Secret Sister Ponzi Present Scheme on Facebook

Yesterday while perusing Facebook I came upon the following post:

Anyone interested in a Holiday Gift exchange? I don't care where you live - you are welcome to join. I need 6 (or more) ladies of any age to participate in a secret sister gift exchange. You only have to buy ONE gift valued at $10 or more and send it to one secret sister and you will receive 6-36 in return!

Let me know if you are interested and I will send you the information! Please don't ask to participate if you are not willing to spend the $10.

TIS THE SEASON! And its getting closer. COMMENT if you're in! 

The post already had 7 or 8 comments on it and as I scrolled down to view other posts from my "friends" (I will delve into why I put that in quotes at a later time) I saw that there were a minimum of 4 other people who had posted the same thing and all of them also had multiple comments. I should mention that each of these 4 additional posts were by a person who had commented on the first post.

Stupidly, I commented on the first post. I then received the following message on Facebook:


Welcome to our secret sister gift exchange!! 

Much easier than it sounds. The main idea is that you will receive gifts from the friends of whoever your friends are that agree to play! Example: I will receive gifts from your friends who agree to play that don’t know me. SUPER fun and just a little holiday pick-me-up!!! Sometimes as mothers, grandmothers, wives, sisters, and daughters, we tend to get so caught up in the holiday decorating, cooking, shopping, and enjoying everyone else, that we forget about the fun of getting surprises ourselves. What better way than to get a happy in the mail from someone this time of year? 

Here's how it works: 

1. Send one gift value at least $10 to secret sister that is place NUMBER ONE BELOW
2. Remove secret sister's name from #1; then move secret sister #2 to that spot.
3. Add your name to #2 with your info.
4. Then send this info to 6 other ladies with the updated name info.
5. Copy the secret sister request that I posted on my wall, to your own wall. If you cannot complete this within 1 week please notify me, as it isn't fair to the ladies who have participated and are waiting for their own gifts to arrive. You can order directly from a web-based service (Amazon, or any other online shop) which saves a trip to the post office. Soon you should start receiving gifts. How awesome is it to receive gifts for giving just one! Be sure to include some information about yourself...some of your favorites. Seldom does anyone drop out because it's so much fun to send a gift to someone you may or may not know...and of course it's fun to receive. You should begin receiving gifts in about 2 weeks if you get your letters out to your 6 people right away!

P.S. Don't forget: move #2 (that would be me) up to #1 and put yours at #2. Then send to the 6 (or more!) people that respond to your post! Thanks a bunch!!! I'm so excited!!!!

So... there is now a Christmas pyramid scheme on Facebook. A Ponzi-Present Scheme, if you will. People will never cease to amaze me...