Illegal Chain Letter

Like most people, when I receive mail that looks like "junk mail", I throw it away without reading it. One day I received an envelope that was handwritten to me from someone that I did not know. I decided to open it. There were four typed pages, which I began to read. The letter was from a guy who said he was an "average Joe trying to get ahead in this world" and that he "finally came across something that will hopefully catch [my] interests and put some serious money [my] pockets." He said that he was skeptical at first but as he read through the pages, he found that it was "very legal." At the end of his note, it says to "follow the directions exactly and in less than 3 months, you should receive all of your money!!" At least $800,000.00

At this point you are probably saying, "What is the letter about?" There are 5 steps to this chain letter.

Step 1

You are to send $1.00 to each of the six people that are listed on the paper, you are then to tell them to add you on to their mailing list.

Step 2

You are to remove the name at the top of the list and move the other 5 names up so that you name will be added as number 6.

Step 3

After steps 1 and 2 are complete, go to a copy shop and make 200 or more copies of the entire letter.

Step 4

Order 200 or more names from a mailing list company (it recommends several companies).

Step 5

You will receive pre-addressed labels within a week. Once you receive the labels, send your copies out.

Step 6

Within 90 days you should receive at least $800,000.00!

Several times throughout the letter it says that this is perfectly legal and even says to refer to title 18: 1302 and 1324 of the postal and lottery laws. It also talks about how you must keep accurate records because the IRS will be wondering where you got all of that money. The letter goes into detail and breaks down exactly how you can end up making over $800,000.00. It says that it works every time and that they are getting the numbers from a 7% response rate. Here is the break down:

Send 200 copies, 15 people will send you $1.00 = $15.00

Those 15 people send 200 copies and 225 others send you $1.00 =225.00

Those 225 send 200 copies and 3375 send you $1.00 =3,375.00

Those 3,375 send 200 copies and 50,625 send you $1.00 =50,625.00

Those 50,625 send 200 copies and 759,375 others send you $1.00 =$813,615.00

I did all of their calculations and said, "Wow, this really makes sense." "What if I really can make this much money." Forget those 9-5 jobs that we all suffer through. Why not make tons and tons of money without a lot of effort. I was excited I thought if they are citing the postal and lottery laws and taking about keeping records for the IRS then it may actually be legitimate. But in the back of my mind I had a feeling that it was too good to be true, if it was legal then why wasn't everyone doing it.

I decided to actually look up the postal and lottery law that the letter had cited. Turns out, the Titles actually said the opposite.

Link To US Postal Inspection Service

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/chainlet.htm

Postal Lottery Laws

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/1302.html

I almost fell for the trap. When I found out that it was illegal, I turned the letter in to the postal service. I felt good for doing that, but I was really upset that someone would create a letter like this making people think that they were participating in something illegal. Many people probably don't look in to the laws and decide to participate because they believe the letter to be genuine. The unfortunate thing is, it is hard to catch the people who start these letters, so they may never get caught. If you receive a letter like this, please turn it in to the postal service.