High-yield investment program
An unregistered investment, usually promoted through a website, that promises incredible returns at little or no risk. The SEC says they are typically run by unlicensed individuals and are often frauds.
The SEC says High-Yield Investment Programs are unregistered investments typically run by unlicensed individuals, and that they are often frauds. The hallmark is the promise of incredible returns at little or no risk. A HYIP website might promise annual, or even monthly, weekly or daily, returns of 30 or 40 percent or more.
Some of these scams use the term prime bank program. The SEC adds that fraudsters may use social media to promote a HYIP website, or may encourage investors to share information about it with others.
The SEC’s guidance for anyone approached online is to use extreme caution, because such offers are likely frauds. The test is simple. A return that is both very high and described as low risk is not an investment product, it is a sales claim.
Where it shows up
- Ponzi schemes and high-yield investment programmes · A rate of return that fails arithmetic, paid from the deposits of the people who joined after you.
- Fake investment platforms · A trading dashboard that shows everything except the one thing that matters; that no trade ever happened.
Sources
- High-Yield Investment Programs. US Securities and Exchange Commission (Investor.gov). Accessed 2026-10-10. Supports: The definition, the scale of promised returns, the 'prime bank' wording and the use of social media.