Gifting Circle / Blessing Loom
A cash-transfer scheme framed as mutual gifting among community members, typically displayed as a mandala or loom diagram, where only early participants receive money at the expense of those who join later.
Also known as: blessing loom, mandala game, sisterhood circle, sou-sou scam, money wheel
Last reviewed: 10 June 2026
Gifting circles are presented as community-support networks in which members 'gift' cash to those at the centre of a diagram and then recruit others to replenish the outer ring. The framing deliberately avoids the language of investment or return: legally the payments are called gifts, which organisers claim places them outside securities or lottery regulations.
The blessing loom is a visually distinctive variant using an octagon or mandala with the beneficiary at the centre surrounded by tiers of givers. To 'bless' someone and advance toward the centre, each new recruit brings in two or more people. The framing often invokes community solidarity, spirituality, or feminist mutual aid.
Regardless of framing, the mathematics are identical to any pyramid scheme. Most participants never reach the centre and lose their contribution. Authorities have prosecuted organisers under wire fraud, lottery, and pyramid-scheme statutes despite the 'gifting' nomenclature.
Examples
- A WhatsApp group asks each new member to send $100 to the person at the centre; new recruits fill the outer ring that can never be sustainably refilled.
- A 'women's empowerment circle' on Facebook uses a flower diagram and spiritual language to recruit gift payments promising 8x returns.