How to Handle a Mystery Shopping Scam Check
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…
Call the company listed on the check and see if they sent it to you. Do not rely on a phone number on the check or in the package you received. Go look them up online and find contact information for them. Sometimes the check has the name of a legitimate mystery shopping company on it, although they did not send the check. But I have seen some drawn on accounts for auto parts stores and other businesses. Why would an auto parts store be paying you to mystery shop WalMart and Western Union?
Anytime a scam involves a cashier’s check, official check, or money order from a bank, and you believe that it could be counterfeit, you should contact the issuing bank directly to verify authenticity. As with the company that supposedly issued the check, when contacting the bank, do not use the telephone number provided on the check, as this number is probably not associated with the bank, but rather with the scam artist.
To locate a bank’s mailing address, you can check the FDIC’s Web site at:
http://www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main_bankfind.asp.
So now you have learned that the check is a fake. What should you do next? Resist any impulse to call the person behind the mystery shopper scam. One option is to shred the check and throw it in the trash. Another is to contact the authorities. In addition to notifying the bank named on the check, there are others whom you also should notify if you receive a counterfeit item. They include:
- For all scams: Federal Trade Commission (FTC): by telephone at 1-877-FTC-HELP or file an electronic complaint via their Internet site at www.ftc.gov.
- For Internet-based scams: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Fraud Complaint Center: www.ic3.gov.
- For mail-based scams: U.S. Postal Inspector Service: by telephone at 1-888-877-7644, by mail at U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Office of Inspector General, Operations Support Group, 222 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 1250, Chicago, IL 60606-6100 or online at http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm.
If I was wrong about your check, post a comment and let me know. You can even taunt me. But if I was right…well, I won’t even say, “I told you so.”
Related articles:
on June 7th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Getting started in Mystery Shopping can be a bit of nightmare as there are lots of people scamming. I would research what you want to do and try and get as much information about the subject. I have been a successful mystery shopper for 7 years now and I find it a great way to earn extra cash while doing something I love…… shopping. Please do be careful good advice in this post
Jane
on June 23rd, 2009 at 2:45 pm
I was recently a ’stupid’ victim of a scam. I received 4 Money orders for $525.00 ea. They were drawn on an Albertson’s Money Order. They were for a future mystery shop. I took them to my bank and inquired if they were “real”. The teller went and talked to someone and came back and told me they were real. I cashed them. Not long after that, maybe 2 weeks all of my checks started bouncing, even though I had the money to pay my bills. Turns out a money order can be cancelled. Instead of the bank calling me or even paying my bills first, they started bouncing everything. Even a check for $7.00. That one cost me $35.00. In total I lost over $500.00 When I contacted the company that sent me the money orders, they thought I was trying to scam them!!! I replied that if I was going to scam them Iwould I have been dumb enough to go to my own bank. What an idiot I was!!
on June 23rd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Joan, you don’t have to be stupid to fall for one of these scams. The scammers are clever and do a lot of things to make their scams look legitimate. It is especially frustrating to me that the banks are not doing more to head them off, especially when people such as you ask about whether a check or money order is legitimate. As bad as your loss is, consider yourself lucky that you lost “only” $500. Many victims are out thousands of dollars.
I’m sorry you had this experience, but it’s good that you are letting others know what happened to you. It may save them from becoming victims.
on June 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Aaah the check, it came yesterday. I showed it to my husband. It had a legitimate mystery shopping company. Perhaps a legitimate bank and location, another legitimate company with a different address. Some contact lady with still another address and the letter was postmarked from Canada.
It was an assignment to check out department stores western union services. How about that? Not sure what level I will proceed at reporting this yet.
Thanks for your info.
on June 24th, 2009 at 7:32 am
The scammers use lots of tricks to get you to fall for the scam. Using the names of legitimate companies is common.
Glad you didn’t get scammed.
on June 29th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I checked into that secret shopper from research partnership inc. I received a letter in the mail a few days ago, and thanks to this persons comments about secret shoppers I didn’t do anything stupid. I notified the bank and they want me to notify my police department. By the way the check was for 3370 dollars. I’m so glad I looked for information first before cashing this check.
on June 29th, 2009 at 10:15 am
I’m glad you were able to check it out before cashing the check. For anyone else reading this, the name of the company on the check does not matter. It may be a made-up name, or the name of a legitimate mystery shopping company. Either way, if they send you a large check, tell you to cash it and wire money somewhere, it is a scam. No question about it.
on July 5th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
The same thing happened to me as did to Jane Smith. About 2 months back I received a check for $4000.00. Took it to my bank and was told it was fake.
on July 6th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
yea i got that paper check too today , that really sucks for a stay at home mom like me who was just looking for a little extra cash ! glad i read this first , thank you
on July 12th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I myself was so close to becoming a victim in the mystery shopper scam. So close in fact that I cashed the check and was about to go to western union when I had a really bad feeling. I went home called the bank that was on the check and my feeling was right. The check was fake! What also made me weary was the fact that the check was for $2,399. and $400 was to go to me, but that same day I recieved two more checks with the same amount. I knew that making $1,200 within 4 days was to good to be true. Thank god I called that bank! My bank was aware of what I had figured out so I spoke to the head department at my bank. Hopefully they find out who is doing this and throw them in jail. Its so sad that they prey on people at a time like this.
on July 17th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
i was almost a victim as well, about a year ago, i was looking for a house to rent, and someone sent me a scam saying that i could live in a nice house he owned in eugene oregon, all i would have to do is manage his assets and finances here in the us. i got the check and took it to a bank other than my own. ( i was pretty sure it was fake) turns out that the account was already closed due to fraud!! so creepy!! i didnt cash it but i did call the police, and they shrugged it off like it was no big deal!! i gave them his email, phone#, and alllllllll the 20 or so emails. they never even called me to let me know what happened. i almost fell for it because it had all kinds of typos in the emails and the man spoke to me sooooo confidantly that i was thuroughly trusting his words. he is evil and all of them are!! they have absolutly no concern for you or how bad your life will turn out because of it!! please dont be a victim!! call the banks and also dont pull the money if you do deposite it!! a friend of mine fell for simillar and now her man is in JAIL!! please be safe and dont do business w/ people from other countries you’ve never met!! its REAL trouble, not a slap on the wrist, more like slapping handcuffs on your wrists!! ever been pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt when you really were? well they will still ticket you!! just for their suspicion. its worse when $$ is involved!! be safe and have a good summer!!
on July 22nd, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Thank you so much! I got one of these scams in the snail mail today, and I reported them. Am also taking the letter and check to the local postmaster. You helped me to avoid a real headache, heartache and wallet ache!
~~~
on July 22nd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
I’m glad to hear that many of you were able to avoid being scammed. Please spread the word to help others avoid these scams, too.
on July 29th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Dear Cathy,
I am a twenty-three year old college student. Recently, January 2009 I received a check with a letter promising me a great opportunity to Mystery Shop and get paid great money. The check was for $2800 and I cashed it at a currency exchange. I wired money and was told to spend the rest at certain participators, grade their store, and keep a sum for my time. I did all that was asked. Mailed them back the receipts with my comments on the store. I received another one after that, I put that one into my bank account. Unlike others, I waited until it cleared to spend the money. it did not clear. I told my bank how I received the letter and they took the letter to make a case. Yesterday, I was working and two detectives approached me for questioning about a bad check. I was then taken into a lock-up cell, processed, and twelve hours later asked about the check. I told them what i had done. I explained I had no idea there was anything wrong. I am not sure if the police believe me. But the currency exchange is holding me accountable for the check and fees. I researched online and I found a law stating clearly, “We are using National Consumer Protection Week to once again warn consumers that, if they fall for a fake check scam, they will not get that money back.” Any suggestions? Feedback on my situation would be very helpful!
on July 29th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
It is unlikely that you will face criminal charges–the banks, police and prosecutors know about these scams. However, you will have to pay the money back to your bank. Contact them and ask about making arrangements to pay them back.
on August 7th, 2009 at 11:47 am
I just want to thank you so very much… for your pertinent information and it totally saved me from a ton of aggravation!!! Additionally, I am a writer/humorist and I write about the trials & tribulations and highlights of life. This experience has completely given me a totally other avenue of writing!!! Thank you again.. and thanks to the “Power of the Internet” we can all connect and help one another!!! Love it & Aloha!!
on August 18th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Hi, haha! good thing I read first before I doing anything. Got a check $3,897.45 last June. I opened the letter few days ago. The name of the letter is WHC INC and the check was Wampum Hardware Co. The instruction was to shop in some store and send some $$ to another name using Western Union. I wonder how these people got my mailing address. The check looks so true. I want to do something with it like block my name and post it somewhere for people to be aware, (report, I will not waste my effort of the police don’t care about it), or go to my bank and show it to them so they will do something on it for people to be aware. (Sorry if I sound stupid, English is not my first language. I am Asian) Any suggestion? Or maybe I just shred it… Thanks again for this website.
on August 19th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
my husband got scammed he received a check for 3,481.00 from the irs… he cashed it…. well it was a bad check… the bank called the police 4 months latter… he went to jail… 1000 bail i bailed him out…. he now facing a felony.. and looking at jail time how is that a crime he didn’t no the check was bad help me please
on August 19th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
It is becoming a common story that the police and prosecutors are not sorting the scammed from the scammers. There is apparently no question that your husband passed a bad check. I am not a lawyer, but I think his defense might be that he didn’t know the check was bad, and he acted in good faith. I hope it all works out.
on August 25th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Thank you . I have received several checks.Very disappointing and frustrating. THAMNK YOU
on August 25th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
idea to do with those fake checks
wall paper your bedroom! or another room
on August 25th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
LOL! Thank you, Martha Stewart, for the decorating idea. ;o)
Do anything you want with them as long as you don’t cash them!
on September 8th, 2009 at 2:16 am
I replied to the email that I didn’t receive both the 1st & 2nd packages that were sent to me, and now I got an email from the guy “Barry” stating: “We are not going to take this from you this time. We will handle it seriously.You will be visited soon.”…Should I be worried?
on September 8th, 2009 at 7:40 am
It sounds like they are trying to intimidate you into going along with their scam. It is unlikely that they would travel all the way to wherever you live to hassle you in person. You may want to notify the police of the attempted scam and the threat, though.
on September 15th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
they not gonna harm you, but they might threatening in order to let you leave them, good luck,
on September 15th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
hmmmm ya i recieved a check for 3,500 today. It said that I would be a mystery shopper. Ya right, my first instinct was why would someone send me a check for 3,500. Then I noticed the scammer spelled several things wrong. Hello if u want toscam someone use spell check next time. I also noticed that the postage stamp was from canada but the adress was from the united states. I will contact the authorities tomorrow. If u look closely at the check u can tell that it was copied. My advice to everyone. If u recieve a check with a larges sum of cash investigate it. I googled the company and the address and it was not right. It was very fishy right when I saw the check. The check i recieved said it was from Service Force USA INC. The bank it says it is through is PNC bank in Virginia.
on September 28th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Recently I Have Received an email from a “Glen Morris” about a mystery shopping job around my area at a Kmart. He basically said that there would be a money orders via ups express totaling $1900.00 and that I would need to cash them and keep $200 of it for my job and send the money, the rest of the money ($1700) to a Emmanuel in Charlotte, NC. This just put a big red flag up! Is this typical?
on September 28th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
It is not typical for mystery shops, but it is par for the course when it comes to scams. When they tell you to cash a check or money order and wire money to someone, it is ALWAYS a scam. It is NEVER a mystery shop. Do not respond to the scammers who try to get you to do this.
on October 12th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
I answered anhelp wanted ad from Craigs list for a mystery shopper they responded with a job description included was testing western union services by sending me a check and having me wire money to someone they also mentioned shopping wal-mart and other retailers my pay would be $250.00. I sent them my address and phone number and after reading your info am worried they might hassle me, they have requested location of closest Maceys department and western union office I have not responded and will not should I report this to authorities?
Gary
on October 12th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Well, it is definitely a scam, so don’t follow through with them. You may wish to report it to the authorities, but they may not be able to do much of anything about it.
They will probably not bother you. There are lots of other victims willing to follow through. Most scammers do not want to waste their time with someone who is not going to play along.
on October 14th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I recieved a letter today from maryland (postmarked) that was for 3840.00 to be a mystery shopper , for western union or other stores. Thank goodness I did a little more research before I did anything with this check, it defently is a Scam. Thank you for the blog and I defently will be reporting this.
Thank you for saving me a lot of headache.
on October 19th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I almost got scammed. i replied to an advertisement on craigslist and i actually believed it was true until i received the check and the scammer started calling me and the number came up as private on my cell phone. i started to ask myself why is this man calling me private if this was for real he would not be calling me private or he would give me his phone number.
on October 21st, 2009 at 2:01 pm
[...] fraudsters using MoneyGram and Western Union transfers, it is a start. (You can read more about the mystery shopper scam [...]
on October 25th, 2009 at 11:01 am
Everyone should be extra careful for this. I hope everyone will check first before trying any thing like this.
on November 3rd, 2009 at 12:26 am
Well, I should have checked out your website first. I am so embarrassed about my naive approach to the internet. Anyway, I received one of those checks to buy a K-Mart purchase and mail money to England. I deposited the money in the bank and will call them tomorrow to pay whatever I have to keep that check from going through, then if I get it back, take it directly to the Post Office for their mail fraud department. Maybe many people in our area are receiving these checks. Thank you sooooo very much for your blog. Keep up the good work.
on November 9th, 2009 at 12:32 am
hey cathy,
have you heard of market force? is it a legit mystery shopping company? i answered a craigslist ad and am receiving emails from robert bartlett of market force. he has an aol email address. i already recieved a check in the mail that he wants me to use to wire money within the u.s. i checked out market forces website and they seem legit. could he be posing through them?
thanks,
katy
on November 9th, 2009 at 8:57 am
Market Force is a legitimate company, but the guy you heard from is clearly not associated with them.
Employees of legitimate mystery shopping companies will not communicate with you using email addresses from AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail or other such services. They will use email addresses from their company’s website.
Most importantly, mystery shopping companies will NEVER mail you a check and tell you to wire money somewhere. This is always a scam.
Remember that anyone who will steal thousands of dollars from you will also lie about who they are.
on November 9th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Im appreciate this website dearly. Ive already delt with scam artist and glad i didnt go through with this again. I recieved the check yesterday,he told me to do a money transfer through money gram. i sent an email telling him that everything didnt add up, he wrote me saying the this is what mystery shopping is, and if i had any questions to contact him and then gave me his number.
on November 9th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Just ignore the scammer. It doesn’t do any good to engage them.
Glad you avoided getting scammed.
on November 11th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I appreciate the information posted on your website; especially regarding the large “multi-thousand-dollar” checks being sent out with a letter stating “you’ve been selected….as a mystery shopper…….go to WalMart & wire money”. I called the bank (in Wisconsin…..I’m in a different state); they immediately knew the name of the “remitter”. I faxed the check & the letter to the bank, so that their fraud dept could follow-up on it. The bank also asked me to take the check & the letter to the local police dept, to report it as fraudulent…….they may or may not do anything. People like this should NOT get away with what they’re doing; if it means a few minutes of research/phone call/trip to the PD…..& it helps, even remotely….then it’s worth the time!! Thank you
on November 13th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I received an email yesterday from a guy who said he was an employee recuiter for Apex Consulting co. He said they had an opening for a mystery shopper in my area, but the email address to reply to was an Aol address..Is this a scam?
on November 13th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
@Amanda – Based on what you say here, I would say there is a 99% chance it is a scam. Legitimate companies do not use AOL addresses, and they generally do not just contact random people on the Internet. Ignore it.
on November 18th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I received the same scam from Robert Bartlett, and today received the email the check was coming via ups I already suspected it as a scam. I found the real marketforce website on the bbb.org site I always go there when I think a company is a scam.
on November 20th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I received a check for $1980, stating it’s a part time secret shopper job. They want me to deposit the check and send $1200 via western union to someone else. I was kind of curious as my mom was a victim of a scam in the past. So i called the number, and the guy has a deep african accent, when i asked for their website he said that they do not give out their website and that i would need to be working for them for 4 weeks before i can refer someone else. there i suspected it was a scam. So do you think i should call back and say i know you’re scaming me and that I’m going to report them? because they already have my real phone number.
on November 20th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Do not call the scammers and do not engage them in any way. Just ignore them. Read this to find out what happened to one woman: http://www.mysteryshoppersmanual.com/do-not-engage-mystery-shopper-scammers
on November 21st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I just want to add a name to the list to look out for. Shannon Wood(swood150@gmail.com) has sent me emails with the same Walmart/Moneygram Mystery Shopper instructions. It was not unsolicited as I found her pitch on SimplyHired.com which is a consolidated job search site. I received a check via FedEx today for $1,850.00. The company on the check is Idaho Power Company, in Idaho, while the FedEx was sent from Edwards AFB in California and the Moneygram is to be sent to: Catherine Connell, 87 Davis Rd. Jacksonville, Florida 32218. I will either bring the check to the athorities or throw it in the trash. Thank you Cathy Stucker!
on November 22nd, 2009 at 9:48 am
Got a check in the mail for $1980 from Oregon Work Force Inc, was going to call BBB and see if they were legit before i did anything and saw this site. Same deal they wanted me to wire $$ with western union to someone in NY and then spend $200 at best buy or walmart ect and keep the product and I would get paid $420 for me services..LOL They old saying, if it sounds to good to be true, it usualy is!!
on November 22nd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Unfortunately, checking out the company with the BBB usually doesn’t help spot this scam because the scammers often use the names of legitimate companies. Never assume that a check you receive like this is actually from the company it says it is from.
Glad you avoided the scam!
on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Thank you cathy and love this site. To many people out there that are to lazy to work so they pick on people like us for an easy ride! VERY SAD!
on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:44 pm
In the first post on this site “Jane” said she has been a mystery shopper for 7 years. would she be willing to share the company she works for? I would love to do it but have no idea who is real and who are scammers
on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Most shoppers work for multiple companies. You can find a list of nearly 200 legitimate companies (that do not charge you to shop and will not scam you) at http://MysteryShoppersManual.com/mystery-shopping-companies.
on November 27th, 2009 at 8:55 am
thank you so much Cathy you are awesome!
on December 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Yes “Jane” said she was one for 7 yrs I would love to be a Mystery Shopper to Earn Extra Cash Daily but it has to be LEGIT! please an thanks. Happy Holidays!
on December 9th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
#
Almost Gotme said,
on November 21st, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I just want to add a name to the list to look out for. Shannon Wood(swood150@gmail.com) has sent me emails with the same Walmart/Moneygram Mystery Shopper instructions. It was not unsolicited as I found her pitch on SimplyHired.com which is a consolidated job search site. I received a check via FedEx today for $1,850.00. The company on the check is Idaho Power Company, in Idaho, while the FedEx was sent from Edwards AFB in California and the Moneygram is to be sent to: Catherine Connell, 87 Davis Rd. Jacksonville, Florida 32218. I will either bring the check to the athorities or throw it in the trash. Thank you Cathy Stucker!
Almost fell for the same scam. Same address and person in Florida. 87 David rd, Jacksonville, FL. I google mapped-it the location and no such address exists (or it’s in the middle of a parking lot).
Thankfully, I didn’t MoneyGram any money. the checks I got were both from Princeton Theological Seminary.
on December 9th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The name I was contacted under was:
Kathleen Liu Mingqun. Look out for that name, and the address: hr.tbl@hotmail.com
on December 9th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
The name of the company or person doesn’t matter. If you are sent a check and told to wire money to someone, it is a scam. Glad you didn’t get scammed!
Many of them use addresses at Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or AOL. Legitimate mystery shopping companies typically do not.
on December 19th, 2009 at 8:01 am
hi, receive a money order for 850$ by. linda housa was name from. along with the instructions. to send wire money in western union and keep 250$ for doing the job. deposit the check on my account yesterday the money is available already. I wasn’t sure about this pls help….what should I do? information that contact me:by email.. clarke wolfe, the shadow survey inc. in canada…
on December 19th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
One more time: Whenever someone sends you a check and tells you to wire money somewhere it is a scam. No exceptions. None. Nada. It is ALWAYS a scam.
Contact your bank immediately. If they hear from you that the check that you deposited was fraudulent, they may be less likely to assess fees or have you arrested.
on December 30th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I just received an email from a company called Little Secret Shopper’s Inc. They claimed they have a secret shopper position open for a walmart near my home. They said it would pay 200$ up front. I saw nothing about sending money elsewhere by western union and such. There was an attached application asking for name, age, address, phone number, and hours available. I filled it out(before finding this site) and sent it back to them via email. No response yet. The bottom is signed by Larry Benson of Little Secret Shopper’s Inc. There was alot of background info on the company inside the email, does this make it legite? If not, how does one go about locating an actual legitamate secret shopper position?
on December 30th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
The next step is that they will send you a check and tell you to wire money. Scam.
No one is going to pay you $200, upfront, to go to WalMart.
There are 200 legitimate mystery shopping companies listed on this site. Do not pay to apply, and do not wire money anywhere.
on January 18th, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Yes, I received two money orders in the amount of 920.00 each today. But I had previously emailed this scammer back and ask them “Why would you just send someone you did not know a large amount of money to send to someone else”? Of couse they proceeded to give me what they said was a legitimate address. Well I will be contacting the authorities.
on January 27th, 2010 at 7:39 am
I had posted an ad for a very expensive piece of medical equipment that I don’t need anymore. Low and behold up pops this Catherine Connell lady offering to take it off my hands for the asking price of $800. So then she sends me the most shady emails I’ve ever received from anyone. I mean shaaaaaady. She is sending me a money order for not $800 but for over $1600. Wants me to keep $1000 and send her the rest for shipping? I thought I was the one who was shipping. Said she was sending some guy to pick up the device from my home once I let her know the transaction went through. Well she and her courier are going to be in for a HUGE surprise. I spent 4 years working with the CIA and FBI so the my bank and the government agencies will be notified. As for the guy coming to pick up my equipment…..I spent 10 years in the Navy in teams (SEALS) and I’m not bragging but he’d better just jump back on his flight and go back to where he came from or they are going to need that $1600 just for his ride in the ambulance.
I’ve also got two older brothers who work for the U.S. Marshals office and they are ready to be here in a heartbeat. Although I did get the same address: Name………….Catherine Connell
(address removed), I already had doubts about this one from the get go. Long story and I wish I could post the emails for you guys so you could get a good laugh but I won’t be able to do that until the investigation is over and all of this is done. Keep your eyes open people. If it sounds too good to be true? That’s right boys and girls…..it probably really IS too good to be true.
on January 27th, 2010 at 8:38 am
The check scam is an oldie but goodie. This is another version that has been around much longer than the mystery shopper angle.
on February 4th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Please BE AWARE!!! I just rec’d a cashier’s check for $4,999.99. I had received an email from (email address removed) stating there was a mystery shopping task in my area and would like me to enroll. The email was from a Michael Williams who had a “gmail.com” email address to respond to. They asked for my name, address and phone number. Once this was sent, they emailed me again saying that they were running a survey on a western union in my area. There had been complaints about service and timeliness of monies wired. I would be receiving a check in the mail and I would have to cash this and then transfer the money (less my $200! talk about too good to be true!) to another secret shopper. There was no business name associated with this, which was a red flag.
The package had Allice Williams in PA as a sender and enclosed was the cashier’s check drawn on a WI bank. I looked up the bank online (after reading the above) to get the phone number. I called the bank and was immediately asked if the cashier’s check was from Carey Smith. I told them that yes, that is the remitter on the check. The bank told me to destroy the check – it is not valid. Iwas told that the authorities are aware of this and it is being investigated. It is also being done through Craig’s list.
Thank you SO much!
on February 4th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
I edited the previous comment to remove the email address the scammer claimed to be sending from. Be aware that scammers can put any address in the “From” field. The real address is usually shown in the email header. And if they ask you to reply to a free email address, such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail, assume it is a scam.
on February 5th, 2010 at 12:50 am
My co-worker actually recieved the 200$ check from walmart Secret shopper deal last week. He took the check, got the check and is now hesitant to do anything with it. They didn’t ask him to Send anything anywhere, they told him to go to walmart, spend 1 hour there and buy 150$ worth of items. He keeps the “Extra” 50$. My question is how could this be a scam, and if it is who does it benefit other then walmart?
Please investigate this because I know it sounds too good to be true, but I can’t seem to see the scam.
on February 5th, 2010 at 1:01 am
Your co-worker may not be telling you the whole story. In any case, he should not cash the check.
on February 5th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
I RECEIVED TWO MONEY ORDERS FOR 890 EACH I CALLED VERIFIED THEY ARE GOOD, THEY HAVE NO HOLDS …NOW I AM QUESTIONABLE BECUASE THEY WANT ME TO SEND A WESTERN UNION, FOR ITS A JOB FOR WESTERN UNION, BUT THEY SENT ME OTHER MONEY ORDERS NOT ENDORSED BY WESTERN UNION… AND I AM AFRAID TO PUT THEM IN MY ACCOUNT AND HAVE EVERYTHING BOUNCED… CAN THEY BE LIGITIMATE..???
on February 5th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Do not wire money to anyone you do not know personally, for any reason. It is always a scam. Always. The money orders you received are forgeries and you will be responsible for repaying the money to your bank if you cash them.
There is no way this is legitimate.