You might see references to receiving "happy mail" or doing the exchange "for the good of the sisterhood." During the 2022 holiday season, be aware of variations of this theme that may crop up on social media. A newer version of this scam revolves around exchanging bottles of wine another suggests purchasing $10 gifts online. Each holiday season, the scheme pops back up. The “Secret Sister” gift exchange campaign quickly became popular several years ago through Facebook posts promising participants would receive up to 36 gifts, in exchange for sending one gift. These gift exchanges, while they look like innocent fun, are really pyramid schemes – and are considered illegal. A gift exchange among online friends you haven’t met, well, that’s a little different and carries a heftier consequence. Postal Inspection Service offers information about chain letters at or you can call the Postal Inspection Service toll-free at 1-88.A "Secret Santa" around the office, or with friends and family can be fun. Some chain letters try to win your confidence by claiming they’re legal and endorsed by the government.Chances are you will receive little or no money back on your “investment.” Despite the claims, a chain letter will never make you rich.If you start a chain letter or send one, you are breaking the law. mail that involve money or valuable items and promise big returns are illegal. Chain letters via social media and U.S.Do not give out personal information to anyone. To avoid this scam, the best thing to do is completely ignore it altogether.Check with BBB before becoming involved in suspicious and possibly illegal activity. The BBB suggested the following tips to anyone who thinks they’ve been targeted: The Better Business Bureau wrote in a 2016 article that “pyramid schemes are illegal either by mail or on social media if money or other items of value are requested with assurance of a sizeable return for those who participate.” (Chain letters that ask for items of minor value, like picture postcards or recipes, may be mailed, since such items are not things of value within the meaning of the law.” Chain letters are a form of gambling, and sending them through the mail (or delivering them in person or by computer, but mailing money to participate) violates Title 18, United States Code, Section 1302, the Postal Lottery Statute. They’re illegal if they request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants. “There’s at least one problem with chain letters. You should begin receiving gifts in about 2 weeks if you get your letters out to your 6 people right away.ĭespite the probability that most participants will never receive the promised avalanche of holiday gifts, it’s also worth noting that gift chains are illegal.Īccording to the U.S. Seldom does anyone drop out because it’s so much fun to send a gift to someone you may or may not know … and of course it’s fun to receive. Soon you should receive 36 gifts! What a deal, 36 gifts for giving just one! Be sure to include some information about yourself … some of your favorites. You might want to order directly from a web-based service (Amazon, or any other online shop) which saves a trip to the post office. If you cannot complete this within 1 week please notify me, as it isn’t fair to the ladies who have participated and are waiting for their own gifts to arrive. Welcome to our secret sister gift exchange! Here’s how it works:ġ) Send one gift value at least $10 to secret sister #1 below.Ģ) Remove secret sister’s name from #1 then move secret sister #2 to that spot.Ĥ) Then send this info to 6 other ladies with the updated name infoĥ) Copy the secret sister request that I posted on my wall, to your own wall. Here’s how the exchange is sold to would-be participants: The idea behind the “exchange” is similar to chain letter gift exchanges that were popular in the 90s and email chain letters that were common in the early 2000s. Police departments are again warning social media users about the scam. Here’s an example from a post shared this holiday season: (Facebook) Snopes pointed out that, despite plentiful comments from people saying they were participating, only a few posted proof of receiving even one gift. The posts often promise participants 36 gifts in exchange for one present valued at $10. The so-called “secret sister” gift exchange has circulated widely on Facebook, Reddit and various forums, according to Snopes. The same scam surfaced in previous years, too. Now that the holidays are here, so are social media posts about a gift exchange that promises you’ll get between 6 and 36 gifts if you participate. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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