An evergreen post about starting a “book exchange” is circulating on Instagram and Facebook.
The post generally starts with some variation on a message that reads: “I’m looking for people to participate in a huge book exchange”. It goes on to tell people that they will be asked only to buy one book, but they might receive as many as 36 in return.
The post asks users to reply to the message with the word “in”. If they do, they will receive instructions for how to take part, which include asking people to re-post that same image, send a book to a specific address, and then do the same thing for other people.
It seems designed to lure in readers who want to share their love of writing and books with other people. But it is, sadly, a scam – although one you might not lose out from.
The promise of receiving 36 books in return is somewhat similar to the even more prevalent “secret sister” scam. That makes the same promises: you can sign up to a gift exchange, through which you will send out one present and receive 36 books in return.
Both seem like they are too good to be true, with the offer of “favourite books from strangers around the world” feeling like a dream prospect to avid readers. And it is, sadly, as fictional as it might feel: the maths simply do not add up.
It is just not possible for everyone to receive more books than they send, since they have to come from somewhere. Some people will do, but that is because the exchange is structured like a…
