Editing Pump and dump (section)

===Comparison with other types of schemes===

A pump-and-dump scam is a type of [[economic bubble]], with the main difference between this scheme and most other types of bubbles being that the pump-and-dump bubble is deliberately perpetrated by unlawful activity. A pump-and-dump scheme is similar in many ways to a [[Ponzi scheme]] (in that both types of scam use misrepresentations in an effort to enrich the promoters and/or initial investors with money from later investors), however, there are a number of differences between the schemes:
* Ponzi-type investments are privately traded, often between individuals who are known to one another, whereas pump-and-dump schemes are typically marketed to the general public and traded on public stock exchanges and the victims and perpetrators are not acquainted with each other.
* Ponzi schemes typically promise very specific returns on investments and/or include falsified records implying consistent and steady returns, whereas pump-and-dump schemes only come with general and/or implied promises of substantial profits.
* Ponzi schemes typically come with the expectation of profit over a relatively extended period and typically last for months, years or even decades before their inevitable collapse. By comparison, pump-and-dump scams are designed to make profits extremely quickly and are executed over weeks, days or even hours.
* Ponzi schemes are occasionally the result of investment vehicles that are originally intended to be legitimate but ultimately fail to perform as expected. By comparison, pump-and-dump schemes are invariably intended to be scams from their conception, although a fairly common tactic used by pump-and-dump schemers is to take over a once-legitimate business (one that is either failing or defunct), or even just its name, in order to pump and dump its stock.
* For all of the above reasons, Ponzi schemes tend to leave a far more extensive trail of [[evidence (law)|evidence]]. They are typically much easier to prosecute after they are discovered, and often result in much stiffer criminal penalties.

Pump-and-dump scams differ from many other forms of spam (such as [[advance fee fraud]] emails and [[lottery scam]] messages) in that it does not require the recipient to contact the spammer to collect supposed "winnings", or to transfer money from supposed bank accounts. This makes tracking the source of pump-and-dump spam difficult, and has also given rise to "minimalist" spam consisting of a small untraceable image file containing a picture of a stock symbol.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}