Recently, I received a solicitation that looked like it came through CareerBuilder, a popular job search site. The mystery shopping job presented offered a salary, commissions on shops, and benefits. In all, I was told that I could make as much as $70,000 a year with their company. This seemed highly unusual to me since I had signed up as an independent contractor with all of the companies that I actually do work for, and I certainly have not been making as much money as that. Also, I had never been recruited by any of the companies I work for in this way. None of the companies I actually work for offer salaries or benefits to mystery shoppers. I did a little research and determined that the company being promoted actually did exist. It appeared on lists with companies that I do shops for, and they had their own web site. I went to the web site, filled out their Contact Us form, and asked if they had been recruiting through CareerBuilder. I received a reply back from the company saying that the solicitation was fraudulent. The company was not recruiting through CareerBuilder, and I was told not to respond to the email. So, if you receive an offer that looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Another typical mystery shopping scam you may encounter is the check cashing or wire transfer scheme. I have received legitimate shop offers to evaluate banks, payday loan companies, and fund wiring services. These shops have NOT involved the cashing of checks or money orders provided by the company or the actual wiring of money. I have NEVER sent money to a mystery shopping company. If you ever do see a mystery shopping email offering to pay you for cashing a check or wiring money, it is most likely a fraud. Sometimes scammers will even send you something in the regular mail unannounced. The package may include a letter telling you to deposit an enclosed check or money order and then send some of the funds back to them. The checks and money orders in packages like this are fakes. They may even be using the name or the logos of legitimate mystery shopping companies. But don’t be fooled! No legitimate mystery shopping company operates this way. Any checks received in a package like that are almost surely forgeries. In fact, many of the companies I work for have a notice warning about this type of scam on their information pages.
In yet another scam scheme, you are sent a check and then asked to buy merchandise that is then sent to the company. Again, this is NOT the way legitimate mystery shopping companies operate. If a legitimate mystery shopping company had you buy something and send it to them, it would be from your own funds and then reimbursed. This is a rare type of shop, actually, and I certainly would not do a shop like that for a company I had not worked for before. Furthermore, I would only accept an assignment like that through the company’s normal means of assignment distribution, which is usually through their website.
Some of the legitimate bank shops do require the setting up of an account, but this would be done with one’s own funds at a legitimate bank where the funds could later be used or withdrawn. In other words, if you did a shop like this, the money would remain your own. You may even close the account after the requirements of the shop are complete. I have also done shops where I have purchased gift cards. Again, this was done with my own funds, and I was able to keep the cards and use them for regular purchases.
The MSPA is now warning about gift card scams involving mystery shoppers. Scammers ask the mystery shoppers to send pics of the gift cards as proof of shop. Do NOT send scans of a gift card! All a scammer needs to use your gift card are the numbers from the back. If you send a photo or scan of the gift card, they can use the gift card to make purchases without having the physical card in their possession. When I have done gift card shops, the companies only asked for an image of my receipt as proof of shop, NOT the gift card itself.
The following video shows what a scam mystery shopping offer may look like. If you encounter anything like this, please contact law enforcement authorities. Specifically, you can file a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on their FTC Complaint Assistant site. If the scheme involves the U.S. mail, submit a Mail Fraud Complaint Form to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. You also can alert your state Attorney General. Remember, legitimate mystery shopping companies do NOT operate the ways described and shown here!
You can find more information about your legal responsibilities when you cash or deposit a draft at the Fraud Aid site. (This is NOT a government site.)