The Mystery Shopper’s Manual

I get emails every day asking about this or that email that someone received, or a company or some specific offer. What concerns me about some of these emails is that people are asking the wrong questions. They ask things such as, “Is XYZ Company a legitimate mystery shopping company?,” overlooking the fact that the email or check they got isn’t really from XYZ Company.

One shopper forwarded some correspondence between a friend of hers and a scammer. Fortunately, the shopper had stopped her friend before she fell for the secret shopper scam. However, I was somewhat shocked to see some of the assumptions her friend had made. It was clear that this woman was bright and educated, but it never occurred to her to question anything the scammer presented about himself. For example, at one point she informed the scammer that she had checked out his company with the Better Business Bureau, and was pleased to find that they had a satisfactory rating. That would not be a bad idea, except that the scammer had no affiliation with the company whose name he was using. You read that right: a criminal was willing to lie. Are you surprised? …continue reading Checking Out Mystery Shopping Scams

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A statement released by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission says,

MoneyGram International, Inc., the second-largest money transfer service in the United States, will pay $18 million in consumer redress to settle FTC charges that the company allowed its money transfer system to be used by fraudulent telemarketers to bilk U.S. consumers out of tens of millions of dollars. MoneyGram also will be required to implement a comprehensive anti-fraud and agent-monitoring program.

While this is only a fraction of the money stolen by fraudsters using MoneyGram and Western Union transfers, it is a start. (You can read more about the mystery shopper scam here.) …continue reading MoneyGram to Repay $18 Million to Victims of Mystery Shopper Scam and Other Scams

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Question from a secret shopper:

I want to become a mystery shopper. When I search for information, I get a lot of sites that want me to join. Some of them seem to offer free mystery shops, but others charge a monthly fee. Before I start running up a bunch of charges, I need to know if I can make money as a mystery shopper, and which site I should join. Do I need to join more than one? Help!

First of all, yes, you can make money as a mystery shopper. But you do not need to pay anyone to become a mystery shopper or get mystery shopper jobs. Legitimate mystery shopping companies will not charge you to apply to them. …continue reading Mystery Shopping Sites – Which Ones Should I Join?

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The folks running mystery shopper scams are becoming even more brazen. In Idaho, they used a job board operated by the Idaho Department of Labor to troll for victims.

Using a state-sponsored job board is just another example of the things criminals will do to make their scams appear to be legitimate. Many job seekers probably believe that companies and their postings are reviewed and approved by the state before a job can appear on the board. Not true. From this article about the mystery shopper scam, it sounds as if it was a job seeker who discovered the fraud and informed the state. Fortunately, the state did take action when they learned about the bogus jobs.

The lesson in this is not to be too trusting and assume that anything with a cloak of respectability is actually respectable. The people behind these secret shopper scams do things to make themselves appear to be legitimate. They use the names of legitimate mystery shopping companies. They claim to be mystery shopping for respected brands, such as McDonald’s and WalMart. And now they are soliciting victims through state employment agencies.

Learn more about mystery shopping scams.

Find legitimate free mystery shopper jobs.

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Yes, you read that right. The victim of a mystery shopper scam was arrested and put in jail.

A woman in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota (near Minneapolis) received one of those “be a mystery shopper for us” scam emails promising $300 for a simple mystery shop. After responding, she received a check for $2700, with instructions to cash the check, perform the “mystery shop” and wire most of the money to someone in Africa. …continue reading Mystery Shopper Scam Victim Put in Jail

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If you have gotten one of those checks for thousands of dollars from someone representing themselves as a mystery shopping company, you are about to be scammed. Unless, of course, you follow the advice in this article.

Mystery shopping companies do not send checks for thousands of dollars to potential mystery shoppers. Ever. They do not ask you to wire money. Ever. I have written about mystery shopper scams many times, but even some of the people who read those articles will want to believe that their situation is the exception, and they are going to get paid $400 for a couple of hours of work. Not gonna happen. Ever.

Before you cash the check and wire the money off to the scammer, humor me for a minute. Do a couple of things to check them out. If I’m wrong and the “offer” if legitimate, you can post a comment and say I was wrong. But if I’m right, you will save yourself thousands of dollars, lots of aggravation, and possibly some jail time. (Cashing a forged check is a crime, and you may have to convince the police that you are the victim to get out of trouble.)

Here’s what to do… …continue reading How to Handle a Mystery Shopping Scam Check

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Scams appear to be on the rise. The most common mystery shopper scam is the cashiers check scam. The victim receives a large check and they are instructed to cash it and wire most of the money to someone, usually in Canada. Although this is a common scam, mystery shopper scams represent a small percentage of the fraud perpetrated. Other types of scams include lottery and sweepstakes scams, financial investment scams and other versions of the cashiers check scam.

Recently, the psychology department at Exeter University, working on behalf of the UK’s Office of Fair Trading, released a study detailing how and why people fall victim to scams. They found that several persuasive techniques were commonly used by scammers, including:

• Appeals to Trust and Authority – In the secret shopper scam, this is done by using the names of trusted mystery shopping companies, and well-known businesses such as Wal-Mart, Western Union, McDonald’s and others.
• Visceral Triggers – Scammers prey on basic human desires and needs to get an emotional response from their targeted victim. Many scams, including the secret shopper scam, convince the recipients that large sums of money await them.
• Scarcity – Many mail and e-mail scams appear to be personally directed to the recipient. They make it sound as though you were “chosen” out of many other people for this opportunity. There is also a stated or implied sense of urgency—you must respond now or miss out.
• Behavioral Commitment – Scammers may begin by asking for a small commitment. For example, they may ask you to respond to the e-mail with some basic information. Once the victim has taken an initial step, no matter how small, it becomes easier for them to take the next step and the next.
• The Promise of a Big Reward for a Small Cost - The mystery shopper check scam promises hundreds of dollars in return for work that they claim will take more no more than a couple of hours.

Although many of the findings of the study were as to be expected, there were some surprises too. …continue reading Mystery Shopper Scams – Could You Be a Victim?

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The mystery shopper email scam is still going strong. The most recent version forwarded to me by a secret shopper uses the name of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association in an attempt to make the email scam seem credible.

Here is the email the mystery shopper received:

Subj: Vacant Post for Mystery Shoppers
From: xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com
Reply-to: xxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com

Mystery Shopping Providers Association is giving you a chance to get paid for shopping and dinning out. Mystery shoppers are Needed Throughout America . You’ll be paid to shop and dine out-plus,you can also get free meals,Free merchandise, Free services, Free Entertainment, Free travel and lots more, Great Pay, Fun Work, Flexible Schedules,No experience required.If you can shop-you are qualified! But you must be 18yrs and above.

This is a new Year, you can start earning free cash as our Shopper. We can assure you that is going to be fun and you will love it
kindly send us a reply to inquiry about the Job offer to the email below

xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com

We care and We share. We will be expecting to read from you

[Alleged Name of Slimy Scammer]
Admin Agent
www.mysteryshop.org
© MSPA, 2009

There are a few clues that this is a scam. …continue reading Mystery Shopper Email Scam

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The people running mystery shopper scams are getting more sophisticated. Because more people are becoming aware of the scams, some of the scammers are making an attempt to look more like legitimate mystery shopping companies, and that can include putting up a web site with a professional appearance.

I was recently contacted by a shopper who got a mystery shopper job offer that just didn’t look right. I looked at the web site of the company that wanted to hire scam him, and I saw several things right away that made me think this was not legitimate.

Of course, when a company sends you a large check before you have done anything with them, it is a scam. Always. Read more about the mystery shopper check scam elsewhere on this site. But that was not the case in this situation. This company had a nice looking web site and were acting in some ways like they were a real mystery shopping company.

Here is what you can do to check out a mystery shopping company’s web site. Although seeing one bad sign doesn’t mean that you are dealing with a mystery shopping scam, it could. Several red flags should send you running in the other direction, as fast as you can. …continue reading How to Spot a Mystery Shopper Scam Web Site

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