A fraudulent brokerage operation in which orders to buy and sell are accepted but no executions take place. Instead, the operators expect to profit when customers close out their positions at a loss.

野鸡证券交易所：不讲信誉的交易所，接收买和卖的订单，但不采取任何措施。

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Ponzi purported to buy and sell international postage in different currencies at a profit, and that drew huge numbers of investors.

NPR: Ponzi Schemes Have Colorful History

However, they did want to buy existing companies in the industry using borrowed money, consolidate overlapping operations, and sell at a profit.

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