Snail Mail Pyramid Schemes on the rise

I've received maybe one pyramid scheme letter in the mail my entire life, that is up until about 6 months ago. Since then I've received three. I know these are illegal. What gets me is that for the first time, I actually looked up the 6 people I'm supposed to send $1.00 They are listed in the phone book. Do people really fall for these? Is the bad economy to blame for the recent surge in these schemes? I'm not sure what the penalty is for getting busted for sending these, but who would put their correct name and return address on the envelope and chance getting caught? Is it worth the risk? (not for me, for the person who sent it, I'd never go along with this)

Have any of you received one of these in the mail recently? Anyone know anything about these? Are these people I looked up in the phone book even real people?

The answer is YES, &, as my Dad would say, "It's a sign of the times". (He grew up in the Depression, which is what we are now living in). I got a similar letter a few days ago. The truth is, that anyone can purchase a mailing list from any one of a number of companies out there & get your name & address (there's no such thing as privacy any longer, folks). According to the laws of each state, which vary, pyramid schemes & chain letters asking for $$ ARE illegal, but some people try to get around this by asking for "a charitable gift" or some such nonsense- some even try to say that they found out on the Oprah Winfrey show & that it IS legal (no offense to Oprah, but anybody out there watching daytime TV has TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS. I say to them: GET A JOB!!! Look for things like this to be happening a lot these days- including people going door to door looking for any kind of work (my neighbors answered their door to a guy who was painting house numbers on street curbs- they helped him out). Even worse- crime goes WAY up. I live near the university I attend, & there's a corner grocery a block away- it's been robbed 4 times lately, & there have been over 200 robberies in the last 2 months of students & residents in the area, usually after dark. And this is a good neighborhood! Or was.

Everyone these days needs to batten down the hatches. The pyramid schemers may be the LEAST of our worries.

I rec'd another pyramid scheme letter in the mail today. What's up with that? Did I get on some 'sucker' mail lists?