYRAMID SCHEME

5 February 2018 By PDSNET

A scheme whereby people are promised a percentage return for getting other people to invest in the scheme. Participants are encouraged to enroll as many people below them in the the pyramid as possible and to encourage those people to enroll as many other as they can and so on. Typically, pyramid schemes benefit the people who launch them and perhaps some of the earliest participants, but the vast majority of people end up losing their money. Often, pyramid schemes are conducted over the internet using social media. Pyramid schemes should be distinguished from Ponzi schemes where investors place capital with someone who promises exceptional returns where in fact he is simply using the money coming in from new investors to pay older investors a return (the best example of this is the ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff).



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