Ulog No. 42: "International Book Exchange: Scam or Real?"

Recently, I read my friend's post on Facebook inviting people to join this "huge, international book exchange". Because I love books and I was intrigued by it, I instantly "wowed" her post, and commented:

"Wow! How does that work? If you give one book to a stranger, you'll get roughly 26 back? I am in!"

After a minute, she inboxed me and sent me the details on what I should do since I wanted to participate.

#1. Please copy & paste my facebook status about the project on your timeline, (or else I won’t get a book and so will you!)
#2. You only need to send ONE book you love to the below person:

Stranger'sFirstName Stranger'sLastName
Address Line1
Address Line2
City, Country
PLEASE DO write your name and a message on the inside of the book, so people know who and where their book is from. The book doesn't have to be a collector’s item, second hand is fine too just so long as it's in English.

#3. Finally, send this message to the people who commented on YOUR status, and give them MY address:

Friend'sFirstName Friend'sLastName
Address Line1
Address Line2
City, Country

(which will replace the address in #2) and your address will replace my address in #3

#4. Then those who comment on your friend's status will send you books too, and that's all how it works!

P.S. If you decide not to participate please let me know so I can find a replacement. Since everybody made a little financial effort, it wouldn't be fair to disrupt the chain. In order to find people to exchange books with, we need to share the project. I think giving a book to a stranger is a pretty nice idea, and it’ll be even nicer to receive several books in return. (pls do this I wanna get cool books too).
Thanks a bunch!

After reading her reply with the instruction, I thought, "This sounds like a chain letter or some sort." I also felt uncomfortable with the fact that I had to give out my home address. Call me paranoid, but hey, better be safe than sorry, right? Although I do trust this friend of mine that invited all her friends on Facebook to participate in the book exchange, however, as I said, I don't want to give my address to anyone that I don't know. These days, we can never be sure what anyone will do once they get a hold of someone's home address, right? I guess I wouldn't mind if I had a P.O. Box address. But is it worth renting a Post Office box for things such as these?

So, I referred to Google to know more about this "international book exchange" and I read various articles about it: some were negative, some were not entirely negative/positive. Some said that this chain or "pay-it-forward" system would eventually collapse even if people would follow the rules and all participants were genuine, but people were just happy to "pay it forward" and it would be a bonus if they'd get more than 3 books back.

Others warn people by saying it's a type of scam or pyramid scheme. However, I'm not really concerned about that since the "exchange" does not involve money, and according to the rules of the book exchange, the participants don't actually need to buy a book. They can just send their old books (their favourite book) so long as it is in English.

Then there are others that claim that "it only sounds like a scam" that at the start it was somewhat sketchy or dodgy but apparently "it's now very real" and this book exchange has been going strong (Source: The Instagram Book Exchange Only Sounds Like a Scam). Yes, a lot of people have participated and actually got 20 books within a month. It's not scam after all. The only thing that would probably deter anyone from participating is the part where they have to provide their real address. But according to the article,

"The risk is pretty low. Your address is involved, but it’s person-to-person. Your mailing address is not super-confidential. Indeed, it’s practically nothing compared with the data tech companies—like Instagram!—already have on us."

But regardless of the level of risk involved and after all that reading and having been convinced that it might not be all that sketchy, I still feel uncomfortable giving out my address to someone. If it's the only private thing that I have left in this world since everything else is public, thanks to the internet, I'd rather not give my home address to 26 strangers knowingly or deliberately.

Anyway, if I want 26 books, I can just go to the public library and borrow books or buy from the second-hand shop for $1 or $2 for each book. It will still be a good bargain for me, not to mention that by doing so, I am able to help a charity group operated by the second-hand shops.

So in the end, I replied to my friend:

"I'm sorry but I don't think I will be able to recruit people from my Facebook to participate in this game. I don't want to disrupt your chain. Please find a replacement for me."

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