Cash Gifting – Wow, people are basically insane
While on YouTube I started noticed an alarming number of videos promoting cash gifting programs. But what's even more baffling is that the various people are trying to get other people to join their specific team in the program.
What? Even if cash gifting were somehow borderline legal the whole idea of a "team" kind of throws the whole idea of non-incentivized gifting out the window doesn't it?
Cash Gifters – Parody cash gifting video and song
Of course I'm sure "This one is different. THIS time we're not all going to jail like in those other ones (well, not everyone goes to jail, but it IS a possibility and DOES happen)".
But it's a "gift" - how can it be illegal to give away money?
Many people are misled into thinking a cash gifting clubs and opportunies are legal because the ads say that members consider their payments a gift and expect nothing in return. As the FTC points out, this is merely an attempt to make an illegal transaction look legal.
In fact, to show how deeply participants will go to protect their investment – er, "gift" – in these gifting circles, many find it hard to believe the clubs are illegal despite threats of criminal charges and after reading consumer alerts issued by the Federal Trade Commission.
Some of my favorite lines from the current cash gifting videos are the following:
"Even though the business is legitimate…" (There, that settles that!)
"You Know Cash Gifting Is Real! So Whatcha Gonna Do About It?" (Oh, right. I forgot).
"I checked IRS rules about cash gifting…the more I tried to find something negative or unethical about it…for everything I found that was negative I found ten or more posts that were positive." (Good analysis there, Sherlock).
OK. Maybe somehow THIS one IS different. All I'm saying is you might want to check what's being told to you against resources like the following (or better yet, how about talking to your attorney? How about talking to the company's attorney and check out his or her background?). Anyhow, here's some pleasant reading to do in your copious spare time you gain from your cash gifting activities:
329 Jailed in 2006 by law for Gifiting!
Here's a fun one that MLMWatchDog mentions:
Here's the starting version of the Cash2Infinity site from Archive.org:
June 30, 2002 version of Cash2Infinity (first historically available appearance of the site)
The fun part of this program was this statement:
"Moving on to view this site is your contract with Cash2Infinity that you will not share anything learned or obtained from Cash2Infinity with any agency or office of government or otherwise."
Here's the last version of Cash2Inifinity on October 28, 2003
After that it became a parked domain which you can see here.
So the good news is they were able to keep the thing going for at least over a year. That's gotta make ya'll happy right?
Here's another helpful page from Rod Cook's MLMWatchDog which is "dedicated to Stopping Pyramid Scams, Gifting Clubs, Gifting Scams, demonstrating that Gifting programs can put people in jail"…here it is:
Gifting Resources – Links to research Gifting Programs
Here's a nice June 13th, 2008 post on Cash Gifting:
"People need to know HOW ILLEGAL THIS IS! My cousin was busted a week ago for gifting. One of the contacts she called from the list was an FBI agent. It was a sting…Read More…"
Another fine headline from MLMWatchDog:
"AN ADVISORY PUT OUT TO "GIFTERS" FROM A LAWYER, NOW IN JAIL!" Click here to read more about this cash gifting story.
Filed under Scams by 
Comments on Cash Gifting – Wow, people are basically insane
3:48 pm
Why did you remove our video? We thought it added a nice touch, LOL. Anyway, thanks for the plug, however brief it may have been. We will return the favor in part two (or three) of our Cash Gifting Series. Best of luck!
Take care,
REV
MarketingUnlimited
8:16 pm
I may put it back up. The first part of it was brilliantly done, but I wasn't sure about the end.
I need to go take another look.
9:58 pm
funny thing is … this is all a promotion of rod cook as well as the mlm watch dog site which by the way –sells rod cook. And they make money from it.
Like, Hey I sell a marketing tool but all your stuff is illegal -buy my stuff ooh oooh .
But I am sure this wont be posted either for very long.
4:34 am
All of the content here is the typical "DON'T JOIN THEM JOIN ME" because I'm better crock of shit you will see no matter what type of opportunity you promote.
Do your own diligence and don't trust the words of this ignorant asshole.
5:22 am
Thanks for commenting John.
I'm confused though. What are they joining?
I don't really specifically tell anyone to join anything and I specifically point out that everything is just my opinion and also show them exactly how to get Refunds on products recommended at this site.
So I basically agree with John, just make sure that even if you do your own due diligence to make sure you understand exactly how to get refunds on any product that you buy. It's not enough for a product to "say" it has a money-back guarantee, because a lot of money-back guarantees aren't honored.
9:02 am
First, I want to say that I do not participate in cash gifting. However, I find the debate quite fascinating as many of my customers are cash gifters and introduced me to the concept. In all the online debates, I've noticed strong opinions on both sides, yet very few facts as they pertain to today's cash gifting programs. Yes, many programs, including MLM, have had issues in the past; and even still today if they're not structured properly. However, (and again, this is just Devil's advocate stuff) not one person has been able to cite a local, state, or federal code violation for the activities going on in todays "properly structured" cash gifting programs. Every reference you've shown on this site refers to "pyramid" and/or ponzi schemes, which are in fact illegal. However, I'm sure you know that none of the bigger, more popular, gifting programs operate this way and have been going on for years. Someone might argue that, "well, law enforcement just hasn't caught up with them yet. but they will!" is pure nonsense. One, many of these outfits are operating within the US, on US servers, with US ISPs. It would take a government law enforcement agency ONE day to serve GoDaddy with a cease and desist notice and that outfit would be shut down immediately. Again, this is quite intriguing. And by the way, your Cash2Infinity.com theory of being shut down has been blown. They're up and running again, without all the quirky warnings. But I did see the archive and agree that was kinda hoaky.
Best Regards,
John
http://www.DollarCardMarketing.com
8:04 pm
Good stuff. I've never heard of an FBI sting related to cash gifting – though it's not surprising.
I'm having some articles researched and written up by a paralegal on the murky legal issues behind cash gifting … there don't seem to be any concentrated sources of honest, objective info about this. They will appear on the URL I left when I commented.
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us '0 which is not a hashcash value.
9:41 pm
I have been reasearching and looking for information on cash gifting since November 2008, and I was looking into joining a cash gifting program for 3 weeks. I searched and read and read because I didn't understand how people could make money all the while not "Selling" a product. After all of my long hours of reasearch, IRS Tax Code Laws, FTC, people recording calls with their Attouneys, I didn't find anything that stated "cash gifting" itself was illegal. I agree with John as well, there obviously have been scams involved with gifting, however, there have been scams created with every opportunity or program available, and if there hasn't already been, there will be. I have researced all of the gifting programs available i could possibly find; there are established programs that have been around for 10-15 years that are running strong, and there are new ones being launched probably righ now. It all depends on what happens in time. Anyone can obviously succeed and make money in these programs if they follow the steps, like in any program or even MLM. I think some people have gotten involved and realized "they actually have to DO something" and so they say it's a scam, – I have found w/everything – NOTHING is for FREE. You be TERRIBLY naive to think you can find something for free.
9:43 pm
Good luck, Lacey.
Hope you don't get caught.
If you do, don't forget to write.
8:18 pm
Pretty good article but it could have been a bit longer with more facts like John said, but then again you did say that this was just opionated. However, i think you are doing like 90% of people and making the fatal mistake calling this a business. You cannot compare gifting to MLM or homebased business because it is neither such. It is a 100% private activity and was never even called "cash" gifting until the media got a hold of it and tried to commercialize it. by doing this they would have succeeded in making it illegal because this cannot be done as a commericail activity. private gifting, as it was once called, has been around for decades long before the internet. you have to understand that if you get into gifting looking to make a profit, like you would in a business..you will fail. you gift because you thought somebody was worth gifting to because they offered something of value that helped you. thats what being a gifter is..somebody who helps. making money just somehow comes with the territory. its no different from someone who loves playing basketball alot. they play it alot because there passionate about it..if they play it enough theyll probably get good enough to play it professionaly and make money. the intentions in the beginning was not to be a high paid pro but beacuse of your love for it as your underlying INTENTIONS, making money and playing as a pro just came with the territory. get into gifting with the mindset of helping people and you will go far.
http://tiny/cc/nqlch