Air Gun Home :: View topic

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

We are all used to getting spam in our email box, but keep in mind that it is no different than getting regular paper mail with the same types of scams.

I got the chain letter scam in the mail yesterday and actually took the time to read it, out of boredom mostly. It was the classic pyramid chain mail deal...you send 6 people $1 and then mail out 200 letters yourself after you replace your name with the bottom name on the list. Then if even a fraction of the recipients of your letters do the same thing, then you could make hundreds of thousands of dollars in a couple months.

In theory this could work, based on the mathematics involved. However, I was thinking about why it is not feasible, aside from pyramid schemes being illegal and outdated. They are as follows:

Reason 1: True, you only have to mail out $6. That is the sum total of your initial investment. But wait. You have to also mail out 200 letters. But every letter requires you to buy an envelope, buy a stamp, pay for copies of the letter....not to mention the time it takes to do all of that (which is substantial). And if you send fewer letters it will decrease your chances of profiting, if you mail out more then it will cost you more money up front.)

Reason 2: Worst case scenario, you are out a dozen hours of your time and a couple hundred bucks. Best case scenario, it works! However, even if it works, you now have a new headache to deal with. Remember how long it took to mail out 200 letters? How long do you think it will take to open 200,000 letters?! Keep in mind that by design, you will only recieve $1 per individual letter. Congrats, your house is now a post office! Oh, but I hope none of the mail men or neighbors or miscelaneous criminals along the way catch wind of this. Because they will be tempted keep a few of the letters for themselves, which contain easy cash. Don't even think about asking for personal checks (for $1). Your bank teller is as likely to enjoy processing a hundred thousand checks as you are to sign each one. I don't know whats worse--Wasting a little time and money an an easily avoidable scam, or making it rich but having to spend your entire life sitting on your living room floor opening envolopes to extract your payload of $1 bills.

If you've hung on this long, I've attached a picture of a man juggling kittens just as an eye candy treat for giving me your time.

broommaster2000 · Moderator

People that get involved in such scams are mostly one of the two following, or both:

-Want to earn money quickly and for free.
-Stupid.

I mean. REALLY stupid.