Mystery Shopping Scams

A number of retailers hire marketing research companies to assess the quality of service in their stores. These companies use mystery shoppers to gather details discreetly. They assign a mystery shopper to make a specific purchase in a store or restaurant and then report on the experience. Usually, the shopper is reimbursed and may keep the purchased products. Various professionals in the field consider mystery shopping as a part-time activity at best. Additionally, opportunities are usually posted online by advertising research or merchandising companies.

The reality is that it is redundant to pay anyone to enter the mystery shopper business. The shopping certification offered in advertisements or unsolicited emails is almost always worthless. A list of companies that hire mystery shoppers is available for free, and legitimate mystery shopper jobs can be found online at no cost. Customers who seek refunds from promoters of mystery shopping jobs are usually out of luck. Moreover, these businesses rarely return phone calls, and if they do, it is often just to redirect inquiries elsewhere.

We have compiled a list of reliable online scam-fighting agencies to help you stay informed about current and past Mystery Shopping scams and their various types.

We are providing the Spam Checker Tool for your convenience. Here, you can enter the email or contact number you suspect to be a scam. This tool checks it against our spam database and ensures whether the email or phone number is genuine or fraudulent.

You can report a scam to the United States government—file a complaint regarding a scam or other crime here.

The operation of this scam is similar to the "work from home scam." The scam organization places a legitimate-looking ad in a classified listing, either in print or online, advertising positions for a mystery shopper, secret shopper, or customer service evaluator. Some scammers shortlist resume profiles from reputable job portals and send emails with job descriptions to unsuspecting victims. The scammer informs victims that they are shortlisted and hired as secret shoppers and will receive money orders to use in their projects. Their assigned task is to review the service at a MoneyGram location. The scammer cleverly instructs the victim to wire money from the received money order and then submit a filled evaluation sheet to the company. Innocent victims believe the money orders will be processed within 10 business days and rush to complete the assignment before the deadline, unknowingly wiring money from their own accounts. As a result, many victims end up with negative bank balances, realizing too late that the money order was fraudulent.

Scam artists are using the name of reputed business companies in an attempt to fool unsuspecting consumers into cashing these fake checks. It is recorded that many consumers are receiving checks along with a letter in the name of reputed companies like the Service Excellence Group logo, the Mystery Shopping Providers Association logo (MSPA), the Better Business logo (BBB), and the National Speaker Association logo (NSA) on their communication. The information is being verified with the legitimate companies, and it has come to notice that scammers are using these names in order to scam victims for money.

As the Fakecheck.org website states, "There is no legitimate reason why anyone would give you a check, cashier's check, or money order and ask you to wire money in return."

The average compensation for a standard mystery shopping assignment is $15. Be cautious of any job posting claiming to send you large sums of money for a mystery shopping assignment.

A reputable mystery shopping firm will capture your contact information via a company reporting platform. Kindly do not fill up any forms sent to you via emails.

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Is it always a better practice to verify the email address and the details of the company before accepting the job offer?

Is it vital to know that MoneyGram does not use a secret shopper service? Any company that offers you a job to mystery shop at MoneyGram is a scam.

Does Western Union use a secret shopper service? If so, are secret shoppers never paid by cashier checks or money orders? Should companies offering payment by these methods be verified before accepting the job offer?

Should you verify the legitimate list of secret/mystery shopper companies before accepting proposals from any organization? You can find an official list at mysteryshop.org.

Victims who have been scammed by bogus companies can report the email address and company name to the following resources and seek to recover their losses.

Victims of these scams can file complaints with the same agencies that handle counterfeit cashier's check scams, including:

• National Consumers League/Alliance for Consumer Fraud Awareness: www.fakechecks.org
• Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): http://www.ic3.gov
• Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Postal Service: http://www.uspsoig.gov
• Local police
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC): http://www.ftc.gov
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): http://www.fbi.gov