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Leave a Comment / By Selma Hrynchuk / March 4, 2024
Gifting Tables Scam: How It Works
Have you heard of the Gifting Tables Scam? It is returning after being flagged as a pyramid scheme a while ago—but now with a twist. It is back and even more successful than before because of the advancement of online chat rooms and platforms that bring people together on one screen, such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, or Skype.
Let me explain. What is a gifting table? In this article, we will show you how it works and how to avoid it. Let’s also take a look at what turned out to be one of the most prevalent financial scams.
The Gifting Tables Scam consists of a four-level pyramid. It has eight participants assigned to the bottom row, four to the third row, and two to the second row. The top row is for only one player, which takes turns.
The top-level participant is referred to as the “Dessert.” However, it gets better. The two players on the second row are referred to as “Entrees,” while the four participants on the 3rd row are “Soup and Salads.” Last but not least, the eight participants on the bottom row are called “Appetizers.” All it’s about the food, hence the term “gifting tables.” How do you get in?
To participate in a Gifting Table game, new players are asked to pay a fee. It used to be $5,000 in cash, but indeed it could change according to the organizer. This fee is paid to the Dessert, the player detaining the pyramid’s highest position.
In modern times, the Gifting Tables scam could also be known as the Blessing Loom scheme. The participants’ positions were changed to more business-oriented names (leader, coach, etc.).
What Is a Gifting Table Game?
Let’s see how the game is played, shall we? For those of you who would like more of a visual explanation of this, watch the video below to see the Gifting Tables scheme explained as it originally started:
However, let’s explain how it works, too. While the video above explains the meeting in person, the scheme is now done online, on Zoom or Skype, on a different level.
The entry fee, typically considered a gift, secures the new player a position as an Appetizer on the bottom row. Players progress from the bottom row of the pyramid by recruiting other participants to join the Gifting Tables scam.
When eight new participants join the Gifting Table game, each having made the “gift” to the player situated on the Dessert position at the top of the pyramid, the Dessert leaves the game. It keeps the money paid by the new participants. If the entry fee is $2,000, then the Dessert participant leaves with $16,000.
Then, that particular Gifting Table is split, with the two participants occupying the Entree position on the second row, moving to the Dessert position (top) of two new pyramids. Does it make sense so far?
As expected, the rest of the Gifting Table members move up a row on one of the two newly-formed pyramids, and the search for 16 new participants begins. The success of the Gifting Tables scam depends on new participants joining and making the entry gift.
Perpetrators of the game usually publish brochures and other promotional materials. This way, the recruits feel part of an official game. One of the organizers’ gimmicks is telling participants that the money paid and received during the Gifting Tables game are tax-free “gifts” under the IRS Code. Also, they say that the IRS lawyers approved Gifting Tables as a legal venture generating tax-free proceeds.
Finally, the organizers advise and counsel players to refrain from reporting on their tax returns the income received through their participation in the game.
Gifting Table Scam: How To Report
Warn your family and friends know about the Gifting Table pyramid scheme. Feel free to share the article if it was helpful. However, you can report scammers and any suspicious activity officially to the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI Internet Complaint Center by using the pages below:
How To Protect Yourself More
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Feel free to explore additional articles on related fraud. You can find them listed below this paragraph, so that you know more about online security. Last but not least, if you had any bad experiences, make sure to use the comments section below to expose other scammers.
