I received the following email. Has anyone heard of this company? If they don't have a website I automatically become wary.

Date: 26Th April 2012
We have a mystery shopping assignment in your area and we would like you to participate
Secret Shopper(R) is accepting applications for qualified individuals to become mystery shoppers. It's fun and rewarding, and you choose when and where you want to shop. You are never obligated to accept an assignment There is no charge to become a shopper and you do not need previous experience. After you sign up, you will have access to training materials via e-mail, fax or postal mail.
ABOUT USSecret Shopper(R) is the premier mystery shopping company, serving clients across America with over 500,000 shoppers available and ready to help businesses better serve their customers. Continual investment in the latest internet and communication technologies coupled with over 16 years of know-how means working with Secret Shopper(R) is a satisfying and rewarding experience. Secret shopping as seen on ABC NEWS, NBC NEWS, L.A.TIMES.Stores and organizations such as The Gap, Walmart, Pizza Hut, and Bank. One amongst many others pay for Secret Shoppers to shop in their establishments and report their experiences. On top of being paid for shopping you are also allowed to keep purchases for free. Secret Shopper(R) NEVER charge fees to the shopper. Training, tips for improvement, and shopping opportunities are provided free to registered shoppers. Mystery shoppers are either paid a pre-arranged fee for a particular shop, a reimbursement for a pu rchase o r a combination of both.Y
Kindly Fill Out the application form below and we will get back to you
shortly with the assignment to this email evaluationteam550@yahoo.cn
PERSONAL INFORMATION:
First Name:
Last Name:
Street Address No (P.O.BOX):
City, State, Zip Code:
Cell Phone Number:
AVAILABILITY:
Days/Hours Available
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Hours Available: from _______ to ______
Thank you for your help.
We look forward to working with you.
Frank James
Secret Shopper(R)

NO. And the Frank James name has been repeatedly used by scammers. And, give me a break - e-mail your application to a yahoo address? RUN

This is the second bogus mystery shopping email I have received in a week. Where do these fake companies get my info and know I am a shopper?

Frank James, huh? At least the scammer has a sense of humor. I guess Jesse James would have been too suspicious so they used his older brother's name, instead.

No its a scam.

There is a legit company called Secret Shopper, but this email doesn't look like it provides a legit email address. At the very least I would question why you are being asked to send the info to a yahoo account. Not professional if it is legit.

It is not legit. Secret Shopper is a legit company but they do not contact shoppers who have not signed up with them and and ask potential shoppers to provide personal info by e-mail. All legit Secret Shopper registration online and is initiated by a mystery shopper who wishes to apply with their company. has posted a warning on their home page about the scammer using their company name. And this scam has been posted to ScamWatchers.

Any of the following might be scammer clues:

1) you are contacted by a company you did not register with
2) you receive a check in advance
3) they mention Western Union
4) they ask you to provide personal information to them by e-mail
5) they do not provide a website, only an e-mail address
6) it sounds too good to be true
7) the language/grammar sounds "off" - a clue it might be one of the many scammers from other countries

They don't know you are a shopper. These are just blast e-mails like any other spam. I got them before I started mystery shopping and continue to get them along with all of the goofy crap. It costs them very little to sit at a computer and send this crap all day. If only a couple of suckers take the bait then they've been successful. I'm sure several thousand dollars goes a long way in Nigeria.

BTW, I just got an e-mail from LinkedIn telling me I had to use a link in the e-mail to verify my e-mail addy. As always, looked very official. That is until I looked at the real e-mail address it was sent from, LinkedId.com. You really think they misspelled their own website, LOL! Just send everything to spam, don't ever click on a link and if you think the e-mail has any legitimacy contact the company through a different channel such as their website.

sassyshopper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is the second bogus mystery shopping email I
> have received in a week. Where do these fake
> companies get my info and know I am a shopper?

If you want to know whether a company is legitimate, simply look at the email response address. If it comes from yahoo, hotmail, or one of the foreign free email providers, most likely the company is not legitimate. After all, what legitimate company uses a free email service to run one of their primary sources of communication? Also be careful when you click on the email address to send it. Look at the address and see if it is really going where it says it is going. While These scammers are actually pretty stupid, don't underestimate them. They are great at the copy and paste process and making their emails look real.
I do work for a secret shopper company and receive, at the most $20 per shop. Anyone who advertises $200 or more for a shop is , most likely not legitimate. I answered an ad advertising WalMart Secret shops. It turned out that they send you a check for $1200 (amount may vary). You're supposed to take the check and cash it at the Walmart and then send them $1000 and keep the $200. They will usually say something like evaluate the clerk cashing the check to make it look legit. Of course you know what happens here.
I hope this helps someone.
Jim

I beleive its a scam too. And you came to ask at the right place. Sometimes its not in the interest of companies such as volition or shadow shopper to admit that somebody using their site is actually a scammer. We here share from our first hand experience.

Definitely a SCAM. Yes, there is a company called "Secret Shoppers", but the name of "Frank James" is not, or ever has been associated with that company. Frank James is used by several scammers (I think they are all cousins, or something). I've done work for the Secret Shoppers and they are legit and pays well and on time. They are aware of the scam, but have been in business several years and don't want to change their name now -- and even if they did, it looks they were guilty of the scamming! Happy shopping!

.cn is china. that means don't respond and delete immediately

AustinMom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It is not legit. Secret Shopper is a legit
> company but they do not contact shoppers who have
> not signed up with them and and ask potential
> shoppers to provide personal info by e-mail. All
> legit Secret Shopper registration online and is
> initiated by a mystery shopper who wishes to apply
> with their company. has posted a warning on their
> home page about the scammer using their company
> name. And this scam has been posted to
> ScamWatchers.
>
> Any of the following might be scammer clues:
>
> 1) you are contacted by a company you did not
> register with
> 2) you receive a check in advance
> 3) they mention Western Union
> 4) they ask you to provide personal information to
> them by e-mail
> 5) they do not provide a website, only an e-mail
> address
> 6) it sounds too good to be true
> 7) the language/grammar sounds "off" - a clue it
> might be one of the many scammers from other
> countries


I work for scheduling companies that do ask for your information by email address but they normally ask name, email, when you want to do the shop. This is normal for palm scheduling and CTCS

But the key with Palm and CTCSS is they include a job description with specific locations and the fee (which is quite often low, LOL!)