Red flags being raised about a gift exchange that makes the rounds of social media every holiday season.
The “Secret Sister” gift exchange campaign usually centres on small gifts or wine exchanges, promising dozens in return just for sending one gift yourself.
Marketing & Communications Specialist for the Better Business Bureau Kristin Matthews says a new twist this year plays on the difficulty many people faced in 2020.
“People are posting, ‘…and grinches who think this is a scam, it’s 2020! 2020 has been a hard year!’, and yes absolutely, 2020 has been a hard year,” she agreed. “But like I said, this is something that you don’t want to participate in because you’re opening yourself up to potentially getting scammed.”
Matthews says it’s important to keep in mind that this type of exchange is not only risky – it’s illegal.
“This gift exchange is promising that if you send one gift to somebody then you can receive up to 36 gifts in exchange for sending one gift,” she explained. “The unfortunate thing about this is once you send a gift, usually you never get one in return and it’s actually considered a pyramid scheme which is illegal in Canada.”
Matthews recommends keeping gift exchanges within your circle of friends.
