There is a marked difference between investing and outright gambling. When you invest, you are placing capital at risk in order to achieve some kind of gain, be it growth or dividends. At the end of the investment, there is the return of your original principal. There are legal mechanisms in place that govern real investments. That's not to say that you can't lose all that initial principal, you can, but it's still a remarkably different process than what these Ponzi schemes look like. At least to me.

Look, every Ponzi that ever existed has anecdotes about those who made it big--it's part of the con. Getting rich quick is the dream of every peon everywhere.