Ponzi scheme
noun /ˈpɒnzi skiːm/
/ˈpɑːnzi skiːm/
- a plan for making money that involves encouraging people to invest by offering them a high rate of interest and using their money to pay earlier investors. When there are not enough new investors, people who have recently invested lose their money.Word OriginFrom Charles Ponzi, who organized the first scheme of this kind in the US in 1919.