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Beware of 'Secret Sister' holiday scam

'Tis the season to buy some presents. But it's also the season of scams. That includes the "secret sister" scam, which has generated a lot of interest online.

WASHINGTON -- 'Tis the season to buy some presents. But it's also the season of scams. That includes the "secret sister" scam, which has generated a lot of interest online.

These postings outline a gift-giving program, where you donate a gift, valued at over $10, and send it to your secret sister. In response, you're supposedly going to receive up to 36 presents as a result.

"We could all use some happy mail," the post reads. "Who's with me? Just comment 'I'm in.'"

Here's the problem; It turns out that this is a pyramid scheme, according to the Better Business Bureau. Beyond that, the U.S. Postal Inspection Services said that these gift exchanges are illegal gambling.

The problem is that there is not an endless amount of gifts out there, and for that reason, there will be both winners and losers. The ring leaders, who start the gift-giving process, are likely to get gifts back, but those on the bottom likely will not.

This scam has been around for years, first getting attention in 2015, when it was spread on social media. The Better Business Bureau said the best thing to do is ignore the posts, and report them to Facebook.

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