Wordwise: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A Mr. Ponzi offered to double his investors' money in a very short time. Behind his promise of grandiose returns there was no engine of industry to harness human potential and generate revenue. It was all a facade, using the money of new investors to pay off the previous ones. Soon the bubble burst, and with that Ponzi's name was forever etched in contemporary language as a term for such schemes.

Charles Ponzi (1882?-1949) Italian-born speculator who organized such a scheme in 1919.