As a child, I remember my mother participating in something called a ‘partna hand.’ I have no clue where the name came from, when it came about, or where it was created but that’s neither here nor there. It worked by having a number of participants come together and agree to pay an equal amount of money into an established collection, or pool. In the beginning, each participant would pick a number. The number you received dictated the order in which you would receive pay out from the pool; and during each agreed upon pay period, the pay out of the pool would be given to whoever’s number was up.This cycle continued until all participants received their pot of money and then it startedstarted over. Each participant would decide at which point to opt in or out of the new cycle. Sounds pretty low risk and easy enough right?
For the most part, it worked well because the pay pool participants all knew each other, didn’t pay the pool manager, and the amount asked to be paid was very affordable. But why was it important that everyone knew each other? Well, would you want to show up to work knowing you owed money to the people you worked with and for? On the occasions where a participant didn’t pay, they were still responsible for meeting their financial agreement. Getting a lump sum payout helped participants with down payments on a home, car repairs, Christmas gifts, and so much more. From my standpoint ‘partna hands’ felt like hitting the lottery even though you were really just breaking even.
As you can see, this arrangement was never meant to make the participants wealthy. It was essentially a glorified savings account which is better than borrowing from the bank. However, there could be some cons involved with this. On occasion, a pool participant may be short on having their share for the pool which resulted in them dipping into a savings account or borrowing it from someone; and some pool managers started wanting a fee for managing the collection of the funds. Paying the pool manager was the reason why many ‘partna hands’ began dismantling. Remember I said this process was about breaking even and not paying additional money.
When I relocated to mainland America, from the Virgin Islands, I wondered why this concept wasn’t popular as I was hoping to leverage it myself. Fast forward fifteen years and I got a phone call from a close friend about something called a Sou Sou. A family member of hers called to inquire if she was interested in joining in on a SouSou. I had never heard of the term so I did some research and found out that it was what I grew up knowing to be ‘partna hand.’ However, what she was explaining did not match. She talked about there being a $500 commitment which will have a $4,000 return. In addition, each person who joined was responsible for recruiting two people to participate. I didn’t have a good feeling about it at all and my personal advice to her was to air on the side of caution. It all sounded too good to be true, scammy, and the numbers to make it work for all participants statistically wasn’t sustainable. Not to mention that she would be trusting complete strangers with that amount of money.
I did some research and found that Attorney General Offices were actually warning people against participating in what was really called Gifting/Blessing Looms. There are variations of the name and ‘Sou Sou,’ unfortunately, was one of the names being thrown around. That justified my initial feeling about it. Victims are lured in to join the Circle or Loom by the promise of a big payout. According to the Federal Trade Commission Consumer Report, a payment of $100 is sent via PayPal, or another digital payment service, to the person whose name is at the center of an octagon-shaped playing board. This amount varies but so far the max has been $500. From the report, “Payment gets you one of eight spots on the outer ring of the board and a chance to move towards the center by recruiting other people to join. As more people join, your board changes and the number of playing boards expands. Eventually, you’re supposed to land at the center of a playing board and collect $100 from each of the eight new recruits on the outer ring. That’s when you leave the game or start all over again with another $100 payment.”
Unfortunately, during economic distress, scammers always look for new ways or repackage old ways to prey on people who may be in a desperate financial situation. Some states have actually arrested organizers of this illegal scheme. So before you participate, remind yourself, “If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”
