Chain Letter Scam Task Force member Jane Jones of the Cape Fear Council of Governments recently forwarded a chain letter that is making the rounds, together with the fine suggestion that it be made the subject of an Alert. The text of the chain letter is posted below, with certain identifying information deleted.
Chain letters are one of the oldest and purest forms of pyramid schemes.
You pay participants who got into the scheme before you and then try to recoup your investment and make a profit through the recruitment of other participants after you. Such schemes are illegal under both state and federal law. They also happen to be a bad idea. First, as a pyramid scheme, the program is bound to die out. People who are just getting into the scheme when this happens lose the monies they invested to get in.