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  • Geebo 9:00 am on December 2, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: pyramid scheme, , , ,   

    Secret Sister Exchange: A Holiday Scam 

    Secret Sister Exchange: A Holiday Scam

    By Greg Collier

    As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear, a familiar scam has resurfaced on social media, preying on the festive spirit of giving and community. Known as the Secret Sister Gift Exchange scam, it entices participants with the promise of abundant gifts in exchange for sending just one. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has issued a timely warning. While these schemes may appear harmless or even joyful, they are, in fact, illegal pyramid schemes.

    At the heart of this scam is a tantalizing offer, send one gift, and in return, receive as many as 36 from others. Variations of the scheme include exchanging small, inexpensive items such as $10 gifts, bottles of wine, or other specialty items. The mechanics of the scam involve sending a gift to someone at the top of a circulated list, moving names around, and recruiting friends to join the exchange. Participants are lured by the idea of receiving a cascade of gifts from strangers, an outcome that never materializes.

    The reality is that this scheme is structured like any other pyramid scheme. It relies on an unsustainable cycle of recruiting new participants to keep the operation going. As soon as the chain is broken, which inevitably happens, most participants are left empty-handed. What started as a seemingly fun and generous activity often ends in disappointment and regret.

    Beyond its inherent flaws, engaging in these schemes carries legal consequences. According to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, these gift exchanges violate laws designed to protect against fraudulent pyramid schemes. The illusion of harmless holiday fun does not exempt these operations from legal scrutiny.

    The BBB advises steering clear of these exchanges if they appear on your social media feeds. The best course of action is to ignore invitations to participate and report such posts to the platform to prevent further spread. This scam thrives on social networks, relying on unsuspecting users to perpetuate its cycle.

    As the season of giving unfolds, it’s important to channel generosity into legitimate and meaningful outlets. Contributing to recognized charities, helping neighbors in need, or participating in organized community events ensures your holiday spirit makes a genuine impact. While the promise of abundant gifts may seem alluring, the true joy of the holidays lies in sharing kindness and goodwill without strings attached.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on September 19, 2024 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: affiliate marketing, get rich quick, , pyramid scheme,   

    Is Affiliate Marketing Just a Scam in Disguise? 

    By Greg Collier

    Affiliate marketing has been hailed as a win-win strategy for both businesses and individuals looking to make passive income online. The basic idea sounds harmless enough. Marketers earn a commission by promoting a company’s product through unique affiliate links. But beneath this seemingly simple setup lies a darker reality, one that preys on vulnerable individuals while perpetuating misleading promises and questionable ethics.

    At first glance, affiliate marketing looks like a quick path to financial freedom. The pitch is always the same, minimal effort, zero startup costs, and the ability to earn while you sleep. Influencers and online gurus eagerly tout their six-figure incomes, luring thousands into signing up for affiliate programs. What they fail to mention is the steep learning curve, the saturated market, and the risk of losing money before seeing any meaningful return.

    Many affiliate marketers spend thousands on courses and software just to learn the ropes. These expenses are often brushed aside as “necessary investments,” but they leave countless individuals deeper in debt, all while the so-called experts who sold them the dream are laughing their way to the bank.

    Affiliate marketing shares more than a passing resemblance to pyramid schemes. Just like in multi-level marketing (MLM), top-tier affiliates benefit the most, often by recruiting other marketers rather than selling actual products. Affiliate marketers are frequently incentivized to push high-priced programs, courses, or software with commissions of up to 50%. But the real product being sold isn’t the company’s service or item, it’s the dream of becoming the next affiliate success story.

    The success of a few top earners depends on a revolving door of new affiliates at the bottom, many of whom will fail and drop out after investing time and money into paid ads or content creation. The business model thrives on volume, with only a select few benefiting while the rest are left scrambling for scraps.

    The predatory nature of affiliate marketing also extends to vulnerable populations. People desperate for financial stability, stay-at-home parents, college students, and retirees are frequently targeted. These groups are lured in with the promise of ‘easy money’ from affiliate marketing, but often end up exploited, left to deal with mounting expenses and little to no return.

    One of the most glaring issues with affiliate marketing is the lack of transparency. Many affiliate links are disguised using URL shorteners or embedded within the content, making it difficult for consumers to know they’re being sold to. This blurs the line between genuine recommendations and paid promotions, creating an environment ripe for consumer distrust.

    Moreover, businesses running affiliate programs bear little responsibility for the tactics used by their affiliates. This means marketers can employ unethical methods like false advertising, exaggerated claims, or even clickbait to push sales without repercussions. The blame often falls solely on the affiliate, allowing companies to maintain their image while profiting from dishonest marketing.

    While not every affiliate marketing program is outright fraudulent, the broader industry operates on a predatory model that often leaves participants worse off than when they started. Affiliate marketing preys on people’s hopes for financial freedom, promising rewards that only a small fraction will ever see. The truth is, most people who enter affiliate marketing will fail, not because they lack effort, but because the system is designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many.

    For those considering affiliate marketing, it’s crucial to approach the industry with caution. Understand that it’s far from a get-rich-quick scheme, and be wary of anyone claiming otherwise. Transparency, honesty, and ethical practices are rare in this space, and that’s what makes affiliate marketing, for many, little more than a scam in disguise.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 10, 2023 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: pyramid scheme, , , ,   

    Gift exchange scam is back for the holidays 

    Gift exchange scam is back for the holidays

    By Greg Collier

    The old joke says Christmas decorations and sales start earlier every year. Just this year, it seemed like stores started getting into the Christmas spirit as soon as Halloween was over. Well, we have our own indicator of the start of the holiday season, and that’s a pyramid scheme disguised as a Christmas gift exchange.

    Recently, the Better Business Bureau sounded the alarm on what’s called the Secret Sister gift exchange. If you’re unfamiliar with the Secret Sister scheme, it’s a scam primarily directed at women, evident from its name. The process initiates with a social media post urging participants to include their name and address in a list, accompanied by sending a modestly priced gift. In exchange, they are assured of receiving as many as 36 gifts. Additionally, participants are encouraged to enlist at least six more individuals into the gift exchange.

    A clear indicator of the pyramid scheme nature emerges when you’re urged to recruit more participants to progress in the exchange, be it gifts or money. In pyramid schemes, the individuals at the pyramid’s summit enjoy the benefits of the scam, leaving those at the bottom with little to gain and often facing unfavorable outcomes.

    Also, by submitting yours and your friends’ addresses, you’re putting yourself and your friends at risk of being the target of identity theft.

    One alarming aspect of social media pyramid schemes like this is the potential legal consequences for victims. Pyramid schemes are prohibited in the United States, and even if participants are unknowingly exploited, involvement in recruiting others for the exchange could lead them to legal trouble. It’s crucial for individuals to be aware of the legality surrounding such schemes to avoid unintentional legal complications.

    If you receive an online invitation to participate in one of these gift exchanges, it’s advisable to politely decline. However, if the invitation comes from someone close to you, it might be worth explaining the potential risks associated with such exchanges. By doing so, you could potentially save them from encountering significant troubles down the line. Educating those close to you about the perils of these schemes can be a valuable preventive measure.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on February 3, 2022 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: book exchange, gift exchange, , pyramid scheme,   

    Social media book drive is anything but 

    Social media book drive is anything but

    By Greg Collier

    A new gift exchange has been circulating around social media. This time, instead of holiday presents, you’re expected to exchange books. On the surface, this may seem like a great idea, since many of us have books that we’ve read that are taking up space. Plus, it’s a great feeling when you get to share a book you love with a new reader. The best part is that this exchange is relatively free, since many of us have an excess of books already. How could this possibly a bad thing?

    You may see a post or a message on social media that come from a trusted friend who recommends this book exchange. All you have to do is provide your name and email address, along with the names and email addresses of a few of your friends. Then you’re asked to send a book to someone who already signed up for the exchange, and in return, you’re supposed to receive 36 books.

    If this sounds familiar to you, it may be because it sounds exactly like the Secret Sister Gift Exchange or the Blessing Loom scheme. They’re all pyramid schemes, and in the book exchange scheme instead of money, the schemers are more than likely looking for your personal information for future identity theft. Keep in mind, even if it’s just books being exchanged, pyramid schemes are still illegal in the United States. If you recruit others into the scheme, you could potentially face legal action.

    Even if the exchange seems to be for a good cause with a good return, the odds are, you’re not getting any books. Pyramid schemes are designed to only benefit those at the top of the pyramid. After a couple of levels, the giving stops abruptly and the lower tiers are left with nothing. On top of it, you’ve potentially exposed the information about you and your friends to complete strangers.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 11, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , pyramid scheme, , , ,   

    Pyramid scheme disguised as gift exchange returns 

    Pyramid scheme disguised as gift exchange returns

    By Greg Collier

    With many people already starting their holiday shopping, an annual holiday scam has returned to social media. The Better Business Bureau is warning to consumers to be aware of the Secret Sister Gift Exchange. The scam seems harmless and fun at first. The posts on social media ask you to add your name and address to a list where you send in a small $10 gift. In return, you’re promised to receive up to 36 of the gifts. You’re also asked to recruit at least six more people into the gift exchange. It’s just $10. What could be the harm in that?

    Anytime you’re asked to recruit more people to advance an exchange like this, whether it’s gifts or money, it’s a pyramid scheme. It’s the people at the top of the pyramid who reap the rewards of the scam, while those on the bottom of the pyramid often find themselves empty-handed. That’s not even considering that you sent a stranger your name and address. You basically just paid $10 to have your identity stolen.

    What’s even worse is that by participating in a pyramid scheme, you could potentially face legal action, as pyramid schemes are illegal in the United States. Often, the people who initiate these gift exchanges will swear up and down that the gift exchange is either not a pyramid scheme or is approved by the US Government. They’re either lying or are ignorant of the law. Not only is it illegal to recruit someone into a pyramid scheme like this, since the scheme also uses the US Postal Service, you could also be charged with mail fraud.

    If you have a friend on social media who has engaged in one of these gift exchanges, you might want to warn them about the illegality of it. While your friends may not be the scammers themselves, a short conversation with them may save them from trouble in the long run.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on July 22, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , multilevel marketing, pyramid scheme,   

    Potential pyramid scheme targets young people on Instagram 

    Potential pyramid scheme targets young people on Instagram

    By Greg Collier

    There’s a fine line between pyramid schemes and multilevel marketing. In pyramid schemes, the top level of the pyramid asks you for money with a promise of getting multiples of your money back. All you have to do is recruit more people who are willing to pay you, so you can in turn pay the top of the pyramid. With MLMs, not only do you have to pay to get in, you have to sell a product, and recruit more people to join.

    Pyramid schemes are illegal in the US, but MLMs are not. If an MLM makes more money from recruiting new people rather than selling a product, it’s then considered a pyramid scheme and is violating US law. This hasn’t stopped some MLM’s from continuing to operate.

    One thing that pyramid schemes and MLMs have in common is that the lower someone is on the hierarchy, the less money they make. Both also tend to target people in lower-income areas who may not have had the best educations. They both also tend to target younger people who may not have the life experience to recognize a potential scam.

    Recently, The Office of the Attorney General in Georgia, has issued a warning to young people about a potential pyramid scheme/MLM that has been trying to recruit them on Instagram. The ‘company’ clams to give money to college students so they can establish credit. They say they’re looking for recruiters and that someone can earn $350 for each person the recruit. However, to become a recruiter, you need to pay $100 to join.

    If you have to pay money to join some network marketing plan, you’re not running your own business, as they may claim. What you really are is a paying customer who has quotas on how much you have to buy and how many people you need to recruit each month. Social media, with Facebook and Instagram being the most egregious, is where most MLMs will try to recruit you. Think about that person from high school you haven’t seen in years all of a sudden has a ‘business opportunity’ for you. They’re just looking for suckers of their own so their ‘business’ isn’t suffering. Before you know it, everyone involved except the top of the food chain are further in debt. This isn’t a business, it’s a predatory practice.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on June 10, 2021 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: gifting club, , pyramid scheme,   

    Gifting club is just another name for pyramid scheme 

    Gifting club is just another name for pyramid scheme

    By Greg Collier

    Some of the oldest scams are the most effective ones. For example, the pyramid scheme is one that predates the internet and has been taking money from victims for decades. The only difference between then and today is the internet and social media have made it easy to find victims from all over.

    The way a pyramid scheme works is the person on the top of the pyramid recruits people to invest in the scheme. Those recruits fill the next level of the pyramid than they have to recruit more people to fill the next level of the pyramid and so on. Once the pyramid is full, the person at the top gets all the investments from everyone beneath them on the pyramid. Then people gradually move upwards on the pyramid where they’ll eventually make it to the top and supposedly claim their windfall.

    The problem with pyramid schemes is that only the people that get in first are the only ones who usually make money. The more the pyramid expands the more difficult it becomes to recruit new members leaving most participants at a loss.

    Unfortunately, this has happened to a number of residents of Oregon. Calling itself a ‘gifting club’ a pyramid scheme in Oregon promised its victims a $9,000 payout for a $1,400 investment. Investors are then asked to recruit more people into the club. At least 20 Oregon residents have reported losing money to this alleged pyramid scheme. With everything being online, victims gave their money to the club through various payment apps like PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App.

    If any kind of investment scheme requires you to recruit more people that is not a true investment plan but a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are illegal in the US. If someone says that their plan isn’t a pyramid scheme because pyramid schemes are illegal, it’s almost definitely a pyramid scheme.

     

  • Geebo 9:00 am on November 13, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: pyramid scheme, , ,   

    Secret Sister scam returns for the holiday season 

    Secret Sister scam returns for the holiday season

    It feels a little early for the Better Business Bureau to be warning about holiday scams, but then again it is mid-November already.

    The BBB has issued a national warning about the Secret Sister Gift Exchange scam that seems to crop up on social media around this time of year. If you’re not familiar with the Secret Sister scam, it’s a scam that’s mostly targeted at women as you can tell by the name. It starts when someone posts on social media asking you to add your name and address to a list where you send in a small $10 gift. In return, you’re promised to receive up to 36 of the gifts. You’re also asked to recruit at least six more people into the gift exchange.

    This is how you can tell it’s a pyramid scheme. Anytime you’re asked to recruit more people to advance an exchange like this whether it’s gifts or money, it’s a pyramid scheme. In pyramid schemes, it’s the people at the top of the pyramid who reap the rewards of the scam while those on the bottom of the pyramid often find themselves out of luck.

    Add to that, you’re potentially putting yourself at risk for identity theft. While $10 sounds like a small amount to lose, you could lose more by giving out your personal information.

    The worst part of social media pyramid schemes like this is that a victim could find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Pyramid schemes are illegal in the United States. Even if you’re unaware you’re being taken advantage of if you’re caught recruiting others into the exchange you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law.

    Some of those organizing these exchanges will say that it’s legal or even that it’s approved by the government. That is false.

    If you’re invited to one of these gift exchanges online, just politely decline. However, if it’s someone close to you, you may want to explain to them the perils of the exchange. You could be saving them a lot of trouble.

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on August 25, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , pyramid scheme, ,   

    Blessing Loom pyramid scheme is back 

    Blessing Loom pyramid scheme is back

    The last time we heard about the Blessing Loom pyramid scheme, scammers were trying to take advantage of people who had just received their economic impact payments. Now, we’re seeing reports of the pyramid scheme returning to social media if it ever left at all. With so many Americans having financial difficulty during the current crisis, the Blessing Loom could be finding new victims.

    While a Blessing Loom may be shaped like a circle, it’s essentially just window dressing for a pyramid scheme. In a Blessing Loom, someone will promise their victims that they can exponentially increase their initial ‘investment’ if they just recruit new people into the ‘loom’. In theory, once the outer circle of the loom is filled the person in the middle gets all the investments from that circle. Once you move to the center is when you’re supposed to get your big payout. Except, the only people who truly make money through these are the people who set it up in the first place. Once they receive the investment money through apps like Venmo or Cash App, your money is gone and you just made someone else richer for doing almost nothing.

    These pyramid schemes often go by other names as well with all of them designed to lull you into a false sense of security. Using such names as ‘Money Board’ or ‘Gifting Circle’, scammers will try to make these schemes appear as friendly as possible to try to recruit as many people as possible into their scheme.

    The other drawback to Blessing Looms besides losing your money is that they’re illegal. If you try to recruit someone into one of these circles, you could be held criminally responsible even if you’re not the initial organizer.

    As we’ve said before, you wouldn’t give a stranger on the street your money if they told you they’ll give you $500 if you give them $50, so why would you give it to someone on social media?

     

  • Geebo 8:00 am on April 21, 2020 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , pyramid scheme,   

    Blessing Looms are just pyramid schemes in disguise 

    Blessing Looms are just pyramid schemes in disguise

    Just when we think we’ve come across all the scams designed to swindle you out of your stimulus check, we’ve come across a new one. Or rather, an old one in a new coat of paint. They’re called ‘Blessing Looms’ and they promise you can make your initial investment back several times. Investment into what you may ask. That’s just it. You’re not really investing in anything at all.

    The typical diagram of a blessing loom can be seen above. The way it works is there is a circle of people who all put in the same initial investment. It can be as little as $10 or as much as say $1,200 just to use a figure that’s been in the news. The person on the inside of the ring recruits two people to fill the next ring. Then they recruit two people each to fill the next level of the ring and so on. Once the ring is full, the person in the middle gets all the investments from that loom. Then people gradually move closer towards the center of the ring where they’ll eventually make it to the center. The money is usually sent to your recruiter through apps like Venmo, Cash App, and the like.

    While the shape may be different, the so-called Blessing Loom also goes by another name, the pyramid scheme. The only difference is the way the scam is presented. As with most pyramid schemes, the problem with Blessing Looms is that only the people that get in first are the only ones who usually make money. The more the circle expands the more difficult it becomes to recruit new members leaving most participants at a loss. These Blessing Loom scams have seen a dramatic uptick on social media after the stimulus payments were announced.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJm_DYtmo0U%5D

    Even if you think it’s just a small investment so what could it hurt, keep this in mind. Pyramid schemes are illegal. If there is actually no product being purchased then it’s an illegal pyramid scheme. So not only could you find yourself out of money but you could find yourself in legal trouble as well.

    Remember, you can’t make money just by giving someone else your money.

     

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