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.
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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.
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.