Ponzi 101
What is a Ponzi Scheme
Fraudulent investment scam where early investors are paid with money from new investors
T/F Ponzi schemes hate govt. investigations
True
This type of scam makes money mainly by getting people to recruit others instead of selling real products.
Pyramid Scheme
This Netflix series features a fraudster similar to Ponzi scheme operators who cons New York elites.
Inventing Anna
The lead charge that gets assigned to people who are apart of ponzi schemes
Fraud
Who is the Ponzi Scheme named after?
Charles Ponzi
If an investment is too good to be true, it is this.
Red Flag/Warning/Don't be dumb
In a pyramid scheme, participants usually earn money by doing this.
What is recruiting new members?
In the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, this real-life fraudster ran a pump-and-dump scheme that had Ponzi-like elements.
Jordan Belfort
Besides the SEC, this organization investigates ponzi scheme cases.
The FBI
Ponzi schemes collapse when this dries up?
New Investor Money
List an example of what a ponzi scheme looks like from the investors point of view.
Can't take money back out/Aren't able to view holdings/Gets paid way too late/False profits
Because pyramid schemes need endless new recruits, they eventually do this.
What is fail (or collapse)?
This HBO show about a wealthy but corrupt family featured a Ponzi scheme subplot in its later seasons.
Succession
Bernie Madoff received this many years in prison. (Over 80)
150 years
The U.S. government agency most often responsible for investigating Ponzi schemes.
SEC
Ponzi schemes often delay payments by giving people fake versions of this.
Profits
This warning sign of a pyramid scheme often includes promises of getting rich quickly with little effort.
What is guaranteed high profits?
In Breaking Bad, this man ran a fake investment company to hide drug money.
Dennis Markowski
If someone accidentally makes money from a Ponzi scheme, they might have to do this.
Pay it back
Unlike Ponzi schemes, this type of fraud involves no actual investments at all and is based purely on recruitment.
Ponzi scheme companies tend to reject these, where outside sources come in to check its finances.
Audits
In a pyramid scheme, the people who usually lose the most money are those who join at this stage.
What is the bottom (or the later stages)?
This true-crime podcast-turned-TV show is about Elizabeth Holmes and her fake company.
The Dropout
Pyramid Schemes originate from Great Britain during the 1700's.
False