mystery shopper, here it comes, the bait....

[riceman]

If I have not read this article in advance, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21119508/#.URA_GGdw56g , I might fall for their bait.  I received a letter from Total Marketing Group, INC. asking me to activate their acceptance letter to be their mystery shopper.  I don't know how they got my address and everything, but I guess it might come from those offers silver/gold/platinum because the check has my first name and the last name is my email address, lol.  Important notice, if your names are written wrongly in the check, endorese reverse side your correct names and sign behind it before depositing into bank account.   Anyway, their instruction is like this

first week pay $350
they sent their check $1991.95
activate your check online and deposit to your regular checking account, when funds cleared and available, deduct your stipulated participation salary indicated, withdraw the balance and get started immediately with assigned task (probably ask to send them the rest of the money to some of their accts) 

LOL, even if I have not read the article above in advance, I don't think I would fall for their bait, but  unfortunately many people fell victim for this.  Nothing comes easy.
dang, if it is less trouble, I would turn this check to the FBI.  hate these scams

[bessie1111]

You have to be very careful these days. 

[RobertMendez]

interesting!

[kroberts13]

that is what happened to me last week it was fraud watch out for those scams there is a lot of them out there,check with bbb before you go on with anything you get by mail.

[banderson5]

there are lagit one's and scams. when i worked retail, we did have mystery shoppers come into the store. i also know of a site that is a lagit mystery shopping company, but there isn't much money to be made, at least not at this one. so just be careful when it comes to YOUR money

[lbryanwf]

That was a total scam! But be aware that legitimate Mystery Shopping is alive and well. My bank account is living proof of that. $1508.00 last year to be exact. The most I did was 4 shops a week because my time is limited due having a part time job. I usually only do 2 or 3 a week. You have to choose shops intelligently. Weigh the shop fee against the cost of gas to get there. Also for me, if there is not a shop fee, but only a flat reimbursement, those are usually a waste of my time, because usually the whole reimbursement is absorbed by whatever it is you had to buy.

I have a ledger book that records my shops, the fee I was paid,(and when) and the cost of gas to get there. I now work for about 15 companies, and my shop scores have been high, so I get a lot of offers, actually too many to do right now because of my part time job. You need good obsrvational skills, good writing skills, grammer, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure, and the ability to role play and be convincing at it. I am a former law enforcement officer, so I have all those skills.
 
I have never paid a dime to mystery shop, and if you are ever asked to pay to become a Mystery shopper, that is also a scam. Some of my shops are at food establishments, and I have been reimbursed for the meal I ate, plus a shop fee. The last one I did was a $20.00 shop fee and a $60.00 allowance for food and drink. This allowed me to treat a friend to a meal, and I got my shop fee and got reimbursed for the meal too. Most companies make deposits into your Pay Pal account, and a few just mail you a check.

[perfweapon33]

I tried this with another company.. Everything sounded great, but I was very skeptical and never followed through..

[southernhorizons]

That was a total scam! But be aware that legitimate Mystery Shopping is alive and well. My bank account is living proof of that. $1508.00 last year to be exact. The most I did was 4 shops a week because my time is limited due having a part time job. I usually only do 2 or 3 a week. You have to choose shops intelligently. Weigh the shop fee against the cost of gas to get there. Also for me, if there is not a shop fee, but only a flat reimbursement, those are usually a waste of my time, because usually the whole reimbursement is absorbed by whatever it is you had to buy.

I have a ledger book that records my shops, the fee I was paid,(and when) and the cost of gas to get there. I now work for about 15 companies, and my shop scores have been high, so I get a lot of offers, actually too many to do right now because of my part time job. You need good obsrvational skills, good writing skills, grammer, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure, and the ability to role play and be convincing at it. I am a former law enforcement officer, so I have all those skills.
 
I have never paid a dime to mystery shop, and if you are ever asked to pay to become a Mystery shopper, that is also a scam. Some of my shops are at food establishments, and I have been reimbursed for the meal I ate, plus a shop fee. The last one I did was a $20.00 shop fee and a $60.00 allowance for food and drink. This allowed me to treat a friend to a meal, and I got my shop fee and got reimbursed for the meal too. Most companies make deposits into your Pay Pal account, and a few just mail you a check.

Wow, that's great that you actually found real companies to work for. I've applied at a few mystery shopping companies, but in the rural area where I live, I don't get many offers. I think I've only gotten two, and they weren't very close, so I declined them.

[lrharting]

I would love to find a real mystery shopping job, I think it would be fun!  I think I would have the same problem with living in a rural area and not having shops close by.  My fiance are sort of foodies and we are always trying out new restaurants.

[alamedann]

"Never accept a job that requires you to cash a check and wire money. No legitimate mystery-shopper service would ever make you do this. Keep this in mind: You could be prosecuted for cashing a counterfeit check."

Sounds like a version of the Nigerian bank scam.  I'm sorry to hear that people are being scammed with something like this.  But, really, getting a check for $2500 before your first job assignment?  And then being asked to send some/most of it back to the company?  That reads scam all over it!

Be careful out there.

[pac4lyfe]

"Never accept a job that requires you to cash a check and wire money. No legitimate mystery-shopper service would ever make you do this. Keep this in mind: You could be prosecuted for cashing a counterfeit check."

Sounds like a version of the Nigerian bank scam.  I'm sorry to hear that people are being scammed with something like this.  But, really, getting a check for $2500 before your first job assignment?  And then being asked to send some/most of it back to the company?  That reads scam all over it!

Be careful out there.

I've received those type of checks before. A lot of people just see the check amount and go crazy. Also, it's a red flag when they tell you to go to your bank and cash the check, then wire the funds. They know that a check cashing place would detect it right away and the check will not be cashed.

[mperez7372]

I am a mystery shopper, but you accept the assignments and do not ever have to send them money.

[FontFanatic]

I love mystery shopping, but everyone needs to use their brain - never pay for the service or information and never cash a check and send money - that is just crazy...

[riceman]

"Never accept a job that requires you to cash a check and wire money. No legitimate mystery-shopper service would ever make you do this. Keep this in mind: You could be prosecuted for cashing a counterfeit check."

Sounds like a version of the Nigerian bank scam.  I'm sorry to hear that people are being scammed with something like this.  But, really, getting a check for $2500 before your first job assignment?  And then being asked to send some/most of it back to the company?  That reads scam all over it!

Be careful out there.

Totally agree with you on this one.

[dbsaus1]

Unfortunately, Mystery shopping is like every other business opportunity. There are some very legit ones and there are scams. The scams are getting all the attention.

I quess the best course of action for anyone interested in mystery shopping is to research a company before committing to the program.