Okay, have you received the SPAM message about receiving a FREE iPod just by signing up for a "special offer" and referring some friends? I've gotten so many I delete the messages without reading them. So I was absolutely shocked when a technically savvy, privacy paranoid friend of mine endorsed this program!

His company hosts the site <www.freeipods.com> and he feels they're legitimate. The site received coverage in Wired magazine. He claims his boss participated and is now showing off his new iPod around the office.

Why are they giving away iPods?
It's all about marketing. With the implementation of pop-up blockers, advertisers are looking for new ways to gain access to Internet users. This marketing company has sponsors placing advertising offers on their web site. The company gets a finder's fee for everyone that successfully completes one of the offers. They use a portion of these assets to purchase and ship the iPods.

Should we be skeptical?
Always. I e-mailed my friend to tell him this is a classic pyramid scheme. He balked at the use of those words. He quickly informed me that a pyramid scheme, as defined by law, is one on which there is never any actual product traded hands. It generates cash solely on referrals.

I responded: if you gain something by bringing two or more people up under you, and they gain something by bringing two or more people under them, it's a freaking pyramid. It may be legal in the set up, but it's still a pyramid.

I use the word scheme, rather than scam, because (as with my friend's boss) reports are that some have met the requirements, getting five other people to sign up, and have indeed received a free iPod. Of course, there are also reports that some people haven't received them or have been disqualified even though they think they met the requirements.

Can this work?
Maybe. The marketing company makes this offer based on the referral fees. To stay in business, they have to take more from referrals than they pay out. They can do this as long as the qualifying customer pool is limited.

Those who get in early, with friends that also qualify, should get their iPods. However, over time, those likely to participate will have already participated. This makes it harder for those farther down to find enough people to earn their reward. When someone accepts an offer but doesn't qualify for the reward, the marketing company takes the referral fee and delivers nothing.

What are the risks to participants?
You might get a lot of spam. Several on the Internet reported getting hammered with spam after signing up. I wonder how they tell if they're getting more spam than they were already getting anyway. According to my friend, his boss claims there's no increase (but he may have a really good spam blocker!) You can mitigate this risk by creating a throw-away account somewhere and use it only to catch the spam generated by offers like this.

Is this a bad program to participate in?
I've got mixed feelings. Some participants who can't find five friends to qualify for these offers create their own spam on message boards and newsgroups. In the process, they add to the growing problem that is spam.

But you could be one of the lucky ones. Just be aware of the odds not being in your favor. One site I went to <http:// www.homepage.net/pyramidcalculator/> allows you to compute your chances of success in a pyramid scheme. It clearly shows those that join late are hard pressed to get their reward.

The Experiment:
I've decided to see if I can help my friend get his iPod. So here goes…

• Step One: I went to Road Runner and created a dummy account to catch spam. There have been problems with users that try to use FREE e-mail accounts, such as Hotmail. I assume this problem occurs due to the marketing company having problems validating certain types of email accounts.
  
  
• Step Two: I clicked on the link (with my friend's reference number) to access the marketing web site. I entered my dummy mail account and a password. I then entered my name, address, and birthday.
  
  
• Step Three: I clicked NO to 11 different offers for on-line schools, career programs, and health insurance supplements.
  
  
• Step Four: I reviewed the offers. I can see where the qualification pool might be extremely limited. Most of the offers are for credit cards and services I already use, or for services I have absolutely no interest in.
  
  They tell you that if you've disabled cookies, you may not get credit for participating in your offer. Also, I've been warned to view the site using a PC with the latest version of Internet Explorer. Other browsers, like Firefox and Opera, have known problems. You'll most likely want to allow pop-ups while you're completing your offer, as well.
  
  I decided to go for the GM card to get approved online. When I selected that option, I got the following pop-up message detailing the requirements for the offer: Apply for, get online approval, accept to receive and activate the GM card. You will be credited within 1-2 weeks. As expected, when I returned to the main site, it said I hadn't completed my offer. We'll have to wait for that.
  
  
• Step Five: Make qualified referrals.

UPDATE:
Well, it's been about a week since I started this. I got an e-mail from my friend saying that my account appeared as a qualified referral in his account. He needs one more referral to get his iPod.

I then got this message from the site:

I'll post in a future article whether the iPod Experiment works or not, or if the spam e-mail address gets hammered with junk.