I had been checking into becoming a mystery shopper and I knew they existed but once I received this notification I was concerned. It had been 2 years since I'd inquired about becoming a mystery shopper.
The letter contains an issued Representative ID for you. The afillated company is Consumer Survey Specialist this is how they obtained my name. The Consumer Research Project is what I would be participating in.
They claim to be registered with the Better Business Bureau. Well MassMarketing and Research isn't registered and although Consumer Surey Specialist is listed along with some "aka's" it is not registered.
I received an official looking check with the watermarked back saying DocuGard. The check was in the amount of $3,309.99
My instructions were simple:
1. Deposit check and allow to clear (they estimated 2 days)
2. Retain $300.00 for my first assignment pay. This pay would increase after review of my performance to $400.0 bi-weekly for the first 3 months. Additional increments up to $600.00 per assignment would be possible after
6 months and my evaluation
3. Send $2,800.00 to one of the 3 people listed. Two were in New York, New York while the other was in Atlanta, Georgia. First and last names were provided. This was my secret survey o Western Union or Money Gram near my home location. They also included an allowance of $129.99 to cover the cost of the transfer.
4. Go shop with the remaining $80.00 at Sears, Walmart, Home Depot, JC Penny and K-Mart. Keep what I bought and complete the survy and fax the receipts and evaluation forms to 1-928-396-9329.
I was instructed to cll for assistance from their coordinator at 514-638-4393. I had 14 days to respond and this was all from the Director of Human Resources - Patricia Jon Rourke, PhD.
FORTUNATELY, Because of the simularities others had experience I didn't respond to any of this but was curious about how many others may have fell victim to this scam.
If it sounds too easy, too simple or too good it deserves to be probed and researched because itprobably isn't true.
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