To remind people that the book exchange thing is a scam

[whatsthecomingoverthehill]

It's doing the rounds again. Sigh.

For anyone not aware, it's a chain thing typically circulated on Facebook, and tells you that you can get up to 36 books just by sending one book to someone else. But no, it doesn't 'work'. The vast majority of people who join in will not receive any books in return. And if you are one of the lucky ones who did get lots of books, well done on scamming your friends.

Books are great. Giving books to people is a Good Thing. Scamming people isn't. That is all, thank you.

[quote rosiejaune]You could suggest this to them as an alternative?

www.bookcrossing.com/[/quote]
Oh that looks like a good idea when all this Covid stuff has died down.

How is it a scam?

It's a scam because it promises people something that cannot be achieved, and they will spend time and money in good faith.

I didn't realise there was a certain threshold of monetary loss before something could be considered a scam.

@TrickyKid

How is it a scam? There's no money involved. Pretty sure most adults would realise this sort of thing is a waste of time.

A lot of people send new books, and are paying postage. I'm not saying it's a massive amount. Unfortunately, a lot of people see that it's about books and automatically think it's a good thing. A surprising number of people don't question how it is sustainable to receive 36 books when you only send 1.