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Aget-rich-quick scheme is a plan to obtain high rates ofreturn for a smallinvestment. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with littlerisk, skill, effort, or time.
The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century.[1][2]
Get-rich-quick schemes often assert thatwealth can be obtained byworking at home. Get-rich-quick schemes that operate entirely on the Internet usually promote "secret formulas" toaffiliate marketing and affiliate advertising. The scheme will usually claim that it does not require any special IT or marketing skills and will provide an unrealistic timeframe in which the individual could make hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.[citation needed] Since the growth in popularity ofnon-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the early 2020s, skeptics have accused many NFT projects of resembling get-rich-quick schemes.[3][4][5]
Legal and quasi-legal get-rich-quick schemes are frequently advertised oninfomercials and in magazines and newspapers. Illegal schemes orscams are often advertised throughspam orcold calling. Some forms of advertising for these schemes market books orcompact discs about getting rich quick rather than asking participants to invest directly in a concrete scheme.[citation needed]