I know many of my readers are also secret shoppers, so I thought it would be good to alert you to a scam that is going around. You sign up as a secret shopper, the guy, James Martins, sends you a check using express mail and the email, below.
Of course, the check bounces and your account gets in the hole, but he gets the money scott-free. I didn't cash the check he sent me, so don't worry. I knew it was a scam, and even if I didn't, If you look very closely at these checks you will see the words "Void" printed across it. See in the scan?
Attn Esteemed Shopper:
Thanks for the Heads Up; we have prepared your first payment for the mystery shopping assignment and it will be delivered to you through USPS courier Service TODAY Tuesday,July 30, 2013,Please confirm to me with the delivery ASAP.Once you receive the payment ( TAKE IT TO YOUR BANK AND HAVE IT CASHED).If you can't get the funds instantly at your Bank, you are require to make a special deposit for it and wait till tomorrow for availability of the funds to complete the assignment.
Note**You are require to evaluate a Wal-mart store and Western Union outlet in your City today as soon as you receive the package today. The payment you received covers all expenditures including evaluation, shopping, transport and your compensation for these surveys. You are to make a purchase of any electronic item worth $50, at any Wal-mart store close to you and also you will be using Western Union services to send the balance to another Mystery shopper to carry out another Assignment,we want to observe all the services of western union around the world and also the Wal-mart shopping.
PLEASE NOTE** IF YOU ARE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT TODAY,IT WILL ATTRACT $50 EXTRA BONUS FOR YOUR SECOND ASSIGNMENT.
FIRST ASSIGNMENT.
Below is the breakdown of how the payment will be spent and you are to take note of the following activities.
You are to deduct $200 survey fees from the total payment received which is $1950, after completion of first assignment.You are to make a purchase of any electronic item worth $50 (to be kept by you) at any Wal-mart store close to you and also you will be using Western Union services to send the balance to another Mystery shopper to carry out his own Assignment.
As a secret shopper, you should go there and study how to send money and memorize all you see at the outlet. We want you to report back to us with the following information:
GUIDELINES FOR BOTH ASSIGNMENT
-How long it took you to get services.
-Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet
-Smartness of the attendant
-Customer service professionalism
-Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they react to clients why they get tensed.
-Reaction of personnel under pressure
-Information that you think would be helpful
-Your comments and impressions.
Below is the expenditures breakdown:-
Money Received ....$1950
Salary .................$200
Wal-mart ................$50
Required fund to be sent through Western Union to the next shopper..............$1700
Note :Send Money to be available in Minutes and the western union transfer charges should be deducted from the funds you are sending not from your commission.
As a secret shopper your job is to observe any thing useful going on in the outlet. Make sure you observe everything you see in there because you would be asked some other questions when you return. So then you would go ahead and make a western union money transfer to another mystery shopper for another assignment.
We want you to deduct your weekly payment of $200 and have the remaining funds (minus the western union charges and also $50 for whatever you will be buying at Walmart) sent to the information below for proper preparation of our next Mystery Shopper.
TRANSFER THE REST OF THE FUNDS THROUGH WESTERN UNION TO ANOTHER SURVEY AGENT (Mr Leo Powe )WHICH INFORMATION IS BELOW.
RECEIVER'S NAME.: Leo Powe
RECEIVERS ADDRESS:605 PARKER AVE
RODEO, CA 94572
Our Finance department has just established a new system which you might have never heard of and it is called Alert pay. And this service is been Privately owned and established under our management since 2007 With many competitors we have a very low rating and few customers and we want to develop and upgrade our service to the best and fullest. So we only need the report you provide so we can work on our service.Please try as much to be discrete when doing your work as a mystery shopper, just observe all you see and report back when you get back home.
Also to finalize this Assignment, you have to get back to us with the Necessary report of Walmarts and also with the below western union transfer information for the money you sent to the other mystery shopper:
MTCN CONTROL #
SENDERS NAME AND ADDRESS
RECEIVERS NAME AND ADDRESS
TOTAL AMOUNT SENT
WESTERN UNION SERVICE CHARGE .
This project shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours to execute and the time limit matters to us, with that we can also determine your efficiency and the commitment you show towards working with us. Do get back to me with the Reports and Transfer information.
Looking forward to work with you on this project .And remember to pretend to be a client who wants to Shop and send money so they wont detect you are a secret shopper.
Your Second assignment commences as soon as you complete your first assignment depending on your efficiency.
We hope to have a long lasting business relationship with you.
Get back to me with a reply to show that you are in Receipt of this message.
Yours sincerely,
James Martins.
Secret Shopper®
7736093168