Is This Legal?
POSTED BY: SoulOfSerenity
UPDATED: Friday, April 7, 2006 22:12
VIEWED: 6590
PAGE 1 of 3
So I need some advice. Call me gullible for believing this, but can someone read this letter (I got it in the mail) and tell me if this is legal and if it has a potential of working?
Quote:
Greetings: I am a retired attorney. A few years ago, a man came to me with a letter. He asked me to verify the fact this was legal to do. I told him I would review it and get back to him. When I read the letter that my client brought me, I thought it was some “off-the-wall” idea to make money. A week and a half later we met in my office to discuss the issue. I told him the letter he originally brought to me was not 100% legal. My client then asked me to alter it to make it perfectly legal. I asked him to make one small change to the letter.
I was still curious about the letter, so he explained to me how it works. I thought it seemed like a long shot, so I decided against participating. Before my client left, I asked him to keep me updated on his results. About two months later, he called me to tell me he had received over $800,000 in cash. I didn’t believe him, so he asked me to try this idea and find out for myself. I thought about it for a couple of days and decided I really didn’t have anything to lose, so I asked him for a copy of the letter. I followed the instructions exactly, mailed 200 copies, and sure enough the money started coming in! It arrived slowly at first, but after about three weeks, I was getting more mail than I could open in one day. After about three months, the money stopped coming. I kept a precise record of the earnings, and in the end, it totaled $978,493! I could hardly believe it. I met my friend for lunch to find out exactly how it worked. He told me that there are quite a few similar letters around, but this one is different because there are six names at the end of the letter, not five like some others. This fact results in your name being in far more returns. The other fact was the help I gave him, to make sure the whole thing was legal, since no one wants to take the risk of doing something illegal.
By now you are surely curious to know what small changes to make. If you sent a letter like this one out, in order to be completely legal, you must sell something in order to receive a dollar in return. So when you send a dollar to each of these names on the list, you must include these words, “Please put me on your mailing list” and include your name and address. This is the key to the program. The item you receive for the dollar you send to the six people below the letter.
At the time I first tried this idea, I was earning a good living as a lawyer. Every one in the legal profession will tell you that there is a lot of stress that comes with the job. I told myself if this thing worked out, I would retire from my practice and play golf. I decided to try the letter again, but this time I sent 500 copies. Three months later, I totaled $2, 341, 178!
Here are a few reasons a person might give for not trying the program:
>Some people think they can never make a lot of money with something simple.
>Some are afraid they will be ridiculed for trying.
>Some dream of large sums of money, but do nothing to actually achieve it.
>Some are plain lazy.
>Some are afraid of losing their investment. They think this program was designed to
beat them out of a few dollars. The system works if you try it. But you must follow the
simple instructions exactly, and in less than three months, you will receive $800,000
GUARANTEED!
>Keep what you are doing to yourself for a while. Many will tell you it won’t work and
will try to talk you out of you dreams. Let them know of your success after it works.
Instructions:
1. Immediately send each of the six people on the list at the end of this letter $1.00.
wrap the dollar bill in a note saying “Please add me to your mailing list” and
include your name and address.
2. Remove the name next to the #1 on the list and move the rest of the names up one position (#2 becomes #1, #3 becomes #2 etc.) then place your name in the #6 position.NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by SoulOfSerenity:
Call me gullible for believing this
You're gullible
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It's a pyramid scheme and it's illegal in Florida.
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"Appears they've cancelled the show and we're still here. What does that make us?"
"Big damn junkies, Sir!"
"Ain't we just."
http://karenallover.blogspot.com/
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Well, you know the saying: "If it looks to good to be true..." Couldn't point out exactly wherein the scam lies, but I'd bet there's one in there somewhere :)
________________________________________________
You can take my hope when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
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SoulofSerenity,
I agree with the others, this is illegal.
My Grandma had an old saying and I always apply it to situations like this.. .and believe me because I'm a business woman I get lots of these things and approached by lots of folks about things like this.... she said..
"If it seems to good to be true, it's not true!"
My Grandma's advice has never steered me wrong.
ETA: Nuclearday and I have heard the same old sayings...
" You hold. Hold til I get back." Mal
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It's leagel but then again back out of you drive way is illeagel. They can take your money all they want, and they really don't have to give you anything back. I used to work for a company that sent letters to old people asking them to send $1,000 and one person out of the run would get $12,000. They would sent these letter to just about every elderly person in this country and they would do it every 3 months. It's leagel but just plain mean to pray on soneone that doesn't know any better. I would not get involved with anyone just asking for money. I have recieved a ton of emails lately saying the same thing most from other countries so our laws don't even apply. Here an expample of where our laws don't apply: Gambling is illeagal in New York. If I open a place where people come to play poker I would get arrested, but I can turn on my computer and play anytime I want. They aren't run out of Atlantic City Or Las Vegas becuase if they were there could be trouble. These Gambling Sites which advertive on TV as Non-gambling sites take you to other sites that allow you to gamble for real money. PartyPoker.net takes you to PartyPoker.com. So I think you better know what your getting into before you send anything especially money.
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I believe that pyramid schemes and chain letters are illegal in every state in the USA
**********************************************
watch the R. Tam Session vids: http://www.hittarivertam.nu/
and buy the 'Serenity' comics published by Dark Horse
have you checked out this thread?:
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816
and listen to 'I'm Going To See Serenity':
http://music.podshow.com/music/listeners/artistdetails.php?BandHash=a0
c814e1229742ce77ed4497cbf4631c
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I do what would best be referred to as online counseling for people who has suffered emotional stress from these types of scams. It is most often young people who couldn’t afford college, got pregnant young, in debt up to their ears, or are generally lazy, but at least 40% are just some average person who resist. Most people lose their savings and dig a deeper hole for themselves by falling for these scams.
The most popular scam at the moment is the mailing one trying to get people who can’t afford cars, have kids, or just want to stay home. The way it works is you get money by getter other people started in the program you are in. It is really very silly, mailing list are harder to come by since no one wants to be on one. While the mailing ones don’t tend to be as dangerous or time consuming I deal with a lot of people who just can’t give up on the hope of fast money. Lots of people fall back into it after starting it; saying that this one is different that the one before. It is a viscous cycle that doesn’t stop once you start. I have met lots of people who tried and found places to live for plenty that failed but I have never met anyone who got more that they spent.
The second most popular and run by men masquerading as business owners. The most powerful is DSMAX (Direct Sales to the MAX). This one send people emotionally over the edge, and I’ve people lose wives, and husbands because of their obsession with succeeding. They send people out to sell crap and have them working on a commission basis only. It is competitive, and demanding. People find themselves spending more time at work than anywhere else. The “owner” is great at giving speeches but if you stay long enough he will repeat them. They do family exercises and make everyone feel welcome, a way of lolling people in. DSMAX sales everything from candles to Child safety tapes and they ruin lives.
Lots of people get out of these scams before it is too late but many, many people get out and dive into another one thinking it is different some how. It isn’t. But some don’t get out and lose families, cars, houses, and it is really sad.
I won’t tell you don’t because in my experience that just causes people to hold on tighter to the dream and get hurt more. Money, can be replace once someone loses that, but the emotional damage is hard to explain and hard to deal with. That’s why I do what I do for free; they don’t need to spend any more money after all.
Here is a website were believers and none believers talk and argue. This is a decision only you can make.
http://groups.msn.com/DSMAXTheAftermath
~~River: Bible's broken. Contradictions, false logics. Doesn't make sense.~~
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The legality of this is seriously in question and as that guy has transmitted funds across state lines, it is probably now a Federal Crime. Not to mention the fact that this is highly unethical. Hope he avoids a "pound you in the ass" Federal prison sentence. 
that guy
You Could Be Prosecuted:
Sometimes posters claim that these schemes are completely legal, claiming they are mailing list or recipe services. These posters may even cite title 18, sections 1302, 1341, 1342, and 1343 of the "Postal Lottery Laws." These sections are part of the U.S. Code. I'm sure that none of these people have actually read them, because they do not authorize pyramid schemes. In fact, these are the very laws that make pyramid schemes illegal. (Take a minute to read 18 USC 1302, 1341, 1342, and 1343 for yourself.)
They may also claim that their e-mails are legal under "S. 1618" or "H.R. 3113." These were bills in the U.S. Congress that failed to become law. They have no legal effect.
Pyramid schemes have long been illegal when conducted by mail in the United States or Canada. The same laws apply to Internet chain letters if the mails are used at any point in the scheme.
The latest twist in these schemes is to claim to be selling something, such as reports, mailing lists, or recipes. The U.S. Postal Service warns:
Do not be fooled if the chain letter is used to sell inexpensive reports on credit, mail order sales, mailing lists, or other topics. The primary purpose is to take your money, not to sell information. "Selling" a product does not ensure legality.
[A couple of ideas for Americans wishing to report pyramid schemes: If the e-mail asks you to send money through the mail, you may report it using the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Mail Fraud Complaint Form, e-mail fraud@uspis.gov, or report it via snail mail to
Postal Inspector
c/o Postmaster
Your City, Your State, Your Zip
Kuang Zhe De 
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I have already posted but I wanted to clarify something. This is not a pyramid scheme. Pyramid schemes are much more involved and usually consist of someone “owning” a business and you being in contact with others. This is a Chain Scheme or a Chain Letter Scheme. While they are both illegal and dangerously addictive, they are very different and attract different types of people, but they both end with someone not having money they did.
~~River: Bible's broken. Contradictions, false logics. Doesn't make sense.~~
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