Did You Know Secret Sister Holiday Gift Exchanges are Illegal in Shreveport-Bossier?

Think twice before accepting that invitation on Facebook.

Have you gotten an invite on Facebook for a Secret Sister Holiday Gift Exchange? Or maybe you've been invited to something similar. The premise is the same, "Spread some positivity in the midst of all this negativity with this fun gift exchange." The user will say that they are looking for some ladies to participate in a Secret Sister Gift Exchange (or "insert cheesy name here"). You will only have to buy one gift valued at $10 or more for just one sister. You will then receive a multitude of gifts in return, based on how many ladies signed up. They will usually end the invite with a fake story about how their friend did it and got so many gifts in return.

All you have to do is sign on the dotted line and addresses will be sent to you.

Too bad it's a scam. You can thank Snopes for sniffing out this one. It's a pyramid scheme that is guruanteed to jip someone in the process, as most of these things do. If that wasn't bad enough. It's also illegal.

Even though it's on social media, this is considered to be a chain letter. Remember how dreaded those words were back in the day? In fact, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (a.k.a. the Po-Po of the P.O.) categorizes it as a form of gambling.

[Chain letters are] illegal if they request money or other items of value and promise a substantial return to the participants. Chain letters are a form of gambling, and sending them through the mail … violates Title 18, United States Code, Section 1302, the Postal Lottery Statute.

But it's my closest Facebook friend who sent the invite to me? Yeah. They were probably hacked. Or, they were foolish enough to fall for it. Your best bet is to ignore and report. We have all got to look out for each other when it comes to social media.