A dear friend of mine who used to mystery shop got an invitation to join up with them and wonders if they are legit. Thanks,

Carol

A quick google shows that a Harvey's restaurant is shopped by A Closer Look, so they would not be soliciting separately. Then there is an FTC warning about some guy with the last name of Harvey being named for scams selling Bartending School and Mystery Shopping. Then there is a scamwarning about Harvey World supposedly offering part-time mystery shopping positions.

As far as I know there is no company Harvey's Secret Shopper or anything closely related. So general rules of thumb apply: make sure that any email contacts are coming from a company, not some generic hotmail, yahoo or gmail account etc.; don't send personal information by email, rather sign up on a website and watch for the https: in the URL line to know that it is a secure website; if it sounds too good to be true it probably is; if it is offering payment up front it probably is a scam; if you will be spending any of your own money for training, etc. it is probably unnecessary; if you are depositing large checks and wiring funds away, RUN don't just walk away from it.

Good. Thanks for the research. Sounds so fishy it could swim.

I would like to know how to Google end users, to find out which mystery shopping company they use, Any help would greatly appreciated. Auzy in Ontario Canada



Flash Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A quick google shows that a Harvey's restaurant is
> shopped by A Closer Look, so they would not be
> soliciting separately. Then there is an FTC
> warning about some guy with the last name of
> Harvey being named for scams selling Bartending
> School and Mystery Shopping. Then there is a
> scamwarning about Harvey World supposedly offering
> part-time mystery shopping positions.
>
> As far as I know there is no company Harvey's
> Secret Shopper or anything closely related. So
> general rules of thumb apply: make sure that any
> email contacts are coming from a company, not some
> generic hotmail, yahoo or gmail account etc.;
> don't send personal information by email, rather
> sign up on a website and watch for the https: in
> the URL line to know that it is a secure website;
> if it sounds too good to be true it probably is;
> if it is offering payment up front it probably is
> a scam; if you will be spending any of your own
> money for training, etc. it is probably
> unnecessary; if you are depositing large checks
> and wiring funds away, RUN don't just walk away
> from it.

Try doing just what you said: "ABD Farm Supply company" + "mystery shop*" or some variant of that. It occasionally works out. The way most of us find who shops whom is by signing up with MSC's continually.

Thanks. I have signed up with over 75 companies, and I am trying to find more Canadian companies to deal with, or at least US Companies that have larger customer bases in Canada.