Get-rich-quick scheme

{{Short description|Scheme promising high returns for little investment or risk}} {{Redirect|Easy money||Easy Money (disambiguation)}} {{Redirect|Get Rich Quick|the novel by Peter Doyle|Get Rich Quick (novel)}} {{pp-pc|small=yes}} thumb|upright=1.2|A 1910 postcard showing an investor's shock at "Kopit and Keepit Mining Company Stocks" having vacated their premises

A '''get-rich-quick scheme''' is an offer, plan, or purported business opportunity that promises unusually large profits or rapid wealth for little investment, effort, skill, or risk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ponzi Scheme |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/types-fraud/ponzi-scheme |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Selling a Work-at-Home or Other Business Opportunity? |url=https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus79-selling-work-home-or-other-business-opportunity.pdf |website=Federal Trade Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref> The term is commonly used as a broad label for deceptive or fraudulent investment, work-at-home, and other money-making offers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bogus Business Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/bogus-business-opportunities |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Penalty Offenses Concerning Money-Making Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/notices-penalty-offenses/penalty-offenses-concerning-money-making-opportunities |website=Federal Trade Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

The phrase ''get rich quick'' was used in connection with dubious investments by at least the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite journal |title='Get Rich Quick' Insurance from the Inside |journal=The World's Work |volume=22 |year=1911 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHAAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14322 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Nelson |first=S. A. |title=The Blockite and the Get-Rich-Quick Man |journal=Everybody's Magazine |volume=10 |year=1904 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xklIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA111 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

== Characteristics == Consumer-protection and securities regulators warn that get-rich-quick schemes typically combine promises of high returns with little or no risk, exaggerated or unsubstantiated earnings claims, urgency, and vague or secretive explanations of how the profit is supposedly generated.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ponzi Scheme |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/types-fraud/ponzi-scheme |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Protect Your Money: How to Avoid Investment Scams |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/protect-your-money |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bogus Business Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/bogus-business-opportunities |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref> In the United States, sellers covered by the Federal Trade Commission's Business Opportunity Rule must provide specified disclosures, and earnings claims must be supported by written substantiation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Selling a Work-at-Home or Other Business Opportunity? |url=https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus79-selling-work-home-or-other-business-opportunity.pdf |website=Federal Trade Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Business Opportunity Rule 16 CFR Part 437: Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Business Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/business-opportunity-rule-16-cfr-part-437-disclosure-requirements-prohibitions-concerning-business |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=8 December 2011 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

Promoters often market such schemes as requiring little prior experience or specialized knowledge, and may use testimonials, luxury imagery, or claims of insider methods to create the impression that substantial profits can be earned quickly and easily.<ref>{{cite web |title=Protect Your Money: How to Avoid Investment Scams |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/protect-your-money |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=FTC Puts Businesses on Notice that False Money-Making Claims Could Lead to Big Penalties |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-puts-businesses-notice-false-money-making-claims-could-lead-big-penalties |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=26 October 2021 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

== Common forms == Get-rich-quick schemes can take the form of investment scams, bogus business opportunities, work-at-home offers, and coaching or training systems marketed with unrealistic earnings claims.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bogus Business Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/bogus-business-opportunities |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=FTC Puts Businesses on Notice that False Money-Making Claims Could Lead to Big Penalties |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-puts-businesses-notice-false-money-making-claims-could-lead-big-penalties |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=26 October 2021 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

In the investment context, such schemes often overlap with Ponzi schemes and high-yield investment programs, which commonly promise unusually high returns with little or no risk.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ponzi Scheme |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/types-fraud/ponzi-scheme |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Look Out for High-Yield Investment Program Scams |url=https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-alerts/look-out-high-yield-investment-program-scams-investor-alert |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |date=15 March 2023 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=High-Yield Investment Programs |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/types-fraud/high-yield-investment-programs |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

Business-opportunity variants frequently advertise activities such as envelope stuffing, craft assembly, vending-machine routes, or online storefront management, while downplaying costs and overstating likely earnings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bogus Business Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/bogus-business-opportunities |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=1 November 2011 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Selling a Work-at-Home or Other Business Opportunity? |url=https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus79-selling-work-home-or-other-business-opportunity.pdf |website=Federal Trade Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

== History == Early uses of the phrase appeared in popular magazines and business writing, where ''get-rich-quick'' described speculative or dubious ventures.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nelson |first=S. A. |title=The Blockite and the Get-Rich-Quick Man |journal=Everybody's Magazine |volume=10 |year=1904 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xklIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA111 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title='Get Rich Quick' Insurance from the Inside |journal=The World's Work |volume=22 |year=1911 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHAAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14322 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

By the 21st century, the term was also being used by regulators in enforcement actions against infomercial and online business-opportunity sellers. In 2012, for example, the FTC announced a court judgment against marketers of several ''get-rich-quick'' systems that had been sold through infomercials.<ref>{{cite web |title=FTC Wins Court Judgment Against Massive Get-Rich-Quick Infomercial Scam |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2012/05/ftc-wins-court-judgment-against-massive-get-rich-quick-infomercial-scam |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=1 May 2012 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=At FTC's Request, U.S. Court Hands Down Record $478 Million Judgment Against Marketers of Massive Get-Rich-Quick Infomercial Scams |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2012/08/ftcs-request-us-court-hands-down-record-478-million-judgment-against-marketers-massive-get-rich |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=23 August 2012 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

== Regulation and enforcement == In the United States, business opportunities marketed with earnings claims may fall under the Federal Trade Commission's Business Opportunity Rule, which requires specified disclosures and substantiation for certain representations made to prospective purchasers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Business Opportunity Rule 16 CFR Part 437: Disclosure Requirements and Prohibitions Concerning Business Opportunities |url=https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/business-opportunity-rule-16-cfr-part-437-disclosure-requirements-prohibitions-concerning-business |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=8 December 2011 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Selling a Work-at-Home or Other Business Opportunity? |url=https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus79-selling-work-home-or-other-business-opportunity.pdf |website=Federal Trade Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref> The FTC has also warned advertisers that false or misleading money-making claims can trigger significant civil penalties.<ref>{{cite web |title=FTC Puts Businesses on Notice that False Money-Making Claims Could Lead to Big Penalties |url=https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2021/10/ftc-puts-businesses-notice-false-money-making-claims-could-lead-big-penalties |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=26 October 2021 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

Securities regulators likewise warn that promises of guaranteed or unusually high returns, especially when paired with claims of little or no risk, are classic signs of investment fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title=Protect Your Money: How to Avoid Investment Scams |url=https://www.investor.gov/protect-your-investments/fraud/protect-your-money |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Social Media and Stock Tip Scams – Investor Alert |url=https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/social-media-stock-scams |website=Investor.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |date=6 February 2026 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

== Internet-era forms == Internet-era get-rich-quick schemes are commonly promoted through websites, email, text messages, online advertisements, and social-media platforms.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Cora |title=Investment scams are everywhere on social media. Here's how to spot one |url=https://apnews.com/article/f9e053a6c555c25c90e5f7330607d90c |work=Associated Press |date=17 August 2023 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Looking for a new job or considering a business opportunity? Spot the signs of a possible scam |url=https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2022/05/looking-new-job-or-considering-business-opportunity-spot-signs-possible-scam |website=Federal Trade Commission |date=9 May 2022 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref> Online promotions often stress passive income, secret methods, or fast cash while minimizing the cost, skill, or time required.<ref>{{cite web |title=Selling a Work-at-Home or Other Business Opportunity? |url=https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/bus79-selling-work-home-or-other-business-opportunity.pdf |website=Federal Trade Commission |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Can you spot an investment scam on social media? |url=https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2025/05/can-you-spot-investment-scam-social-media |website=Consumer Advice |publisher=Federal Trade Commission |date=28 May 2025 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

Recent FTC guidance has warned about online ''side hustle'' and ''task'' scams, in which victims are promised easy money for remote work but are instead pressured to pay fees, move money, or perform sham tasks that never produce legitimate earnings.<ref>{{cite web |title=How to avoid a side hustle scam |url=https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/02/how-avoid-side-hustle-scam |website=Consumer Advice |publisher=Federal Trade Commission |date=24 February 2026 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Task scams create the illusion of making money |url=https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2024/11/task-scams-create-illusion-making-money |website=Consumer Advice |publisher=Federal Trade Commission |date=12 December 2024 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Confidence tricks Category:Consumer fraud Category:Finance fraud