There’s a thing that happens on Facebook. It happens every year ahead of the holidays. It happens every year, but this year it seems to be happening (on my feed, at least) with a vengeance. It’s a holiday Secret Santa scam.
You may have seen something like this on your own feed. The post, filled with holiday emojis (which I removed for the purposes of credible journalism here), goes a little something like this …
Anyone interested in a holiday gift exchange?! I don’t care where you live, you are welcome to join. I need at least six ladies to participate in a SECRET SISTER gift exchange. You only have to buy ONE gift valued at at least $10 or more and send it to ONE secret sister, and you will receive 6-36 in return!!
Let’s say Avital shared this post. And before her, Christina shared it. If I decided to join in this digital Secret Santa, I would send one gift to Avital and then post this on my own wall. If Natalie decided to join after me, she’d send her one gift to Christina. And then when Natalie shares on her own wall, whomever decides to join would send their gifts to me. It looks a little something like this: △