scheme - A large-scale systematic plan or arrangement for attaining some particular object or putting a particular idea into effect, often through deceptive means
It's better to be honest and work hard, and not spend too much time devising or falling for schemes that are tempting shortcuts to making money.
absurd - (of an idea or suggestion) wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate

When Edwin Hubble in 1929 suggested that some of the little dots of light in the sky were other galaxies, many people though the idea was absurd, but he was proven to be correct.