ILLEGAL CHAIN LETTERS AND SINGLE LINE DOWNLINES
"Hi, my name is Dave Green or Dusty Rhodes . . .(Alias Scammer) "
The oldest of Pyramid Schemes are Chain letters disguised as MLM Opportunities. They are illegal since there are no products involved. The worst part is that Email makes chain letters or single line downlines fast and easy. Copy and paste in seconds and send to ten of your closest friends this most famous of Internet and mail scams. Send it via U.S. mail and get a U.S. Postal Inspector on your door step. Email it to your close friends? You may end up with ten enemies, instead of friends! Ed. Note: Information on single line downlines is further down the page.
Dave Green or Dusty Rhodes (alias scammer) assures you that this scam worked for him and was perfectly legal! Sometimes the scammer will claim he is a lawyer and it is legal. The scammer will claim the made $100,000 + after sending out 200 (or some small amount) copies of the letter. He was bankrupt, and found this marvelous solution after being hounded by bill collectors. (how did they afford computer or stamps to send illegal chain letters?). As almost 50 years of chain letters have passed (nothing new), other chain letter scammers tacked new names and success testimonial stories onto the letter, making the chain letter a volume of testimonials of financial empowerment. They all end with some kind pleas that the chain not be broken.
Chain letters are illegal when mailed through the U.S. Post Office. Sending them email? You may hit the “Go To Jail” lottery by sending e-mail chain letters. . The U.S. F.C.C. can nail you for wire fraud, because many kinds of the letters falsely claim that the process is a mailing list subscription service (ha-ha). Rare chance but you are more likely to go to jail than make money with these Email Chain letters. So why take the risk of U.S. Mail Chain letters or Internet email chain letters?
NOW HERE IS THE INSIDE SCAMMER GAME
Today many of the illegal chain letters are sent out to find “Marks” that can be conned for bigger scams. Read down for single line downlines. So when you reply to one or become active your name goes on Scam Target list to be sold. We have seen one of these fresh lists where the names were being sold for $50@. Why? Because the con artist crooks coming after you are planning on pulling $1000, $5000 or $100,000 out of your pocket. By acting on a U.S. mail chain letter or an Internet email chain letter you marked yourself as a SUCKER willing to part with their money! Ed. Note: You are now a target for the slickest talking con artists in the Internet world!
SINGLE LINE DOWNLINES ARE CHAIN LETTER COUSINS
Also 98.5% types of single line downlines are a form of chain letter. There are about 30 U.S. states that have some sort of chain letter law. That’s why you don’t see single line downlines last too long in the MLM – Network Marketing open marketplace. As soon as an Attorney General sees a single line downline they start snooping. Usually the single line downline disappears shortly thereafter.
ED. Note: In the U.S. chain letters are a pesky problem. In 2006 - 2007 Australian got bombed and over ran with tons of them. That is why the description below is so good!
VICTORIA AUSTRALIA CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Best Legal Description Chain Letter - Pyramid Selling Schemes
Sub category: Pyramid Selling Schemes
The main characteristic of a pyramid selling scheme is that earning money and gaining promotion within the scheme depends primarily on recruiting people into the operation, rather than by selling a legitimate product or providing a service. Often, the goods or services involved have little or no value outside the scheme. In a typical pyramid scheme, people are often induced to pay a substantial fee to join, and then recruit others into the operation who must also pay to join the scheme. The only way that these new members can recover their money is by recruiting more people into the operation. Ed. Note: No comment on single line downlines! Ouch!
Pyramid Explained
Promoters at the top of the pyramid profit from having people join the scheme because they pocket the payments made by those who join under them. The incentive is that once members have recruited a certain number of people the payments they will receive will be greater than their initial outlay. Therefore, the people who originate the scheme have a large advantage over those who join later. Ultimately, however, pyramid schemes are doomed to collapse because there is a limit to the number of people who can join and participants lose their money. For everyone to profit there would have to be an endless supply of newcomers.
Sub category: Chain Letter
Chain letters that request the recipient to send money to people on a list, then to add their own name to the list and forward it to several friends (or other people) with the same instructions are a common form of pyramid selling. Chain letters often claim that the recipient could 'become a millionaire within six months' by posting the letters. This type of scheme is illegal under the pyramid selling provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1999. The schemes promoted by David Stein and Edward L. Green are two of the most common chain letters circulating in Victoria. End Best Description: Chain Letter/Pyramid Selling Schemes
FROM THE UK’S WATCHDOG FINANCIAL SERVICES AGENCY
REMEMBER: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS!
You receive an unsolicited chain letter or email with a list of names. After being asked to send £10 to the person at the top of the list you are then invited to put your own name on the list, photocopy the letter, send it out to say 200 people. According to the letter you will be guaranteed a return of £400,000 for your £10 initial investment.
This scam operates in a similar way to pyramid schemes in that a member pays a fee to join the chain. And the only way for that member ever to recover any money is to recruit more members who all pay the same amount. They, in turn, have to recruit even more people – and so it goes on. Ed. Note: However when you get to the 12th level you need 6 more billion people to continue the Pyramid chain. However Pyramids never get that far and collapse first.
ED. Note: Great Note On How To Protect yourself!
However tempted you are by the promise of huge returns on your money do not get involved.
•
Don’t kid yourself – this will not make you rich, the only person likely to profit from this scam will be the originator.
•Don’t be bullied by threats of bad luck befalling you if you don’t continue the chain. These scammers are just playing on your superstitions.
•Throw away any chain letters or emails you get – they’re not worth the paper they’re written on.
BACK TO THE CONSUMER PROTECTION LIBRARY!
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