Charles Ponzi's scheme (plus a new scam)

Planet Money’s “Charles Ponzi's scheme (plus a new scam)” traces the origins of the financial fraud that made Charles Ponzi a household name. The account begins in 1919, when the Italian immigrant, already a decade and a half into his life in the United States, was still searching for a route to wealth. The episode connects an apparently practical financial opportunity—international postage coupons—to his pursuit of investors and eventual notoriety. The notes do not identify the host or any guests; they credit James Sneed as producer and identify Mitchell Zuckoff’s book Ponzi's Scheme as the source.

The central example is an International Reply Coupon that Ponzi received in a letter from Europe in August 1919. Designed to prepay international postage, the coupon suggested to him a possible way to make a fortune. His next requirement was investors. The notes place this discovery against a varied employment history, including bookkeeping, sign painting, grocery work, dishwashing and library work. They establish the starting point for the fraud story, but do not explain the proposed coupon transactions, promised returns, investor recruitment methods or movement of money.

The episode presents Ponzi’s history as a financial-fraud story with an enduring legacy, rather than merely a biographical curiosity. Its original version aired in 2023, and the current title also promises “a new scam.” However, the notes provide no details about that newer case, so they do not support a comparison between the two or a claim about any current fraud trend. The key analytical boundary is therefore clear: the notes document how Ponzi encountered his supposed opportunity, while leaving the mechanics, scale and consequences of the scheme—and the substance of the new scam—unspecified.