Mystery Shopper's Manual

Where to Report Mystery Shopper Scams

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The fake cashier’s check scam has been around for a long time (well before the Internet) and it continues to ensnare new victims every day. The scammers send one or more checks or money orders to the victim, ask them to cash them, keep some of the money, then wire the rest to someone. The latest twist is that instead of wiring the money, victims are asked to buy pre-paid MoneyPak cards and send the PINs to the scammer. That is just a minor variation on a long-running scam.

This is not just a “mystery shopper scam.” Yes, the mystery shopper scam works this way, but this scam has been run on eBay, CraigsList, and in other marketplaces, as well as in direct dealings with victims, such as this law firm.Continue Reading

Is This a Legitimate Mystery Shopping Company?

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One of the common signs of a scam email is that the scammer uses a free email service, such as Gmail, Yahoo or Hotmail. But maybe the scammers are getting smarter.

A shopper recently emailed about an “offer” she received via email. Based on her description, it sounded like a scam to me, but she said that the company name matched the email. They even had a website. But something had her worried. Turns out, she was right to worry.

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A New Twist On an Old Scam Costs Man $30,000

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By now regular readers of this blog are familiar with the mystery shopper check scam. Although people are still getting conned by that one every day, some scammers have moved on to a new version.

A Florida man responded to an online ad from United Services and Consultants to be a “Merchandise Manager” for them. The supposed job involved buying electronics and shipping them overseas. The promised pay was $2700 every two weeks, plus commission.

The scam victim went to local Apple and AT&T stores and bought a total of 17 MacBook Airs and 7 iPads. He paid for all of this with his personal credit cards. The “company” (aka scamming sleazeballs) sent prepaid shipping labels and he shipped all of the equipment to Russia. (Yes, Russia. Any red flags here for you yet?) The company provided banking information to pay him for the electronics but guess what? There was no money. Now he owes nearly $30,000 to his credit card companies as a result of this scam.

How can you avoid this type of scam? Continue Reading

Is This Mystery Shopping Company Legitimate?

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Every day I am contacted by mystery shoppers, all with the same question: “Is this company legitimate?” The name of the company changes, but the question remains the same.

The problem is that they are asking the wrong question. If the only thing you look at is whether the person who contacted you is using the name of a legitimate company, you are setting yourself up to be scammed.

The truth is that people who will steal thousands of dollars from you will also lie to you. Many scammers use the names of legitimate mystery shopping companies and even the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.

Never assume that someone who approaches you unsolicited and offers money is for real. Always check them out. And check them out properly. Here are the questions you should be asking.
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Mystery Shopper Scams Try a New Angle

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Scammers are taking advantage of technology to find new ways of scamming people. According to this story by consumer reporter Jeff Ehling at abc13/Houston, scammers are reaching out to potential victims with text messages.

Several people have reported getting text messages offering mystery shopper jobs paying $50 an hour. Tempting, but what do we know about things that sound too good to be true? That’s right: They usually are too good to be true.

People who respond to the text message by calling the phone number given are asked for personal information, including credit card and bank account numbers. (Note: real mystery shopping companies do ask for personal information, including Social Security Numbers, but they do not recruit by sending random text messages and they do not guarantee $50 an hour.)

If you receive a text message offering $50 an hour (or some other ridiculous amount of money) to mystery shop, do not respond. Just hit delete.

Scammers are always looking for new victims. Don’t let them find you.

Victim of a Scam?

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Don’t get scammed again by someone offering compensation or scam victim help.

The mystery shopper scam and others like it have taken millions of dollars from people all over the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and elsewhere around the world. Often, the victims of these scams are the people who can least afford to be taken for thousands of dollars. So, when someone comes along saying that they have been authorized to repay the money that was scammed from them, these victims may line up to get scammed again.

I get many emails a week that are similar to the one below. In each case, there are signs that this is yet another scam; however, someone who is desperate could overlook those signs, just as they did the first time they got caught up in one of these schemes.

Take a look at the scam email, then I will point out some of the signs that it is not a legitimate offer:
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Mystery Shopper Scam Lands California Man in Prison

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A man from Santa Ynez California has been sentenced to serve six years in federal prison for operating a scam falsely promising bartending and mystery shopper jobs. Approximately 87,400 victims across the United States were defrauded by the scheme, which ran from 2001 through 2004 and caused nearly $6.2 million in losses.

Stevan P. Todorovic, 40, was sentenced by United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. In sentencing Todorovic, Judge Hatter noted that, in addition to taking money from victims, Todorovic caused a “loss of hope, a loss of opportunity.”

Last July, a federal jury convicted Todorovic of seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud for making false promises to people seeking work.

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Mystery Shopper Scam Uses Name of MSPA

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In the last few days, I have been contacted by two mystery shoppers who let me know they received mystery shopper scam emails that claimed to be from the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA). Both were obvious scams, but the scam might not be as obvious to someone unfamiliar with mystery shopping.

The use of the MSPA name is clearly an attempt to make the scam look legitimate to people who are not acquainted with secret shopping, or have just a vague awareness of it. Doing a search for Mystery Shopping Providers Association or MSPA would show that MSPA is a legitimate organization. That might cause an unsuspecting person to believe the scam is a real offer.

Here are the things that should tip you off that this is a scam:
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What Wire Transfer Companies Can Do to Stop Mystery Shopper Scams

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Dr. Linda Eagle of the Edcomm Group Banker’s Academy was recently interviewed by San Francisco’s KGO-TV Consumer Reporter Michael Finney for a 7 On Your Side story exploring the actions wire transfer companies are taking to stop financial scams. With the amount of money appropriated from scams in the US reaching $24 million in 2008, the story reported that many scams are still going unnoticed at money transfer companies across the country. Continue Reading

Are Mystery Shopper Scams Getting Sneakier?

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mystery-shopper-scam-checkI ran across a story about a secret shopper scam with a new twist. If true, it means that mystery shopper scammers are trying to get ahead of the curve to continue their schemes as more people get wise to them. However, I suspect that this story may not be exactly as it appears.

Here is the story about a secret shopper scam that appeared on a Wisconsin television station. According to the report, a woman signed up to be a mystery shopper and completed some price audits. She was paid $10 to $20 for each of them. Fairly common, right?

According to the news story, after doing several of these audits over the course of six to eight months, the company for which she had been working sent her a check for $1975, telling her to keep $100 or so for her fee, and to wire most of the money to someone. You know how this ends, right? Of course, the check she received was fraudulent, and she was out the money.

It is possible it happened exactly as stated in the report: A scammer actually made several small payments to a potential victim to convince her that she was working for them as a mystery shopper, so that she would not question it when they sent her a large check and told her to wire money somewhere. However, I doubt that.Continue Reading