Make Money Fast - How to Get Rich

"make money fast" was a title of an electronically forwarded chain letter which became so famous that the term is now used to describe all sorts of chain letters forwarded over the Internet, by e-mail spam or Usenet newsgroups. In anti-spammer slang, the name is often abbreviated "MMF".

Phrases they use to reel you in:

"earn $1000 a day"
"make $30,000 per month"
"how to get ritch"

History

The original "Make Money Fast" letter was written in 1988 by a person named David Rhodes (or "Dave Rhodes," which he used as his Internet name).

Biographical details are not certain, but it is often said Rhodes was a student at Columbia Union College who wrote a text file chain letter entitled "Make Money Fast", and uploaded it to a nearby BBS. The scam soon reached the Internet, where it was forwarded over email and Usenet. The chain mail scheme continued, passed from person to person, though it wasn't until spamming became a major problem in early-to-mid 1994 that "Make money fast" exploded.

The text of "Make money fast" originally claimed to be "perfectly legal." It encouraged readers of the email to forward one dollar to a list of people provided in the text, and to add their own name and address to the bottom of the list. Using the theory behind pyramid schemes, the resulting chain of money flowing back and forth would supposedly deliver a reward of thousands of dollars to the ones participating in the chain, as copies of their chain spread and more and more people sent one dollar to their address.

In fact, the idea of a money-forwarding email letter turned out to be worthless. When the popularity of the Internet exploded in the mid-1990s, millions of copies of "Make money fast" were forwarded to unsuspecting Internet users by thousands of different persons. It became one of the most annoying and persistent spams in existence.

Variations on "Make money fast" have evolved, usually by spammers who change the subject of their email to "This really works!," "Try it, it works!," or "You are a winner!"

Various claims to have unsuccessfully tried other schemes

These will usually be envelope stuffing scams (make $3 each stuffing envelopes that companies pay a few cents to have stuffed by machine, send $29.95 for info!), "send $20 for information on how to get rich quick" (the info tells you to run an ad saying "send $20 for information on how to get rich quick...") and the like. Nothing new under the sun.

Requests to send money or continue the pyramid

Some of these will parody older chain letters asking to be propagated based on superstition or vary this by adding various urban legends such as "Craig Shergold forgot to forward an e-mail titled Join the Crew and was hit with a new FCC modem tax..."

The requests of what to send also tend to be somewhat original:

* One scheme requests "Welcome to the world of borderline prostitution! This little business is a little different than most whorehouses. Your services are not given for money, but done for the oral sex you will get in return! 1. IMMEDIATELY travel to the homes of the first 5 (five) names listed below starting at number 1 through number 5. When you arrive, simply give them oral sex. 2. REMOVE the name that appears number 1 on the list. Place your name, address and zip code in the number 10 position..."

* Sock It to Me asks "Take all your unmatched socks, place them in a sturdy envelope and mail them to the participant named as the top of the list. Do not break this chain! You've heard of athlete's foot but you've never experienced Professional Athlete's Foot!"

* one variant Make Penis Fast asks the reader to send a certain anatomy part, usually in pieces (ouch!), claiming "you are now in the business of extending penii..."

* or even "bundle up your husband or boyfriend and send him to the woman whose name appears at the top of the list. When your name comes to the top of the list, you will receive 16,377 men - and one of them is bound to be a hell of a lot better than the one you already have. DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN. HAVE FAITH! One woman broke the chain and got her own sonovabitch back. At the time of writing this letter, a friend of mine had already received 184 men. They buried her yesterday but it took three undertakers 36 hours to get the smile off her face and two days to get her legs together so that they could close the coffin."