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Chain letter

May 03, 2023

"Email chain letter" redirects here. For email chains in the sense of email threads, see Conversation threading.
For other uses, see Chain letter (disambiguation).

A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a tree graph) that cannot be sustained indefinitely.

Common methods used in chain letters include emotionally manipulative stories, get-rich-quick pyramid schemes, and the exploitation of superstition to threaten the recipient. Originally, chain letters were letters sent by mail; today, chain letters are often sent electronically via email, social network sites, and text messages.

Types

There are two main types of chain letter:

  1. Hoaxes: Hoaxes attempt to trick or defraud users. A hoax could be malicious, instructing users to delete a file necessary to the operating system by claiming it is a virus. It could also be a scam that convinces users to spread the letter to other people for a specific reason, or send money or personal information. Phishing attacks could fall into this.
  2. Urban legends: Urban legends are designed to be redistributed and usually warn users of a threat or claim to be notifying them of important or urgent information. Another common form are the emails that promise users monetary rewards for forwarding the message or suggest that they are signing something that will be submitted to a particular group. Urban legends usually have no negative effect aside from wasted time.

In the United States, chain letters that request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants (such as the infamous Make Money Fast scheme) are illegal.[1]

Some colleges and military bases have passed regulations stating that in the private mail of college students and military personnel, respectively, chain letters are not authorized and will be thrown out. However, it is often difficult to distinguish chain letters from genuine correspondence.

Channels

Print

 
Printed Australian chain letter from 2006, with a five-cent coin taped to it as what it calls a "financial eye-catcher"

The oldest known channel for chain letters is written, or printed, on letters on paper. These might be exchanged hand-to-hand or distributed through the mail. One notorious early example was the "Prosperity Club" or "Send-a-Dime" letter. This letter started in Denver, Colorado in 1935, based on an earlier luck letter. It soon swamped the Denver post office with hundreds of thousands of letters before spilling into St. Louis and other cities.[2]

Chain letters take religious perspectives to the extremes, especially when relating to Christianity.[citation needed] Often these letters originate from photocopy centers, claiming to have originated from the Pope, with the intent of persuading people to make copies of such letters. The content usually gives one or two examples of people, sometimes public figures, who obeyed and were rewarded and of others who disobeyed and suffered heavily, which may even include cases of deaths and of someone becoming a millionaire overnight.[citation needed] These types of letters will flourish for some days and will die out naturally, partly based on the economic realities of recipients, and possibly because they may also reason that if that was truly the original letter, then it cannot contain cases of people who had broken or continued the chain.

Email

Some email messages sent as chain letters may seem fairly harmless; for example, a grammar school student wishing to see how many people can receive his/her email for a science project, but they can grow exponentially and be hard to stop. Infamously, the salacious Claire Swire email spread in a chain-like fashion when its recipient sought to learn Swire's identity.

Messages sometimes include phony promises from companies or wealthy individuals (such as Bill Gates) promising a monetary reward to everyone who receives the message.[3] They may also be politically motivated, such as "Save the Scouts, forward this to as many friends as possible"[4] or a warning that a popular TV or radio show may be forced off the air.[5] Some, like the Hawaiian Good Luck Totem, which has spread in thousands of forms, threaten users with bad luck if not forwarded.[6]

There are many forms of chain email that threaten death or the taking of one's soul by telling tales of others' deaths, such as the Katu Lata Kulu chain email, stating that if it is not forwarded, the receivers of the message will be killed by a spirit.[7]

Platforms like Facebook and YouTube can host chain letters playing with users' emotions. They may also be in the form of warnings, such as stories of escaped convicts, which urge the reader to pass the message on. One chain letter distributed on MSN Hotmail began, "Hey it's Tara and John the directors of MSN"... and subsequently claimed readers' accounts would be deleted if they did not pass on the message.[8]

Another common form of email chain letter is the virus hoax and a form of cyberbullying.

Web communities

Chain letters within social media platforms became widespread on Myspace (in the form of Myspace bulletins) and YouTube (in the form of video comments) as well as on Facebook through messages or applications. For instance, the chain post/email of Carmen Winstead,[9] supposedly about a girl from Indiana who was pushed down a sewage drain in a firedrill, states that, "if you do not repost/send this to 10 people, Carmen will find you and kill you." Chain letters are often coupled with intimidating hoaxes or the promise of providing the sender with "secret" information once they have forwarded the message.

Legality

A chain letter may qualify as a fraudulent activity, as in the case of a pyramid scheme, which asks recipients to funnel money up the chain while requesting the letter be distributed to multiple new recipients.

The legality of chain letters comes into question when they attempt to funnel monetary value to a single recipient. When a chain letter suggests a game of chance or a lottery with an opportunity for financial gain, it is considered fraudulent under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1302, the Postal Lottery Statute. Chain letters that ask for items of minor value, such as business cards or recipes, are not covered by this law.

If pyramid scheme chain letters are sent through email, it may constitute wire fraud. An email chain letter may contain trojans or another type of computer virus that is covered under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) [18 U.S.C. Section 1030]. This law makes it illegal to distribute computer codes or place them in the stream of commerce if their intent is to cause damage or economic loss.

See also

Similar distribution

  • Faxlore – distribution of chain-letters or similar material by fax machine

References

  1. ^ "". United States Postal Inspection Service. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service cites 18 U.S.C. § 1302 when it asserts that chain letters are "illegal if they request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 1302, the Postal Lottery Statute."
  2. ^ VanArsdale, Daniel W. (1998). "Chain Letter Evolution". from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2006.
  3. ^ Mikkelson, Barbara; David Mikkelson. "Thousand Dollar Bill". Urban Legends Reference Pages. from the original on 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  4. ^ Mikkelson, Barbara; David Mikkelson. "A Boy Scout Outing". Urban Legends Reference Pages. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  5. ^ Mikkelson, Barbara; David Mikkelson. "Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting". Urban Legends Reference Pages. from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. ^ Newton, Michael (2004). The encyclopedia of high-tech crime and crime-fighting 2019-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. p. 144.
  7. ^ Werawatta, Rangamini (18 December 2012). "Chain Mail: To Forward or Not To?". Sri Lanka’s National CERT. Retrieved 12 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Thousands fall for hotmail prank". BBC News. 8 March 2006. from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  9. ^ "MySpace Ghost of Murdered Teen". snopes.com. from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2011.

Bibliography

  • Butterfield, Stephen (1985). Amway, the Cult of Free Enterprise (1 ed.). Boston: South End Press. ISBN 0-89608-253-9. OL 3021927M.
  • Dean, Athena. All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Breaking Free from the Sweet Deceit of MLM, 1998, Winepress Publishing, ISBN 1-57921-134-8
  • Scarne, John (1986). Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780671630638. OL 2720324M.
  • Squier, Dan. The Truth About Chain Letters, 1990, Premier Publishers, ISBN 0-915665-21-2
  • Tartaglia, Gary. Shattered Dreams: How to Avoid Costly Mistakes in Multi-level Marketing, 1985, Targeted Communications, ISBN 0-9614404-0-6
  • Walsh, James. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes & Pyramid Frauds Work, 1998 Merritt Publishing, ISBN 1-56343-169-6

External links

  • A discussion of the history and various types of chain letters (from Snopes.com)
  • An example of a "Send-a-dime" letter
  • Break the chain
  • Chain Letters at Curlie
  • Chain Letter Evolution, Daniel W. VanArsdale. A historical analysis, including an archive of actual letters.
  • What's wrong with chain letters?

May 03, 2023
chain, letter, email, chain, letter, redirects, here, email, chains, sense, email, threads, conversation, threading, other, uses, disambiguation, chain, letter, message, that, attempts, convince, recipient, make, number, copies, pass, them, certain, number, re. Email chain letter redirects here For email chains in the sense of email threads see Conversation threading For other uses see Chain letter disambiguation A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients The chain is an exponentially growing pyramid a tree graph that cannot be sustained indefinitely Common methods used in chain letters include emotionally manipulative stories get rich quick pyramid schemes and the exploitation of superstition to threaten the recipient Originally chain letters were letters sent by mail today chain letters are often sent electronically via email social network sites and text messages Contents 1 Types 2 Channels 2 1 Print 2 2 Email 2 3 Web communities 3 Legality 4 See also 4 1 Similar distribution 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksTypes EditThere are two main types of chain letter Hoaxes Hoaxes attempt to trick or defraud users A hoax could be malicious instructing users to delete a file necessary to the operating system by claiming it is a virus It could also be a scam that convinces users to spread the letter to other people for a specific reason or send money or personal information Phishing attacks could fall into this Urban legends Urban legends are designed to be redistributed and usually warn users of a threat or claim to be notifying them of important or urgent information Another common form are the emails that promise users monetary rewards for forwarding the message or suggest that they are signing something that will be submitted to a particular group Urban legends usually have no negative effect aside from wasted time In the United States chain letters that request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants such as the infamous Make Money Fast scheme are illegal 1 Some colleges and military bases have passed regulations stating that in the private mail of college students and military personnel respectively chain letters are not authorized and will be thrown out However it is often difficult to distinguish chain letters from genuine correspondence Channels EditPrint Edit Printed Australian chain letter from 2006 with a five cent coin taped to it as what it calls a financial eye catcher The oldest known channel for chain letters is written or printed on letters on paper These might be exchanged hand to hand or distributed through the mail One notorious early example was the Prosperity Club or Send a Dime letter This letter started in Denver Colorado in 1935 based on an earlier luck letter It soon swamped the Denver post office with hundreds of thousands of letters before spilling into St Louis and other cities 2 Chain letters take religious perspectives to the extremes especially when relating to Christianity citation needed Often these letters originate from photocopy centers claiming to have originated from the Pope with the intent of persuading people to make copies of such letters The content usually gives one or two examples of people sometimes public figures who obeyed and were rewarded and of others who disobeyed and suffered heavily which may even include cases of deaths and of someone becoming a millionaire overnight citation needed These types of letters will flourish for some days and will die out naturally partly based on the economic realities of recipients and possibly because they may also reason that if that was truly the original letter then it cannot contain cases of people who had broken or continued the chain Email Edit Some email messages sent as chain letters may seem fairly harmless for example a grammar school student wishing to see how many people can receive his her email for a science project but they can grow exponentially and be hard to stop Infamously the salacious Claire Swire email spread in a chain like fashion when its recipient sought to learn Swire s identity Messages sometimes include phony promises from companies or wealthy individuals such as Bill Gates promising a monetary reward to everyone who receives the message 3 They may also be politically motivated such as Save the Scouts forward this to as many friends as possible 4 or a warning that a popular TV or radio show may be forced off the air 5 Some like the Hawaiian Good Luck Totem which has spread in thousands of forms threaten users with bad luck if not forwarded 6 There are many forms of chain email that threaten death or the taking of one s soul by telling tales of others deaths such as the Katu Lata Kulu chain email stating that if it is not forwarded the receivers of the message will be killed by a spirit 7 Platforms like Facebook and YouTube can host chain letters playing with users emotions They may also be in the form of warnings such as stories of escaped convicts which urge the reader to pass the message on One chain letter distributed on MSN Hotmail began Hey it s Tara and John the directors of MSN and subsequently claimed readers accounts would be deleted if they did not pass on the message 8 Another common form of email chain letter is the virus hoax and a form of cyberbullying Web communities Edit Chain letters within social media platforms became widespread on Myspace in the form of Myspace bulletins and YouTube in the form of video comments as well as on Facebook through messages or applications For instance the chain post email of Carmen Winstead 9 supposedly about a girl from Indiana who was pushed down a sewage drain in a firedrill states that if you do not repost send this to 10 people Carmen will find you and kill you Chain letters are often coupled with intimidating hoaxes or the promise of providing the sender with secret information once they have forwarded the message Legality EditThe examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate July 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message A chain letter may qualify as a fraudulent activity as in the case of a pyramid scheme which asks recipients to funnel money up the chain while requesting the letter be distributed to multiple new recipients The legality of chain letters comes into question when they attempt to funnel monetary value to a single recipient When a chain letter suggests a game of chance or a lottery with an opportunity for financial gain it is considered fraudulent under Title 18 United States Code Section 1302 the Postal Lottery Statute Chain letters that ask for items of minor value such as business cards or recipes are not covered by this law If pyramid scheme chain letters are sent through email it may constitute wire fraud An email chain letter may contain trojans or another type of computer virus that is covered under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act CFAA 18 U S C Section 1030 This law makes it illegal to distribute computer codes or place them in the stream of commerce if their intent is to cause damage or economic loss See also EditPostcrossing Copypasta Gratis Internet Jessica Mydek hoax letter Mail and wire fraud Make money fast Multi level marketing Spam Virus hoaxSimilar distribution Edit Faxlore distribution of chain letters or similar material by fax machineReferences Edit Chain Letters United States Postal Inspection Service Archived from the original on 8 May 2012 The U S Postal Inspection Service cites 18 U S C 1302 when it asserts that chain letters are illegal if they request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants pursuant to Title 18 United States Code Section 1302 the Postal Lottery Statute VanArsdale Daniel W 1998 Chain Letter Evolution Archived from the original on 19 August 2006 Retrieved 21 August 2006 Mikkelson Barbara David Mikkelson Thousand Dollar Bill Urban Legends Reference Pages Archived from the original on 2020 01 08 Retrieved 2008 03 24 Mikkelson Barbara David Mikkelson A Boy Scout Outing Urban Legends Reference Pages Retrieved 6 August 2008 Mikkelson Barbara David Mikkelson Petition to Ban Religious Broadcasting Urban Legends Reference Pages Archived from the original on 4 July 2021 Retrieved 6 August 2008 Newton Michael 2004 The encyclopedia of high tech crime and crime fighting Archived 2019 06 05 at the Wayback Machine p 144 Werawatta Rangamini 18 December 2012 Chain Mail To Forward or Not To Sri Lanka s National CERT Retrieved 12 February 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Thousands fall for hotmail prank BBC News 8 March 2006 Archived from the original on 8 April 2008 Retrieved 27 May 2008 MySpace Ghost of Murdered Teen snopes com Archived from the original on 4 July 2021 Retrieved 22 November 2011 Bibliography EditButterfield Stephen 1985 Amway the Cult of Free Enterprise 1 ed Boston South End Press ISBN 0 89608 253 9 OL 3021927M Dean Athena All That Glitters Is Not Gold Breaking Free from the Sweet Deceit of MLM 1998 Winepress Publishing ISBN 1 57921 134 8 Scarne John 1986 Scarne s New Complete Guide to Gambling New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 9780671630638 OL 2720324M Squier Dan The Truth About Chain Letters 1990 Premier Publishers ISBN 0 915665 21 2 Tartaglia Gary Shattered Dreams How to Avoid Costly Mistakes in Multi level Marketing 1985 Targeted Communications ISBN 0 9614404 0 6 Walsh James You Can t Cheat an Honest Man How Ponzi Schemes amp Pyramid Frauds Work 1998 Merritt Publishing ISBN 1 56343 169 6External links EditA discussion of the history and various types of chain letters from Snopes com An example of a Send a dime letter Break the chain Chain Letters at Curlie Chain Letter Evolution Daniel W VanArsdale A historical analysis including an archive of actual letters Pay the Thought Forward What s wrong with chain letters Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chain letter amp oldid 1149435079, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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