Ponzi News was created in response to what investigators describe as a growing number of schemes in which money from new investors is taken to pay earlier investors. Such Ponzi investment schemes are alleged to have occurred among Wall Street traders such as Bernard Madoff and Joseph Forte, and among lesser-known operators using what’s described as the “autosurf” or high-yield investment program (HYIP) models.

Autosurf firms operate over the Internet. They typically position themselves as “advertising” companies, promoting daily returns ranging from 1 percent to 12 percent (or even higher). Authorities say virtually all of them engage in the sale of unregistered securities.

HYIPs also operate over the Internet, often promoting high returns by investing in foreign-exchange (forex) markets and currency trading markets. Some HYIPs make no investments at all. They simply gather money and shut down once the criminal operators have met a secret money-stealing goal. The same often is true of autosurf schemes.