So im an idiot.. I got a packet in the mail for a mystery shopper company and it had all the info.
I also recieved 3 checks which i was informed to deposit one.
I searched and heard that its a scam if they want you to send money in anyways ex. Western Union.
Well they havent told me to do that yet.. So all i know is that they told me its an advancement.
Is this normal for a Mystery shopper company sending checks??

NOT! MS companies will not just send you checks!!! Do NOT deposit them to your bank unless you want a lot of fees and even accusations of fraud.

No, do not cash check, it is a big scam...anything that comes in from Western Union is trouble, companies do NOT pay up front, you always wait to get paid for jobs done.

I talked to the lady & said i wouldnt do transactions.. but either way, Im not gonna get paid upfront?? How do yall get paid Lol

fortunaly for me I have worked in the banking business and I knew what to look for and the right questions to ask. SO I didn't cash the check or even deposit it. In fact I still have the check and am considering taking it to the police. I hope that you didn't cash your check! I always remember if it sounds too good to be true it probably is

kourtnee_love Wrote:
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> I talked to the lady & said i wouldnt do
> transactions.. but either way, Im not gonna get
> paid upfront?? How do yall get paid Lol

Kourtnee_love, the most general way this works is you sign up with companies, you self assign or requests jobs off of their job boards, you perform the shop (often with some out-of-pocket expense to get a receipt or for a specified purchase that is part of the shop), you report the shop and then generally between 2 weeks and 3 months later you are paid the fee for your services and reimbursed your out of pocket expense if the job was done and reported correctly.

kourtnee_love Wrote:
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> but either way, Im not gonna get
> paid upfront?? How do yall get paid Lol


After the work is done.

Like any other real job

Unless it was Trendsource, I'd go into coronary arrest to see payment for any kind of eval that fast!!!

Lol - the Trendsource pizza leftovers are barely cold and the payment is in the bank. Gotta love that about them!

i got something similiar when i started up... took it to the bank and talked with them about it... they asked a few questions... i answered them... they asked for the check I showed it to them... they asked if i had recieved a letter with it... i showed it to them... they told me it was a scam and asked if they could keep both and alert both the police and their own security team...

if i were you i would just take it to the police or throw it out... either way

This is a troll post, right?

heartlandcanuck Wrote:
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> This is a troll post, right?


I have seen a few of these tonight and I think this could be a troll...a few trolls lurking or one just stirring up the boards...

kourtnee_love Wrote:
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> I talked to the lady & said i wouldnt do
> transactions.. but either way, Im not gonna get
> paid upfront?? How do yall get paid Lol

Read the forums Lol.

i prefer ogre...

"Eat... stink...be scary..."

I'm thinking.. yup, a troll.

Call me naive maybe, or lacking empathy, but I fail to see how this scam still makes people fall for it?? Any ideas?

I guess, I am on the computer, and I see the news, I read the news, I read forums, I don't know, but - how do people keep falling for these scams? Don't they read? Are they really this gullible?

I'm not trying to be mean here, I'm trying to UNDERSTAND why on earth someone would think they get some huge check in the mail and have to send it to someone and get a little "commission" out of it?

Is it because I'm normally a skeptical and cynical person? My husband, bless his heart, he ALWAYS brings in the mail and shows me these "Free Cruise 2 nights 3 days - NO STRINGS" or "YOU'RE APPROVED for a NEW CAR" - oh, you know those things that come in the mail.

I pull it out of his hands, toss it in the trash, and say, "Scam", "Nope, not true", "Scam, Scam". He looks at me, "How do you know?" I say, "Because I'm a negative person and nothing in life is free and you're too trusting."

Nobody can call you naive I've always wondered the same thing and don't really consider myself a huge skeptic. Seriously, how many people or companies are going to to contact a random person offering hundreds of dollars for a job requiring no skills and only a couple of hours or to help them smuggle several million dollars out of some third world country. After all these years and all of the warnings you would think these things would have died out. It seems like they are just getting worse. Is it tough economic times, more naive people, more people wanting something for nothing? Who knows.

Either a troll or the scammers have launched a full-out scam campaign!

My son got caught in the same type of SCAM but it was from answering an ad on CraigsList for an Administrative Assistant. Instead of him asking me about the check cashing, he went to his bank, deposited the check and it didn't go through. The guy sent him another check but this time my son tried to cash it and the bank called the police. They arrested him and said they were charging him with a Felony because they said he printed the check himself. By the grace of God, my son kept all of the emails between he and the man. I had to take all of this to the police before they would let him go, which was an entire day later.

I talked to my daughter and she said one of her friends got caught up in the same thing on CraigsList but as a Office Manager and a friend of hers told her not to cash the check. My other daughter told me one of my nieces got caught up answering an ad on CraigsList for an Office Assistant and was sent a check to cash. Her boyfriend found out what she was going to do but stopped her.

chefmom1 Wrote:
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> fortunaly for me I have worked in the banking
> business and I knew what to look for and the right
> questions to ask. SO I didn't cash the check or
> even deposit it. In fact I still have the check
> and am considering taking it to the police. I hope
> that you didn't cash your check! I always remember
> if it sounds too good to be true it probably is

kourtnee_love, I don't know the name of the company that scammed you but I too was almost scamed by a mystery shopper club. I received a 2,000. dollar check and told me to go to the internet and activate the check then take it to the bank and deposit it into my regular checking acc. wait until the check clears then go online and follow the instructions for my first assignment. Fortunantley I use to work for a bank so I knew what questions to ask and how to handel it. well, wure enough after about 24 hours I found out that the company is indeed a fraud. In fact they have scammed alot of people and now they are in a BIG mess. I went ahead and clicked on the assignment just to see what it was going to be and they wanted me to withdrwa all of the check but 350.00 (my salary) then I was to take the rest of the money to a wwestern Union and send rest of the money to somone with the same last name as mine in SPAIN My theory is if it sounds too good to be true it is!!!Never trust anyone that sends you money and is going to let you keep it for nothing. I amsorry that you were scamed hopefully your bank canand will help you and maybe you can get someof your money back. You just can't be too careful in this day and time and that is really a shame!!

chefmom, your line about activating the check explains another thread. On that one a newbie is asking how to activate her check. While it was obviously a scam it was unclear why she was activating anything. Thanks for some more good info!

Troll or not it is real. Today I received 5 phone calls and 12 emails regarding this damn scam. The reason being is that these scammers are using a name similiar to our website name and are using my actual name to make the email legitimate. Last week a guy asked for help to try and get his money back. It was heartbreaking. He called us because, well as your read before, they are using names that are close to legitimate business'. I'm with the guy that wonders how anyone could fall for this...well unfortunately they do. If there is a Troll trying to stir the boards, have at it! The more people know about this the better!
Emma

Emma,
Always happy to hear from folks from MSCs, but please add a sig line to identify your company. The denizens of this site always want to know what company reps are visiting, each time that they visit.

My bad. I just so worked up over these scammers!

Emma A. Valdivieso
Project Manager
Phone: 888-300-8292 extension 209
Email: emma@mysteryshopperservices.com
Website: www.mysteryshopperservices.com
MY Hours: 8:00am – 5:00pm (PST)

Mailing Address:
Business Evaluation Services
PO Box 507
Arroyo Grande, CA. 93421

LIKE us on FACEBOOK
[www.facebook.com]

You have to figure that the scammers mostly sit at a computer and send thousands of emails out everyday for fake jobs, fake mystery shops and sit back and collect millions of dollars.

They have the most patience and nothing to lose.

The MOST everyone can do is become more aware. Join some anti scamming sites ( I belong to a few) but I don't think the Mods here would like the web addresses posted. Just Google "Is this a Scam?" TONS of pages and sites come up to help you.

I am holding a session on these scams on Monday 11-21 at 1pm PST. I will discuss briefly how these work, some new ways these low life's have you make deposits, show some samples and tell you what you can do if you receive one of these checks.
To join in go to:
[258443.myvideobroadcaster.com]
You can sign in as a guest by typing in the word guest

Doug Rector
NWLPC

Good for you! I love it when I see companies get proactive about this.

Live and learn. I got the Email or whatever it was. I responded with, "HAHAHAHAHA". Poor thing, it was probably from Nigeria.
In fact, I got that one very recently.
Trendsource...I HATE THEM!!! So much so, I got mouthy and quit. Bestmark pays quick.
Trendsource...who likes going to Besy Buy raise your hand..

Guys, there are so much more.
I have a company that pays weekly from the start...that is the same company that I get all my jobs from. You wait until the "immediately" pops up. Jobslinger is also awesome. Sassie is the ruler.
Corporate Research is very time consuming to get into with testing up the end, but once it is completed. Some of there jobs the client's are stupid because who in the world would do an assignment for, say, "$3.00". Kidding I am not.
Kristi

I like Trendsource. They have good filler shops, sometimes bonus, and pay quickly. Never a problem with 'em.

Sassie is a web-based platform used, not a mystery shopping company. Which Sassie user is it you like? As far as CORI goes, many do take those low-paying jobs. I don't, but hundreds do. They start out low and raise the fees as supply and demand dictates. If they can offer shops to a client for a cheap price because of that, why does that make their clients stupid?

My guess is clients don't know what the shopper is being paid. Why would they know and why would they care? When they buy an item for retail sale they don't know what the manufacturer's employees are being paid. They need to know what the item costs them and what markup they need to make a profit, nothing more, nothing less. Face it, we are a commodity. The only thing the client wants to know is how much they are going to pay for the shop report and the value compared to the cost.