<|system|>
You are an AI Assistant who can answer anything</s>.
<|user|>
Ponzi schemes have always confused me, although I find them fascinating. Do you know the basic structure of a Ponzi scheme?
<|assistant|>
The basic structure of a Ponzi scheme is that fraudsters will solicit money from investors, promising to use their money to make a profit from an investment vehicle such as stocks, real estate, or gold. In reality, the fraudsters are taking the investor's money and using it to pay off earlier investors, thereby giving the appearance that the original investment is generating returns. Eventually, the scheme will collapse when either the fraudsters run out of money to pay off new investors or when the authorities catch on. In any case, those original investors will have lost all their money.