New Mystery Shopper Scam
Although mystery shopping is a completely legitimate industry, the scammers have come up with lots of ways to exploit the popularity of mystery shopping and take advantage of the unsuspecting. Just when I thought I had seen all of the mystery shopper scams, I found a new one today.
This site (and, no, I am not going to name it) looks like it could be a legitimate mystery shopping company. However, if you sign up with them you will be buried in spam email, and you may find yourself with lots of unexpected charges on your credit cards. Here is how it works:
You sign up with basic info (your name, address, email, etc.) and are taken to a “profile page.” The profile page is actually a place where you will be asked a series of questions that will sign you up for various email lists. The scammer gets paid for every one you check. The payment comes from companies looking for leads. So, for example, if you check yes, that you would like to receive information about getting a free electric scooter, the scooter company pays the scammer.
The companies paying for these leads are often legitimate companies; however, the methods the scammers use to provide leads is not legitimate.
Once you run the gauntlet of pages of “profile” information, you get the opportunity to sign up for secret shopper jobs. Except they are not secret shopper jobs. The scammer claims they will pay you for evaluating the service of the listed companies. Each so-called job lists an amount you will be paid for completing it. Will they actually pay you? Who knows? But it is clear that these are not mystery shops.
Some of the “mystery shopper jobs” they list require you to sign up for a trial of a service and pay a shipping and handling fee. If you read the fine print, you will learn that if you do not cancel within 30 days, your card will be charged $29.95, $49.95 or more every month. Or you will sign up for satellite television service, apply for a credit card or something else that could end up costing you money.
There are lots of sites that promise you rewards (usually a laptop computer, iPod, iPhone, Xbox or other desirable item) when you complete “offers.” They make it very hard to complete all of the required offers, and most people give up before they qualify for the prize. But they generally will give you the item if you complete all of the offers they throw at you. If you want to do this, more power to you. But be aware that you will be spammed beyond what you can imagine, and you had better read all of the fine print on every page very carefully.
There is no way this can be considered “mystery shopping,” though. This is just an old scheme in new clothes. Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself:
Get a “throwaway” email address you can use with an unknown company. That way if they spam you or sell your email address, you can dump it and move on. Of course, if you are an MSPA certified shopper signing up with an MSPA member company, you will need to use the email address associated with your certification number. But MSPA companies are not going to spam or scam you. You can verify if a company is an MSPA member at http://www.mysteryshop.org/shoppers
If part of the profile you are asked to complete includes questions such as, “Would you like to receive information about . . .?” chances are you are not signing up to mystery shop. Your email address is going to get hit hard with a lot of garbage.
If the site claiming to be a mystery shopping company says you will have to sign up for “offers,” run. Signing up for offers usually means giving your credit card number to a bunch of companies, and perhaps getting charges you do not expect.
These sites succeed because there are people who want to be mystery shoppers and do not know how it works. It is easy to be tricked by these schemes, so educate yourself and do not get scammed.
on October 24th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
UPDATE : Mystery Shop – CES – Customer Evaluation Services CANADA – MoneyGram WalMart wire transfer of US $830.00 to WINDSOR BRAMPTON ONTARIO
I, too, received ‘mystery shop’ assignments from CUSTOMER EVALUATION SERVICES ( CES ). This stinks like SCAM.
The website http://www.customer-evaluation.com is still active today and accepting registrations. The phone/fax # listed on the shopper instructions are also still active today, 10/24/2007.
As of Tuesday, 10/23/2007 15:00EST I have reported (oral & writing) this SCAM to:
• Wachovia Bank Loss Prevention HIGH RISK 704 427 5214 & FAX 704 427 1604
• Dept Homeland Security Immigration & Customs Enforcement DHS ICE in Massena, NY (where the checks are from) @ FAX 315 764 5291 or voice 315 769 3739×204
• The Orlando offices of the US Secret Service 407-648-6333 & FBI 407-875-9976 + the Corporate FEDEX & WalMart loss prevention departments
If you’re involved in this, I encourage you to DO NOT CALL CES to complain! That’ll just make CES change venues & tactics. INSTEAD, just do a small part of your mystery shop – fax them back just a single page of your report [your instruction sheet]; keep that fax line alive; send an email to account@customer-evaluation.com com & ask if they got your documents. Make THEM contact YOU for the information they need to pick up their money.
Meanwhile… DO CONTACT your bank & the bank from which your checks were drawn & provide documentation that you may have [the money gram receipt, copies of the checks, shopping assignment cover letters, etc]. Also… consider contacting FEDEX, the US Secret Service, and DHS Customs in your area [or the POC noted above].
Let’s not let the CES players shuffle & move on – LET’S PUT ‘EM IN HANDCUFFS!
Mystery shopping is not new to me; I’ve completed & been paid for many, many evaluations of several restaurants & real estate businesses through the past 10 years. I’ve found that mystery shopping CAN BE a fun way to make a few bucks once in a while.
On 10/16/2007 I received a FEDEX package tracking 7997 3381 9922 from CES CUSTOMER EVALUATION SERVICES requesting that I perform a mystery shop at the MONEYGRAM desk of a local WalMart location in Florida. Enclosed were instructions and a check drawn from TWIN RIVERS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION in Messena NY, Acct # ACCOUNT 9111001001006 in the amount of $980.00. The instructions were to send $830.00 of the total to a ‘relative’ with my same last name in ONTARIO CANADA.
I thought the job was unusual… and the CES cover-letter had some grammatical errors… but overall it appeared to be a paid, professional mystery shopping gig — and I did the job.
I deposited the $980 check in my Wachovia business account via ATM drive-through on Tuesday, 10/16/2007 [ I keep a business account specifically for NON PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD transactions like these ]; on Thursday, 10/18/2007 when funds were made available by Wachovia, I made a withdrawal of $830.00+ transaction fees and did the job at the MoneyGram desk at the WalMart in Ocoee, Florida.
…and then… just 5 days later on Tuesday, 10/23/2007 … FEDEX package tracking 7908 5596 6162 arrived at my door in an envelope that had been opened, re-sealed with US DEPT HOMELAND SECURITY / CUSTOMS tape, and then forwarded on to me by the Department of Homeland Security Customs Enforcement. The package passed DHS BORDER inspection: these ‘jobs’ appeared to be worth $360+ to me if I’d simply go to WalMart and do the jobs.
My Spidey-Sense was already tingling from the 1st job; after 5 days, I hadn’t received confirmation of receipt of my report, my email, or my phone call… yet here is ANOTHER FEDEX containing THREE MORE CHECKS, EACH IN THE AMOUNT OF $980.00 and again drawn from TWIN RIVERS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION ACCOUNT 911001001006. The jobs were to be done immediately, again with the FICTITIOUS FIRST NAMES of relatives with MY SAME LAST NAME…
Now … this was TOO WEIRD – even for me. Now it screamed SCAM to ‘ wash checks ‘ through bogus & actual US bank accounts. Like your Ma told you… ‘ if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is ‘