That Oprah PayPal Chain Letter. Good or Bad?

Maybe you've seen it plastered all over the internet, posted on blogs, forums, or found it in your email inbox, it's been around for years, its everywhere and its alive and well in its present day ever-changing form.

A letter proclaiming a one time cash gift of anywhere between 1 and 6 bucks to the first person on a list of 2 to 10 but usually 5 people will make you between 10000 and 250000 in anywhere between 1 and 7 weeks.

"NO BULL! AND IT WAS PROVEN ON OPRAH! IT WAS ON 20/20! It was in the Wall Street Journal!"

I've heard numerous accounts first hand of people having their PayPal accounts suspended for receiving these payments and having a lot of hassle to get it back, if ever. I've also heard that the originator of the first chain letter, which was a snail mail version back in the 80s, was jailed for 7 years by the F.B.I. But researching this its very difficult to seperate fact from fiction.

Then I hear other people insisting it's harmless, makes them money and its the best thing ever.

So clearly, even if it does work for some there are apparently more losers than winners?

Let's just imagine for a moment it's true, it is legal like it claims it is, Oprah Winfrey says it rocks, PayPal think its a cool thing too,.. just imagine that for a moment if you can,.. how much it costs, how much you'll make and how long that will take are not the only things to vary in the chinese-whisper process.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that,.. people can and do change the email addresses to try and cheat too? So even if you find 200 people to bump your name up one notch and start posting on forums and blogs like mad, which people certainly do, the chances of your email address going the distance is slim.

But worse than the prospect of almost certain disappointment, in my opinion, is the fact that your email address is being splayed around the internet with the precision and finesse of an agricultural muck spreader.

This is not a 'chain letter' anymore, its a blog post, a forum post, a webpage, I've seen websites set up purely to serve as getting this more exposure. So once you let the monkey out of the box its not easy to get it to go back inside.

I say don't do it! Way more trouble than its worth!.. But what do you think?