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A Postal-Mail Chain Letter?
Posted By:
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA
Nov 14, 2004
 I received this chain letter in my mailbox:

Dear Friend,
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 that this was legal to do. I told him I would review it and get back to him. When I first red the letter 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 me was not 100% legal. My client then asked me to later it to make it perfectly legal. I asked him to make one small change in the letter.

***
It goes on for another 2 pages about how if you send $1 to the 6 names on the list & you will make $800,000.00 in just 3 months. You pay for a list of names to send letters to. I KNOW this is a scam. I just can't figure out how I got it. It came to me at my married name (junk-mail tends to come to my maiden name), & it came to my actual house address. (My driver's license lists my PO Box & if you look me up at the DMV, the physical address is actually my prior residence...haven't had time to change it yet.) The phone & electric aren't registered in my name, they're registered to my husband. (There's not a water bill, we have a well.)

What I wanna know is: How did this come to me, with my correct name at my current physical address??? The 'person' who sent the letter is: Mr. Louis Jordan/1234 Shakespeare Avenue/Apt # 2E/Bronx, NY 10452

Also, a co-worker recently had someone slip this same letter under his door at his apartment building...Anyone hear anything about this??
Category: Scams; Replies: 1761

Comments
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OB-1
in who cares la.
Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 | 01:37 PM
has any one noticed cranky media guy has been agitating people on this thread constantly since 2005. it is obvious he has no life no friends or even family that care anything about him. i suspect he is probably confined to a wheel chair and his passive aggressive and sarcastic behavior are simply symptoms of his hatred and contempt for the world for causing all his problems and putting him in the pathetic position he finds himself in. i'm back out and off the keys.
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 | 07:34 PM
Hey, OB-1, have YOU noticed that you are hardly the first person to make those same tired, inaccurate, attacks on me?

Now let's suppose for a moment that everything you said about me was true. So what? How would that change the substance of what I've said about chain letters?

People engage in ad hominem attack when they can't attack the substance of what you're saying. I'm very sorry that the Magical World you desire in which 2+2=5 and money multiplies simply because people mail it back and forth to each other doesn't exist. Don't blame me, though; I'm just the messenger.
That Darn Blister
in Everywhere
Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 | 11:13 PM
Have you ever even bothered to stop and talk to folks in wheelchairs, OB-1?

From the way you wrote, I suspect you haven't.

Here's a suggestion: go out and rent the movie Murderball, watch it, and come back to tell us more about people in wheelchairs.
nmill77
Member
Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 | 11:09 AM
@OB-1 that is so funny. He is quite sarcastic and annoying(CMG). and no we are not upset at the truth we are upset at the rude manner in which you present the truth. I could care less if you say it's illegal the entire government operates illegally with their own loopholes to allow the rich to get richer and again check out your local postal news in fact ill get back to you with some and despite chain letters being illegal im positive the postal service would and has let them slide to benefit from them because we are in dire need of mail. and they don't care where it comes from
nmill77
Member
Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 | 11:23 AM
www.postalmag.com/ try this cite cmg, let's see, we are looking at a 7 billion dollar loss 7. wow! and why? decreased mail volume. which is why they are trying to cut sat. mail. which will cut even more hours for employees. so look at the big picture genius AGAIN the post office is in a financial crisis the first time in postal history. THE POST OFFICE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT CHAIN LETTERS!!!! if you still want to believe that through all the bargaining and laying off and political fighting they are going to spend money that they DON"T have to prosecute and to actually take away even more mail then you are just retarded. But if all you want is to be right then ill say it yea it is illegal but guess what right now they don't care.
That Darn Blister
in Everywhere
Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 | 01:04 PM
nmill77, have you ever considered that if they turn a deliberate blind eye to the laws like that, they could be shut down or the top postal service administration could be charged with corruption for it?

We're talking about laws dating from the Great Depression, when things were even WORSE than they are now. The folks back then saw first hand how much damage chain letters actually did.
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 | 06:36 PM
nmill77, you have a lovely theory going there. Unfortunately, it is FACTUALLY INCORRECT. On more than one occasion I have explained to you that this very thread contains links to cases recently brought by the U.S. Postal Service's investigative unit against people operating chain letters.

Since actually looking at those links would invalidate the story you have talked yourself into (and wish to convince others of), you have refused to allow FACT to get in the way of your belief.

"THE POST OFFICE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT CHAIN LETTERS!!!!"

Wrong!

"if you still want to believe that through all the bargaining and laying off and political fighting they are going to spend money that they DON"T have to prosecute and to actually take away even more mail then you are just retarded."

WRONG! They CAN and DO prosecute people for operating chain letters. Your belief to the contrary simply doesn't matter. You are FACTUALLY INCORRECT and repeating it will not change that.

"But if all you want is to be right then ill say it yea it is illegal but guess what right now they don't care."

Still WRONG.
jamesomusic
in Tennessee
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 | 03:11 PM
Well there goes all my hopes and dreams.....I've already ordered my list and made my letter copies.I've added all my bills up so I can pay them when I start receiving my dollar bills in the mail.I've tuned in to Disney vacations ticket sales, and bought me some loud vacation clothes, and shades.Done everything except make hotel reservations. It's like everything else in life, there is no guarantee that you or I will be living in the next ten minutes.What,s 200 bucks, compared to not ever taking a chance, buying a lottery ticket or rolling the dice, somebody has got to loose and somebody has got to win.Every time it doesn't work out for some, they always holler "scam".Read the fine print...It says if only 7.5% participate (and that sounds reasonable) that you will receive $800,000.00 That is, if all the way down the line ,7.5% participate, and are honest. Since I have my list, and copies, in hand, I'm doing it, and will post the outcome in 6 weeks. If I forget,please email me and remind me,I may be on Vacation, down in Mickeyland. Or dragging My poor old wife behind me, On the 3rd of the month,(I'm old too) trying to pay more bills than I have money for.Hey you'all for crying out load,stop the bickering and insulting one another.God loves you'all.*Farrrr out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Quote by the late John Denver.
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 | 07:31 PM
You know, jamesomusic, it's amazing to me that people like you will insist on believing in the impossible no matter how many times the illogic of the thing is carefully explained.

".Read the fine print...It says if only 7.5% participate (and that sounds reasonable) that you will receive $800,000.00 That is, if all the way down the line ,7.5% participate, and are honest."

Since as you say, 7.5% is not a high level of participation, shouldn't there be hundreds, perhaps thousands of people living off their $800k at any given time in America? Know any? Ever heard of any?

So, let's see...a person who stands to benefit from telling you that story wrote it and you BELIEVED it without question. I mean, there's no chance they'd just make that up to get you to give them your 200 bucks, right?

Here's my version: A person sends out maybe a thousand copies of that letter. Let's say 7.5% of them send him $200 each. When the dust settles, he has $15,000. Pretty good for a little work and spending a few bucks on stamps, huh?

I think MY version is closer to reality than yours.
jamesomusic
in Tennessee
Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 | 10:50 AM
Hello Cranky;
Well you make sense, and I have decided to alter the whole thing, since it cost so much, and if it will work with 200 letters, why would it not work with 50 letters. If 200 letters will net you 800k, why wouldn't fifty letters net you 200k? If it works at all. It might be worth the chance? I spent 50.00 on gas this week and didn't get nowhere.lol.
No one person gets the 200 bucks, so how could it be a scam. Who is the scammer, the USPS (stamps)? The Mailing List Seller, The envelope Seller? or The 6 people who get the Dollar.
The only thing is, who will make sure the 6 bucks is mailed out. If every one were honest as they should be, we wouldn't need Preachers to tell us to be honest, we wouldn't need Policemen and Judges to inforce us to be honest and there would be no such thing as insurance. Everyone would pay up when they injured someone or damaged their property.and on and on.People are basically honest,but sometimes greed gets in the way.The jails are full of them, good honest people who let one little dishonest decision ruin their whole life. What ever happened to a little faith in mankind, people helping people.Yours faithfully; James
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2010 | 07:40 PM
jamesomusic said:


"No one person gets the 200 bucks, so how could it be a scam."

And you know that how exactly? You should know that it is not unheard of for a person operating a chain letter to use multiple names to insure that they get much or all of the money.

"What ever happened to a little faith in mankind, people helping people."

'People helping people' is the classic phrase scam artists use in things like chain letters. It has NOTHING to do with 'people helping people' or 'everyone being honest' or any of that stuff. Chain letters don't work because chain letters CAN'T work mathematically. There is NO rhetoric, no matter how kumbaya-sounding, that can MAKE one work. It's really just that simple, although people just don't want to believe it.

If chain letters worked, why would we need the stock market? The "return on investment" would be SO much better than any stock one can buy.
That Darn Blister
in Everywhere
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 | 03:44 AM
Dear jamesomusic,
7.5% is so preposterously high that advertising agencies would show you the door out if you tried to claim a non-targetted ad campaign (such as your letter) resulted in such.
Try less than 1%.

Also, please read these from your region of the United States:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19700918&id=micsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H54FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4108,3030295
http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=4778
(please see TN law 39-17 -506( c)(3) Lotteries, chain letters and pyramid clubs)
http://www.tn.gov/mental/policy/forms/Felony_Misdemeanors_List.pdf



Hmm, is this your Twitter?
http://twitter.com/ekyprogressive
jamesomusic
in Tennessee
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 | 02:32 PM
I'm beginning to see the picture. And you had me worried about breaking the law.So I ask a policeman friend of mine, if I was breaking the law, and let him read my letter, he said, nope I don't think so, but I wouldn't do it . Duh!
Now that I'm convinced, does anyone want to buy a fresh mailing list of 200 names for 20 buck? That I purchased, before I saw the light? Just kidding, I think I will save them until Christmas, and mail all these people a Christmas card. They will all wonder who it came from. And maybe I will say something like "from a secret admirer", just kidding. Lost all faith in Chain Letters; James.
jamesomusic
in Tennessee
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 | 02:49 PM
Hello, it's me again.I am very old and am on a fixed income.Does anyone out there have a way of making honest money on this computer that isn't a scam, and that will not cost any upfront money. So far my bills run about $185.00 more than I draw. Now I have been selling off my record collection for about 5 years, and am running out of records.I also so sell a few nice or new shoes, from time to time. THe chain letter deal seamed like the answer at the time. I want to thank "Cranky", and "that darn Blister"for pointing me in the right direction. Now that's "people helping people". Keep up the good work and senper-fi from an old jarhead....God bless the men and woman in uniform; Jim
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 | 03:02 PM
jamesomusic, well, there's the mathematically impossibility of the whole thing BUT it's ALSO illegal. Go back through this thread and you'll find many links to the relevant laws and to what the U.S. Postal Service says about chain letters on its website.

Blister is right, by the way. I hadn't thought of it like that but it's true that direct mail campaigns typically get less than a 1% return. Somewhat similarly, once upon a time I worked for a telemarketer, cold-calling people on behalf of a credit card. It was in a large room full of people all working phones. If you got 2% of the people you called to sign up for a Visa card, you were like the Hero of the Day.

So you have an extraordinarily high percentage of people who need to respond PLUS the whole thing is illegal in the first place. Not looking too good, is it?
Karla J
in Florida
Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 | 07:07 PM
I love chain letters. My mind goes wild. I will send the folks the 6 dollars to get involved with my name on the list.
Then I will send out 200 of the letters.
If we keep it honest..perhaps we can make a good deal of money.
It is illegal to do a chain letter. Under all precepts..this is one. However, the loop hole is they are selling the list to you. You are requesting them to add your name to their mailing list.
Mailing houses come about like this.
Also, a dollar is a dollar and if someone else is making money on this..so will I.
Never hurts to try.
email me if your interested.
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 | 08:01 PM
Karla, you have obviously not read any of this thread. Every point you made has been addressed and refuted over and over here.

PLUS, you are advertising an illegal service in an open public forum. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Cranky Media Guy
Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 | 01:51 AM
dealsfinder said:

"CRANK MEDIA GUY - You can't tell me it doesn't work because theoretically, it can."

Uh, I can't tell you whether it does doesn't work because I don't understand what you're trying to say.

Something about 10 people each sending you $10? So you come out $100 ahead. What's in it for them?
Frederick
in California
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 | 12:00 PM
CMG whats happened with this site, no more visitors or feed back on chain letters since July?
James
in Tennessee
Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 | 12:44 PM
yep everybody was right, but I had to see for myself. I did it and sent the 6 bucks and 200 letters at a cost of (I can't remember lol). well I received 1 (ONE) dollar. dahhhhhhhhhhhh. A scam if I have ever seen one.There are a lot of ways to make money, but no easy ones. The best is gainful employment. If you only make a feww dollars, that's more than you had. But don't send your money to these dummies(did I say that?)DO the best you can and help others when you can, and thinfgs will come back to you tenfold.not always in monatery value ,but many,many other things way more inportant than money.I'll get off of here for now, hope I helped someone along life's way; Jim
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