pyramid scheme
10
8.5
- noun
- /ˈpɪrəmɪd skiːm/
:
estafa piramidal
- The authorities shut down the pyramid scheme after investigating the fraudulent practices behind it.
- an illegal pyramid scheme
- the collapse of a pyramid scheme
- a financial pyramid scheme
She probably thought I was like selling some pyramid scheme makeup product.
- She probably thought I was like selling some pyramid scheme makeup product.
- That is a total multi level marketing pyramid scheme grift.
- He's in court and trial right now for fraud and kind of a pyramid scheme similar to Bernie Madoff.
- Prosecutors are describing the Egyptian bribes as a pyramid scheme.
- And so just to make my conclusion here, Bitcoin is a pyramid scheme.
- Most are simple ponzi's and pyramid schemes.
- And essentially, they're legal pyramid schemes and the government not only supports them, but they protect them.
- Guys, I discovered a pyramid scheme the other day.
- It's just a giant opaque pyramid scheme that we all use as our primary means of exchange.
- It's, it seems a little bit like a pyramid scheme, but again, two sides.
- So I am, I'm involved basically in a, in a pyramid scheme, a hair amid scheme, if you will.
- There is so much math involved when he could have just said it was a pyramid scheme.
Examples
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However, economists estimate that about ninety-five percent or more of participants in pyramid schemes lose their money.
Academic text (1999) -
The board put millions of dollars into a hedge fund whose manager has been accused of running a pyramid scheme.
Blog text (25) -
Guys, I discovered a pyramid scheme the other day.
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What I have just described is a pyramid scheme.
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The whole economy is a pyramid scheme.
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That sounds like the literal definition of a pyramid scheme.
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It's a pyramid scheme.
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That's the way this sick, twisted economic pyramid scheme is rigged.
Blog text (13) -
He's in court and trial right now for fraud and kind of a pyramid scheme similar to Bernie Madoff.
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More recently, it was the epicenter of a popular revolt in 1997, resulting from the collapse of pyramid-scheme investment scams.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
294
3.0
A dishonest plan to get money by tricking people
1
4.6
A dishonest plan that promises to make you rich quickly with little work
1
6.3
An illegal plan to get money by tricking people
How Fraudulent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The combination of 'pyramid' (a layered or hierarchical structure) and 'scheme' (a plan or organized arrangement) allows a learner to infer a hierarchical kind of plan or organization, so a basic structural sense is derivable. However, the specific notion of an illegal/fraudulent investment system that relies on recruiting (rather than product sales) is specialized and not fully predictable from the constituents, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The name pyramid scheme comes from the picture of money moving up like a pyramid: a few people at the top get money from many people below in the scheme. Because the plan only works if new people keep joining and paying, it is a dishonest 'investment', so today the phrase means a business that uses new recruits' money to pay earlier members.