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| CANADA'S SOURCE FOR PYRAMID SCHEME HUMOUR, PARODY, AND SATIRE
IN YOUR "INBOX"-- E-mail has become one of the hottest ways to market new business scams, but there are still old-fashioned methods out there waiting to separate man from his money. One classic example is the pyramid scheme, a method where easily influenced people are asked to send a small amount of money to several people on a list in the hopes of getting a substantial return. One of the latest scams, a twist on the original pyramid scheme, is called the "inverted" pyramid.
The premise of the inverted pyramid scheme is quite simple: An individual prepares a list of addressees (usually friends, relatives, or acquaintances), and mails off twenty letters (or 50, or 500) and includes $5 (cash) and instructions on how to continue with the chain. Those people in turn make copies of the letter and mail it to twenty more people each, again including $5 (or more) in each envelope. In a short amount of time, thousands of letters are circulating through the mail system, and an inestimable amount of money is involved! All it takes is a basic investment of $100, plus the cost of postage and stationery. Create a simple letter, and you could initiate an inverted pyramid scam of your own. They're a huge problem, admits Federal Trade Commission spokesperson Paul Lescotti. "Who profits from this sort of scam?" asked Lescotti. "No, I mean really, who is profiting?" With even as little as 25% participation in the scam, it would take only a few mailing generations before there are hundreds of thousands of dollars floating through the mail system. "These people have no chance of recovering their investment," said Lescotti. "They should know that when you give money to relatives and friends you may as well kiss it good-bye. There may be a few 'warm fuzzies' for a week or two, depending on how hard-up the receiver is, but that will soon disappear after they've sent out their own $100-worth of letters and then realize they'll never see it back."
"In no time at all, there will be millions of dollars involved," said Platt. "Has no one ever told these people not to send cash in the mail? Have they put a return address on the envelope, in case the recipient has moved without a forwarding address?" Inverted pyramids have only been around for a short time, but they're already proving difficult to trace. Since there is rarely a return address, and cash--and not cheques--is used, there's almost no way to find out where they begin. With the right planning, almost anyone could start their own inverted pyramid. The scale itself is arbitrary. Although most letters mention twenty people, it's easy to imagine someone from a large family, or with access to their church's mailing list, starting with 100, 500, or even 1,000 recipients! There is no deterrent. There are only small fines attached to IPS convictions, which are few and far between. The postal service recommends that you avoid mailing currency, although privately postal employees themselves don't discourage it too much. Both Lescotti and Platt recommend that if someone sends you a letter with $5 included to just hold onto the money. "Break
the chain," said Platt, "It's not worth it for you to continue
this tragic train of mailing events." editor:
For more information on how The Toque
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Officer
Paul Platt from the Ministry of Postage and Lost Mail has other concerns.
