Definition of a scam is someone who promises you something for nothing.
A lot of Americans are eager to believe all they have to do is listen to someone tell them they will be rich without any effort on their part.
In a scam, both sides are not exactly the perpetrator and victim in the classic sense of a crime.
SCAM spelled T-R-U-M-P:
noun:
1. a dishonest scheme; a fraud.
“an insurance scam”
synonyms: fraud, swindle, fraudulent scheme, racket, trick;
pharming; informalcon, hustle, flimflam, bunco, grift, gyp, shakedown
“the scam involved a series of bogus investment deals”
verb:
1. swindle.
“a guy that scams the elderly out of their savings”
synonyms: swindle, cheat, deceive, trick, dupe, hoodwink, double-cross, gull; informal rip off, con, fleece, shaft, hose, sting, bilk, diddle, rook, gyp, finagle, bamboozle, flimflam, put one over on, pull a fast one on, sucker, stiff, shake down, hornswoggle
“he was trying to scam residents with phony insurance policies”
In the case of Trump University and other like “educational institutions” the scam is that they promise very specific things in their advertising and prospectus and then do not deliver.
Same as if you pay for gold bars and get gold painted lead.
Simple.
Tramp University was shut down in the classic sense of a crime.