I am not sure how many of you are aware of what a Mystery Shopping is or even heard of it before but first, let me tell you what it is and why it is a scam.
Mystery Shopping is a form of going to a department store disguised as a "Survey Agent" where you purchase any product from the store, evaluate the store, workers and than you send back the evaluation report supposedly back to a so-called 'company' who's purpose is to conduct surveys and evaluate other companies.
They send you out a cashier's check to cover the expenses for the assignment so nothing has to ever come out of your pocket. They only thing they ask of you is to cash the check at your local bank, deduct the amount that your compensated for the job, transportation and the purchase of the product and than the rest of the money you wire it back to a accountant office in China via a Western Union.
Now, here is the catch:
The check is not real and so when you deposit it into your bank account, by the time your bank clears it, you will be out of a couple of thousands of dollar and you will be held responsible by your bank for the money.
I personally experienced this situation and let me tell how it began for me:
I went on Craiglist to look for more business opportunities and I came upon an ad by "Gary Miller" advertising mystery shopper positions. I read it and it seemed very straightforward, simple and rewarding financially. Keep in mind though that this was a first experience for me when it came to Mystery Shopping.
So, I responded to the ad and a couple of days later I received an email from Gary Miller congratulating me in becoming a "Survey Agent." He than asked me a few questions and requested for me to send him the following information: Name, Address and Email Address.
I received another email stating that I will receive a package via FedEx and further instructions of what to do. The package that he was referring to was the fake check that I was explaining to you earlier.
I deposited the check into the bank and had to wait 5 days for it to be cleared so that I can run my evaluations at Walmart and Western Union. A couple of days later I received an anonymous email warning of Mr. Gary Miller's fraudulent activity.
As soon I was done reading that email I went right to my bank and informed them not to clear the fraudulent check. I forward all of the email conversations that I had with Gary Miller to my bank and thankfully, I got their in time just before the check was cleared. Surprisingly, the bank rep that I was speaking to was aware of similar events.
My main point of writing this report was to open the public's eyes and be aware of what is Mystery Shopping, How it is a scam and to stay away from people like Gary Miller.
Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention. The email address that I received from Gary Miller was [email protected] so if you ever come across that email address, mark it as spam and delete the email.
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