Editing Get-rich-quick scheme (section)

{{short description|Scam that promises high rates of return for a small investment}}
{{Redirect|Easy money||Easy Money (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Get Rich Quick|the novel by Peter Doyle|Get Rich Quick (novel)}}
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[[File:Kopit and Keepit Mining Company Stocks - Postcard.jpg|thumb|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 a plan to obtain high rates of [[return (finance)|return]] for a small [[investment]]. Most schemes create an impression that participants can obtain this high rate of return with little [[risk]], skill, effort, or time. 

The term "get rich quick" has been used to describe shady investments since at least the early 20th century.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rHAAAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22get+rich+quick%22&pg=PA14322 'Get Rich Quick' Insurance from the Inside]", The World's work, Volume 22, (1911)</ref><ref>S.A. Nelson "[https://books.google.com/books?id=xklIAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22get+rich+quick%22&pg=PA111 The Blockite and the Get-Rich-Quick Man]", ''Everybody's Magazine'', vol 10, 1904.</ref>

Get-rich-quick schemes often assert that [[wealth]] can be obtained by [[working at home]]. Get-rich-quick schemes that operate entirely on the Internet usually promote "secret formulas" to [[affiliate 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.{{Cn|date=December 2023}} Since the growth in popularity of [[non-fungible token]]s (NFTs) in the early 2020s, skeptics have accused many NFT projects of resembling get-rich-quick schemes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Needham |first1=Jack |title='The misconception is that NFTs are like a get rich quick scheme. That's not really how it works.' |url=https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/the-misconception-is-that-nfts-are-like-a-get-rich-quick-scheme-thats-not-really-how-it-works/ |website=Music Business Worldwide |access-date=26 June 2022 |date=26 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Jemima |title=NFTs are the latest get-rich-quick scheme for the 'cryptosphere' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2757d760-c29e-4834-8636-7601adbacf47 |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=Financial Times |date=17 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Brittain |first1=Blake |title=Hermes lawsuit over 'MetaBirkins' NFTs can move ahead, judge rules |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/hermes-lawsuit-over-metabirkins-nfts-can-move-ahead-judge-rules-2022-05-05/ |access-date=26 June 2022 |work=Reuters |date=6 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

Legal and quasi-legal get-rich-quick schemes are frequently advertised on [[infomercial]]s and in magazines and newspapers. Illegal schemes or [[scams]] are often advertised through [[spam (electronic)|spam]] or [[cold calling]]. Some forms of advertising for these schemes market books or [[compact disc]]s about getting rich quick rather than asking participants to invest directly in a concrete scheme.{{Cn|date=December 2023}}