After a terrible 2020 blighted by the coronavirus pandemic, a type of Secret Santa present exchange scheme where you can receive "up to 36 gifts" seems like the perfect way to lift spirits.
The Secret Sister Present Exchange has been spreading like wildfire on Facebook at this time of year for five years and promises participants a potentially large number of gifts in exchange for a single small investment.
There's just one problem, though.
It's an illegal pyramid scheme and the chances of receiving a single gift in return - let alone multiple presents - are relatively low.
The idea of the exchange has been appearing in various guises on Facebook in recent years and has cropped up again in time for the festive season.
On Tuesday afternoon, Facebook said it had removed the page from its platform.
It encourages women to sign up to a Secret Santa-style gift exchange with strangers.
It is a post that has mostly taken off in the United States but has spread in the UK, too.
A typical posts sees participants being given a list of six names and they are asked to send one a £5 gift to the person at the top of the list.
They then remove that person from the number one spot and move the person in number two to the top slot, before adding their own name to number two. They must then invite six friends to join.
If everyone joins the scheme (which is unlikely) it spreads rapidly.
Unlike a typical Secret Santa present exchange, where everyone gives and receives one gift, the participants in Secret Sister are likely to be left empty-handed.
This is because an exponentially growing pyramid of gift givers and recipients cannot be sustained indefinitely. The scheme falls apart as it becomes harder to recruit new people.
Snopes.com said while a small number of people received one present in the scheme, there was no evidence that anyone received a substantial number of gifts.
There's little chance of receiving presents in return and the scheme eventually fizzles out, leaving people empty-handed.
Facebook takes a dim view of pyramid schemes and they are against the social media platform's terms of use.
The company encourages people to report any dodgy pages or suspicious activity to Facebook so it can take action.
Pyramid schemes are also illegal in the UK.
It's best to stick to a Secret Santa with people you know - rather than complete strangers via social media.
A Facebook company spokesperson said: "There is no place for fraudulent or inauthentic behaviour on Facebook and we have removed the page brought to our attention.
"We continue to invest in people and technology to enforce our policies, and we urge people to report any suspicious posts or pages to us.”
