Beware of Mystery Shopping Scams

[NancyMac]

Attn: Prospective Shopper,

This e-mail is to notify you about your first assignment. The company has issued out a payment to you for your first assignment which means your weekly half payment of $100 has been issued to you with some funds which you will use in executing this Assignment.

Read and make sure you understand all that is stated below to avoid any mistakes. You should receive MONEY ORDERS from one of our companies today which is part of your assignment.It would be delivered to you by UPS.
Payment was issued to cover the assignment bills and also your weekly wages and Assignment.

Once you receive the Money Orders, you should take the payment to your bank and cash the payment today then deduct $100 as your half weekly wage.

THE PAYMENT WILL BE IN FORM OF MONEY ORDERS AND CAN BE CASHED INSTANTLY AT ANY BANK WITHIN THE COUNTRY, ONCE YOU RECEIVE THE MONEY ORDERS YOU SHOULD TAKE IT TO CASH AT YOUR BANK AT ONCE.

The remaining balance should be used for the below assignment. Follow these instructions below.

1ST ASSIGNMENT:

You will be Evaluating Wal-mart store and MONEYGRAM outlet in your City. Cash the Money Orders at your Bank and then Go ahead with Wal-mart Evaluation .The Check you received covers all expenditures including evaluation, shopping , transport and your compensation ( salary=$100 ) for these surveys .You are to purchase Goods of your Choice for your own Use not more than $50,at any Wal-mart store close to you and also you will be using MONEYGRAM services to send the balance to another Mystery shopper to carry out her 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
-How long it took you to get services.
-Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet
-Intelligence of the attendant
-Customer service professionalism
-Reaction of personnel under pressure
-Information that you think would be helpful
-Your comments and impressions.

Below is the expenditures breakdown:-
Money Received ....$870.00
Salary .................$100
Wal-mart ................$50
MONEYGRAM Transfer Charge: $60
Send Amount At MONEYGRAM Outlet .............. $660.00

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 MONEYGRAM money transfer to another mystery shopper for another assignment.

We want you to deduct half of your weekly payment of $100 and have the remaining funds (minus the MONEYGRAM charges which should be less than $60 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 $660.00 THROUGH MONEYGRAM MONEY TRANSFER TO THE INFORMATION BELOW :

RECEIVER: TRAORE MOUSSA
Address: 450 N Candler St.
CITY: DECATUR
STATE: GEORGIA
ZIP CODE: 30030
Amount to be Sent: $660.00

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 2004 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. Your next assignment this week would be visiting a museum, we would provide you with the details.

Also to further finalize this Assignment, you have to get back to us with the Necessary report of Walmarts and also with the below MONEYGRAM transfer information for the money you sent to the other mystery shopper:

1. Senders Name and Address
2. 8 Digit Reference Number
3. The amount transferred after deducting MONEYGRAM charges.

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.

Should you have any other questions or need more Instructions as to your first assignment, you can easily reach me at my email (mrdennis.huntt15@gmail.com)

Kind Regards,
Contact Person: Mr Dennis Hunt
Phone: (917) 508-7248
Email: mrdennis.huntt15@gmail.com
Time: 24 Hours daily by e-mail
Processing Job-Unit.

[blueblue]

Anytime they mention cashing money orders, getting a moneygram, or wiring money via western union... DON'T DO IT!!!!!! Thanks for posting this here NancyMac!

[danasurvey]

Agreed. Why would you have to cash money orders, get a moneygram, or wire money via western union? It has noting to do with Mystery Shopping.

There should only be one financial transaction. Them paying you.

Thanks for posting this.

[MzzzzVee]

Got email from "Dennis Hunt" saying payment was on the way. Received Fed Ex with an Official looking money order; It passed all the security checks that were listed on the USPS website but when I called the USPS Accounting 866# (who takes your name and phone number) I was informed that the money order was bogus and that I should turn it in to my local post office and get the US inspector #. Don't cash these m.o.'s or you could be on the hook for the money, should it get past your bank.

[Itsjusmeli]

Wow. Now they're calling it Mystery Shopping now? I wouldn't get involved with any company without checking them out with the Better Business Bureau. Having said that, the very mention of money transfers, etc. shrieks "scam." Steer clear.