Chain letters supporting MMFMMF is short for 'Make Money Fast', and is a term well known amongst scammers and those who have been scammed. Online, the favourite media for the creators of these schemes is electronic mail. One of the most common ways to market a MMF scheme is by a chain letter. A chain letter can be supplied by either the real world post or by electronic mail. Chain letters use a variety of techniques to persuade the reader to pass on the message. The three most common ways are, 1. The promise of making money. 2. The risk of incurring bad luck or misfortune if you do not pass the letter on. 3. Emotional stories, such as a cancer sufferer who wants as many people as possible to know of the illness. This page aims to explore chain letters which advertise get rich quick schemes. The classic pyramid scheme is still going strong, and probably the most circulated form of MMF chain letter. Whilst the Ponzi scheme is also another common example of a fraudulent scheme. And e-mail is used to market it, a Ponzi scheme uses one man as a hub for all the victims, and will know all his correspondents. Whereas with a chain letter additional participants will take over the role of recruiting victims. Therefore Ponzi schemers lend themselves to email spam techniques, rather than chain letters. Whether it is a typed or written letter, or an e-mail, chain letters all hold up to a common standard. Any chain letter which offers a get rich quick scheme is illegal in most western countries (UK, if there is a threat if you don't send the letter on). Because electronic mail is free and largely anonymous, electronic chain letters are on the increase. Thankfully, the advancement of spam filtering techniques has made passing on automated emails alot tougher, especially to the newbie scammer. The risk of authorities of following your electronic foot prints is also a deterrent. Anatomy of a chain letterChain letter typically hold to some key standards. - The most important part, the story of how making money fast is a possibility. - The conclusion will be, pay 'X' amount of money to 5 or 10 people, then all will be revealed. - A list of names, addresses, to send a cheque to. Or a paypal email address for online payments. - Instructions will finally be given, sometimes after the payment is received. Usually not. - The instructions will not be complex, usually just simple adding your name to the bottom of the list. - Which will normally
conclude, the more people you send it too, the more money you will make. The original Make Money Fast chain letterThe term became famous, because there was an original "MAKE.MONEY.FAST" chain letter. The term 'MMF' is applied to a parody of chain letter schemes which copy the original. One of the most successful chain letters ever, it was developed by Dave Rhodes during late 1988. A legend has surrounded the persona of 'Dave Rhodes', people are not even sure if the man of this name exists. No biography of his activities can be found. Rumours abound that he was convicted at some unknown date, and helped authorities by creating off-line and online anti-spam propaganda. But it appears to be just a myth. The chain letter itself claimed Dave was from Norfolk, England. And that he had found himself deep in debt, but had found a way to make a fortune of £582,710. The mechanics of the scheme, was to have ten pounds in a note, and buys eighty pounds of royal mail stamps. The letter has now been estimated to have been circulated fifty thousands times or more. Each letter contains the instruction to send it too at least two hundred other people. If every person on each letter actually paid attention to the instructions and followed it through. Then there could be billions of these letters in circulation. Of course this will not be the case. The Guardian newspaper has made an attempt to track the infamous 'Dave Rhodes'. They could not find an address or telephone number corresponding to this man in Norfolk. While they could find the name of this man in other counties in the UK. But none of these people fit the bill. They enlarged their catch net to the US, and did find some interesting leads, but nothing concrete. References ^ EeF:
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