Shoppers Inc. – mystery shopper scam!
Look closer… much closer! If it looks too good to be true, it is! Scams are everywhere, and unless people blow the horn on them, they will continue to take advantage of unsuspecting people.
I was prompted to blog about this scam as it is good… it looks very legit, and apparently many people are being taken in by companies just like this one.
Today, I received a congratulations letter along with a nice hefty (legit looking CIBC Toronto) cheque in the sum of $4650.00 CDN from a company who calls themselves “Shoppers Inc.”
Note: Yes, all those typos are in this letter.
Read on, and beware.
SHOPPERS INC.
Shoppers Inc.
5407 Gatebridge Road Richmond VA 23234
Tel: 1-819-580-0971
Fax: 1-509-272-0978
Web: www.theshoppersinc.com
RE: JEANNETTE DUGUAY
Position: Customer Service Evaluator
Rep ID# S.I 101
CONGRATULATIONS! With reference to your recent online application with us, I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to become one of our representatives in your region.
Please be informed that there is only one probationer training assignment that you are required to complete within 48 hrs. This training assignment takes about 2 hours to complete and is a PAID training. Training pay rate remains $200 per day. The aim of this training assigment is for you to familiarize yourself with the practical feel of what investigative shopping entails. Please note that enclosed is a Check in the amount of $4650.00 USD
This assigment has been put together to be completed at any Wal-Mart location or Money Gram store. The objective of this assignement will be to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a payment system called “Money Gram” which is available at any Wal-Mart store or local Money Gram agents. The moneygram system is encountering problems varying from loss of customer money transfer completely, non-refund of funds if customer had decided to withdraw the transfer just to mention a couple.
A major part of this assessment is “Confidentiality”. Please keep your identity HIDDEN as a secret evaluator in general, to avoid employees putting up acts while you are on assigments.
You are required to cash the enclosed CHECK at your local bank or check cashing facilities, and take the cash minus your fee(s) and do the following:
You will pose as a potential customer sending a Money Gram payment to HELEN GIBSON a relative of yours in CALGARY ALBERTA CANADA. The fund needed to complete this transaction assignment has been arranged and has been enclosed with this letter. For our verification of assignment completion, please call the number above and also e-mail our office at recruitment@theshoppersinc.com to provide the MoneyGram Reference Code immediately after completion.
Below is the breakdown of the attached fund:
Required funds to be sent via MoneyGram ——–$4350.00
2 hours evaluation training ————————-$200.00
Service charge by MoneyGram ———————$100.00
TOTAL —————————————– $4,650.00
In the process of this evaluation assignment, please take note of the quality of service in order to be able to fill out a fair and unbiased opinion on the Customer Service Evaluation Tool (CSET) form enclosed with this letter. This form should be faxed back to our office after the completion of your assignment.
Have fun! Have fun! Have fun! Have fun! Have fun! Have fun!
Sincerely,
(signature here)
Lewis Grant
Note: It is most important you call this office as soon as you receive your package for the final instructions before you start the assigment.
============
On the bottom of their letter is a stream of logos including: Pepsi, The Bay, Gap, McDonalds, Starbucks, Blockbuster, AVIS, Western Union, Pizza Pizza and Harvey’s.
This type of scam has been going on for quite some time by a variety of companies, and has been a great source of income for the scam-artists, and grief for unsuspecting victims.
While the internet is an amazing technological accomplishment, it also brings with it the dark side. Let’s get the word out, and get educated.
Technorati Tags: jentekk, moneygram, mystery shopper, scam, Shoppers Inc, wal-mart
April 4th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I have reseived almost this same letter. i had tried calling the number since it siad to check in before starting the assignment and it went to a message saying the customer couldn’t be contacted at this time. so i waied and called a few times more. then i tried contacting them on the email. after that was returned i assumed that it must have been a scam. today i tried looking it up and the web page doesn’t work, and then i found this site talking about it being a scam. i am glad that i didn’t try to cash this check and send the money through walmart.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Hi Amanda.
I’m so glad to hear I was able to warn you about this scam and save you from being yet another victim.
Also, good for you on doing a little research. You had a hunch something was wrong, and you were absolutely right.
Hey… you’ve saved yourself a chunk of money – treat yourself to something nice, you’ve earned it!
April 10th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Hi there,
Just got the same letter today from a Montreal , QC address for $2350, same wording and everything.
RIght in the trash I say.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Exactly Bev! Well done.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I got the same letter today and was kind of wary…(seemed to good and to easy). That’s when I checked it out on line and found this site. Mine’s going in the trash as well!!
April 11th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Hi I received one of these letters to and went on site to check it out at snopes and came across your website. Thanks for the heads up.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Hi Brad and Dawn. I had a hunch people may be doing a search on this. I’m so glad I’ve been able to help out.
April 11th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I too received the letter today from Shoppers Inc. and was wary enough to search. I actually am a mystery shopper for other companies and this just seemed too odd. Thanks!
April 12th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Your welcome Karin, have a great weekend.
April 14th, 2008 at 4:48 am
I live in Halifax and received the same letter. I was very sceptical when I saw the plain white envelope this information came. Then, to find a cheque in the amount of $2350 made out to me … too good to be true. Putting this right into the shredder bin!!! Thanks!
April 15th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I received a letter also pretty much the same thing. The only diference was that I was not told what to do with the money. I was told to contact them and they would release the funds so that I could cash the cheque. Once the check was processed I was to call them and they would tell me the places and the amounts that I would need to go to shop. My check was for 3,900.00 I also thought it was too good to be true. I took my check to the bank and did some investigating. My bank thought it was fishy and they told me to go to the Caisse Populaire, since that is were the cheque was from. I payed the Caisse Populaire $5.00 to call the branch in Motreal that the cheque was from. They told us that the funds were available at this time and that the name of the company on the cheque was ligit. I then returned to my bank and told them the information that I had received. The employee their advised me for my own benefit to place a 14 day hold on the cheque. She said that should be enough time for the cheque to go through all the process and see if it was going to go through. Thanks to my bank that is what I did. Today I received a call from my bank to inform me that the cheque came back Non Sufficiant Funds. I then through google found the companyname(from Quebec) and their number from the cheque and they told me that they had to recently cancel that account because someone was handing out fraudulant cheques from their account. They have contacted the Police in Toronto because the cheques were all sent to people from ON CAnada. I have also contacted my local police and I am waiting to hear from them.
April 18th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I recieved a letter today in the mail from Consumer Research PLC New York, Ny for the amount of 2950.00 says i have two assignments one is to go to walmart, home depot or office max and purchase merchandise worth 130.00 then send 2400.01 including fees of 119.99 to one of the research cordinators specified by our account manger Carmella Raymond and gives a number. i would make 100/hour X3 and keep the merchandise i bought. I thought it was toooooo good to be true so i decided to do some research. I cant pull any info about this company but the lady did answer the phone. One thing i noticed in the letter was “Consumer Research PLC PO Box 1750 New York, NY 2690.” 2690 couldn’t be a real zip code arent they 5 number long. Also gives you a Representative id number. I just wanted to make sure this is a scam and should i report this so noone will fall for this? Thank you for your blog
April 18th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
@ Cheryl, Rachel and Cassie. You’re very welcome. All too often, if it sounds too good to be true, it unfortunately usually is. Yes, you may want to report this to your local authorities. Maybe they can find a way to catch these crooks.
April 28th, 2008 at 8:34 am
I just received a letter this am with a check in it for over $4,000 so I took it to our local bank to see if it was legitimate and they said it sounds like a scam.
O well,. Guess when they say its too good to be true it usually is.
April 30th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I received a letter today from Mystery Shoppers PLC 25 Broadway New York, NY 10004 tel 1-403-401-3081 . It states basically the same as all the above. The spending 100.00 at kmart , home depot ,etc then wiring money to 3 different people and etc. I tried inquiring on line and came to your site. Guess it is too good to be true!! I will be sending this to my local police department fraud unit for further investigation , so glad I inquired first, because I have inquired about mystery shopping in the past, think it would be fun!!
May 1st, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I too was almost conned by these people! Lucky for me, I had a feeling it might be so I did some research online and found out that this has been going on for sooo long!! I had answered an ad in the newspaper via email for a customer service evaluator and they sent me step by step instructions on what to do. They said that they were evaluating Moneygram and that they were hired by Moneygram to evaluate the customer service being given at each Moneygram location. I thought to myself”wow this sounds like easy money!” So I just received the two moneyorders via UPS this morning with instructions on what to do. I was kinda excited thinking that I was going to make some extra money for myself! I then went to my bank to try to cash, but was told that there would be a hold put on them to verify that they were legit. So, I then came home and communicated thru email that I wasnt able to cash right away-awaiting a response from the individual that I had been communicating with. When I had not heard back from this person, I started to think that maybe this really was a scam so I started to investigate and came across so many different stories just like mine!! I then went back to my bank to let them know that Im sure I was just scammed and got the money order back. I didnt want anything to do with that dirty money!! The name of the so-called company was Global Solutions Inc. So, PLEASE WATCH OUT FOR THESE PEOPLE !! They also wanted the money to be sent to Canada.
May 4th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I was also almost scammed by the GLOBAL SOLUTIONS INC. folks. Same thing wanted a mystery shopper for moneygram at Walmart. Sent me two bogus checks for over $900 each… I was to keep 200 for my time and send the rest to Canada. I took them to my bank where they told me they were fake and I turned it all over to them and will follow up with fraud authorities…DO NOT FALL FOR THE MYSTERY SHOPPING SCAM!!!
May 13th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I recived 2 letters one from Legal Network Services and the Other from Consumer Research PLC. The letters stated that I had been selected for the job from my online applications that I had submitted so at first I did think that it was lagitimante so I when to the bank and submiited one of the checks fortunatly goverment banks place a 5 day hold on any check over the amount of 2500.00 well the checks I recived were one for 2750.00 and the other for 3900.00 yea I was about to get suckered if I would of place the check in to my acct that I have my life savings it would of cleared because I had the money I would of done the asingments and would of been 6650.00 short in my savings that has taken me so long to get saved up so I used dome commensence and deposited in to my goverment bank acct. that is seperate from my savings acct.. good thing.. I also attemted to research this companies and there are no were to be found so my next step from here is contacting the FBI’s fraud department see if they has been anyother complaint along with my locat news paper so we can get the word out to the consummers on this new scam..
May 18th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
today I got a letter from Global Research Inc in Canada I called them several times and all I got out of them was cash the check and call us back I did the mistake of depositing the check in my bank but after I researched on this site I know to wait to make sure funds to not come back unavailable or insufficent funds I was not aware of scams of this sort but what caught my eye was my check was for 3995.00 100.00 to do a mystery shop, a money gram , a western union, and then a fee for me of 465.00 but I was told when I called back after I deposited my check I asked about my assignments and told them my bank would hold it til it clears and all they said was that I should call them back when the check clears so I am asasuming this is as above described a scam I assume the only thing I can do right now is to put hold on that check so I do not loose any money by fees for a bad check from my bank
May 29th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I received a a letter from Consumer Research PLC. Letter came from Montreal QC and the letterhead said New York, stamp was Canada and looked like a reg. stamp someone gets from a post office to mail letters. Same info as the above, and the letter said “mystery shopper”.
I did not cash the check as told to by the person on the call named Julie Carmen Castro. My point is, how does this scam benefit the sender?
If we did cash the check, and thefunds were unavailable, the bank would charge for “insuf. funds” from the bank in the form of a fee. how would the sender benefit? The bank keeps the fee as a processing charge. If the funds are not available from their bank, and you didn’t use the funds that you deposited, I don’t see how one could get harmed other than a fee for the funds not being available.
It doesn’t seem at all possible that the sender of the check would be able to make out on this deal.
Teddy
PA
May 30th, 2008 at 11:30 am
People please remember to be smart about these total strangers offering to send you lots on money for little to no information at all. Notice the broken english on these e-mails. If you recieve any checks from these scammers, take them to your bank and have your bank report the fraud.
Just recieved this one via e-mail solicitation:
Hello Secret Shopper,
Top of the days to you. Your funds for the evaluation would be mail out to you after you have CONFIRMED this email that it should be mail out to you.
Thereafter we will be expecting an Incisive and detailed report from you via email
using the pointers given as guidelines for your evaluation reports for both Wal-mart and Money Gram evaluations.
You are to include the Money Gram reference code and Wal-mart receipt(TC#) number in your reports as it is required for Company feedback purposes on service delivery.
You will have deduct $100 for shopping at Wal-mart and also As we are Evaluating transactions above the $1000 mark, you will be sending $1400 at each Money gram Outlet you evaluate.
Below you will find your expenditures breakdown:-
Money Received ….$3350
……………………………………………………………..
Salary ……………..$200
Wal-mart…………….$100
Money Gram……………$1400*2===$2,800
Transfer costs……….$80*2===$160
Transport/Miscellanous..$90
Wal-mart stores and Money Gram outlet where you would evaluate would be email to you as soon as your funds have been mailed out to you.
We expect to read from you soonest so as to continue with mailing out your funds to the address giving to us…
Thank you…
Hiring Manager
Creasy Ramos
May 30th, 2008 at 11:56 am
@ Teddy – before people/banks were aware of this scam, people were depositing these fake cheques and quickly following the instructions as directed – completing them within 2 days .
This means they would be withdrawing from their own savings, only to find out a week later that the check was fraud… thus losing their own money.
More info: http://www.snopes.com/fraud/employment/shopper.asp
May 30th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Thanks everyone for your stories. As word gets out, these scams will no longer be effective. Of course they’ll come up with another one!
As its already been said… if its too good to be true, it probably is.
Have a safe ‘scam free’ weekend!
May 31st, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Hi, thanks for putting it up. I just got a letter today and a check for$2,800.00 the check is from Eagle Componets Inc. I checked them out and they seem real. It’s pretty sad that A-holes like that are out there. I’m taking the check to my bank and handing it over to them. I hope these people get scamed on a larger scale! Thanks again, Jon
June 6th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
I received a letter today from CAMYSTERY SHOPPERS, INC. for $3,530.00.
I am a former law enforcement officer and knew when I seen it that it was a scam. I told myself, I am gonna have fun with this. I called the number on the letter 902-218-0800 and a woman who sounded half asleep and who clearly was of other than American nationality answered. At first she sounded confused as to the name of the company to answer with. I asked her what I was to do with the check and she wanted the last four numbers. I lied and made up four numbers. I asked her where she was located and she didn’t know what to say. She said, “New York”. I said, no where are “YOU” located at this moment. She became quite nervous and agitated. I told her that I believed this was a scam. She said that she used the last four numbers of the check and it had now been deleted…. I told her “do you mean cancelled?” I told her she had been on the phone long enough for me to learn her exact location which I know is not in New York and she hung up. I laughed and enjoyed the rest of my day. My concern is if this check is cashed or deposited into your account perhaps they can acquire the account number later.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Hey Crystal – you made my day also. I had a good chuckle over the way you handled this. We need to put these scammers on edge, let them know we are on to them. The idea of making them nervous really appeals to me… ha ha ha…. does that make me evil?
June 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I got a letter and chack today i also though it was to good to be truth , but my question is how do they get our information to send this stuff our names and address?
June 14th, 2008 at 9:55 am
I recieved a letter on May 20,2008, which stated that I was also selected a a mystery shopper. Enclosed in the letter was a check in the ammount of $2800. $300 was for my probation tarining pay, $119 was for service charges, $130 was for funds needed for shopping, and $2250.01 was the ammount that was required to be trainsfered via western union or money gram. I was very disapointed to know that this was a scam because with today’s economy I really could have used the money. I am glad this blog was posted because after I made the call to a supposedly company representative, I was headed to the bank to cash the check with confidence. I just had a nagging feeling so I decided to do one more check, which was your blog, and I’m glad I did, once again THANK’S FOR THIS BLOG.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Hi Jenny. You’re very welcome. It is interesting that as much as we’d like to believe something is legit, our instincts have a way of letting us know when something is not right. Glad I could help!
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
this is elnoria do you have woman name kristy hudson i have a lettle wih a check for 4,985 .00 i can call this number 1-905-599-6844 email me let know call me at 704 -233-9503 ext 100
June 26th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I too replied to an ad in our local newspaper, I was contacted a few days later via e-mail congratulating my acceptance into their Mystery Shop program. The company:
Brand Name Market Research had a website that looked legit, although they did not have a shopper login. I too have been a mystery shopper for a number of years, but I guess this one got me. I received a Cashiers cheque from HSBc for the amount of $1700.00 which I was to cash at my local bank.
The funds were released to me immediately and I followed the instuctions. I was to go to a local Money Mart or Western Union and wire the funds minus me pay and service charge to a relative in the UK. Fill out the questionnaire, which was very vague, but I did so and also included an extra page of my observations of the assignment.
I did try to contact them via phone to give them the transaction # but their mailbox was full. 2 Days later I received another envelope, this time with a cheque from Citizens Bank in Vancouver for the amount of $ 1900.00, but there was an error in the name. It was made out to the supposed relative of mine (same last name) that I wired my first assignment to. I was able to reach the company by phone and advised them of the mistake, I was told that I would receive an e-mail with instructions and a replacement cheque. Today I received another cheque, same mistake. I wrote them an e-mail to request corrections, and started getting suspicious. Then I started snooping around on the net and found this blog. I guess I have been scammed, and now I do not know what to do. Worried and nervous, from Montreal
June 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Hi Viki, I’m sorry to hear that you were a victim of this scam. I don’t think there is any way to get your money back, but perhaps you’d like to take your case to the local authorities. I’m not sure what kind of progress they are making on this if any, but maybe if more of us reported it, they would place this case on priority and get to the bottom of it.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
yup I just recieved a letter from TC Mystery Shoppers Inc. p.o. box 1499 sacramento,ca 95812, But on the check they are out of Bellevue, Wa 98004 the check looks good and from bank of america. They also left a phone # which I called to see what was next, and it was a bad recording and when asked for more options press # I pressed # it kept telling me invalid entry. Why would you cash it at your bank, with all those cash checking places out there? Won’t that make it a little safer for you and your savings? But really what do these people have to gain with all the precausions that banks take so they don’t loose money…
June 27th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
So I filed a complaint with the RCMP and today I received another 2 cheques for a whole lot more. Thanks for your help, I post an update when I get more news
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Just came across this site as I also got scammed for $1700 bucks! I have contacted the police and they have my info. I am reading Vicki’s blog and feel for her too! I should have been smart about this but I asked my bank and they told me it was just like a money order, that it was like a certified cheque, guaranteed! Then I got another one in the mail on Monday, double the money this time, so I called the Citizen’s bank of Canada to find out that it was a fraudulent cheque and that they have been getting alot of phone calls about this. How can anyone steal cheques and get away with it? I hope my bank will work with me to pay themoney back.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Hi Elana.
I’m very sorry to hear that you were victimized by these creeps, and hope that your bank is able to work compassionately with you.
@ Viki – good for you! I look forward to hearing your updates.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:33 am
Hi,
RCMP contacted me today, they are coming to get all the paperwork and the RCMP said they will be doing a Press Release about this type of scam as they have been getting alot of calls in this region about the exact same company. They are going to my bank to try and get the cheque back. Wonder if anyone ever received compensation for fraud?
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I received a check for 3530.00 saying to purchase product for $100 and then money gram 2980.00. The name of the marketing company is United Mystery Shoppers INC PO box 105366 NY NY 10019 with telephone numbers 1-450-502-5800 and fax 1-888-553-0986. My check came from some bank in St. Petersburg Florida, I looked up the bank and it was on line so the bank was legit, I unfortonately deposited the check but I have not done anything yet, I have called their rep and given my ref number and they said ok to wait for check to clear before I money gram the money. Sounds too good to be true what do you think? oh also she wants me to money gram to a woman named danielle sandridge in Quebec Canada.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Well it looks like the Police in Windsor ON are finally on to this:
Windsor police warn of costly mystery shopper scam »
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Hi I went to Bank of America and they took the check and all the info and are going to presue this fraud case. The thing is if I didn’t say anything the teller she would have cash it cause it was a real account and a real check. I don’t bank there so I would not have lost money, but I went there to inform them of this check and of the people behind it. They also said that if the check turned out to be legit I would recieve all the money, go figure… Anyway be smart if it sounds to good it probably is.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:03 am
So I just received The NSF from my Bank, stating that the cheque was fraudulent. And they are debiting my account for 1700.00, I still have the other 4 cheques. I wonder if I should contact these people and tell them that my bank is holding the cheques. Maybe this will keep them going till the authorities catch them
July 4th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Y’know I have this creepy feeling the whole scam is being run by one woman because I too talked to a woman with bad english. BOTH times. Last week I called answering an ad in the paper and had trouble getting her to spell and say my last name correctly. She said she would mail me an application for the job I though I was being offered. Yesterday I too got almost the same exact letter with the whole fake check and instructions to send money through Moneygram at WalMart. I called the number because I was confused as to who sent this and how they got my info, i hadn’t yet connected back to the ‘job application’ i was expecting. I told the woman on the phone, who curiously sounds like the same woman, that I got this letter and didn’t remember signing up for this. She got a little snooty and told me that it would be much more mature and professional to write down the information when I apply for something and that if I wasn’t interested to just tear up the letter. I politely said that when i had called before I hadn’t been GIVEN any info about the company to write down or I surely would have…she just repeated that if this didn’t sound like something I wanted to do I could just tear it up and forget about it and she hung up. I then was very suspicious and did the net search, sure enough, found this article and others telling me its a scam. I can’t believe the nerve of that woman , ripping people off like this and then telling ME to be more mature and professional! I really wonder if it is just one woman behind all this. Anyone talk to someone other than a foreign sounding female voice?
July 4th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
When I called the company “Brand Institute Market Research” I spoke to a male with an accent, possibly African? No female, but I also researched on the net and found an article in the Windsor newspaper that the police apprehended 2 suspects working under this name, and counterfeit cheques from HSBC… I tried to do an ip search, and got somewhere in Toronto. I have kept all e-mails, envelopes and such, I hope the RCMP contact e soon, as for my bank, they won’t refund the money
July 7th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I recieved one of these letters today with a amount of 2987.00 something about a money gram from a company out of Ny but the envelope was from Cananda . I have to fax a copy of the check to the bank and they will let me know if it is real or not. Believe me this money could really be used by us right now as we are just getting on our feet from being homeless last year because our landlord did not pay their mortgage , and we had no place to live with 6 children and no help from social services . Thanks for this blog and keep it going. As for me I spoke to a man with not so clear english so I did not get a woman yet and my woman’s name is Jackie James . Also the company number that was on the check was out of service but I was transferred to a different number . Hope this helps someone.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I recieved email after posting my resume, looking for a second job. My family needs help. When I recieved the email saying I got the job I was ecstatic. I recieved the check thismorning from ups. Looked up the company and they had a good site. Turns out they used a ligit company for thier front. My bank did not cash it because of our money trouble, then I tried to cash it at a check cashing place and they told me it was a fraud and that they will report it, it was not the first they had seen. Thank god my bank would not cash it, or we would be hurting worse.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I got a letter on 6-17-08 from United Market & Consumer Research. Unfortunately I had the money in my account as well so when I went and cashed the check I was able to send the money gram right away. Today I got a note in the mail from my bank stating that the check came back unpaid. I am sick. The only reason I had that money in the bank was because I had saved up to go back to school. I am a single mom with four kids and now I have nothing. I can’t believe I was so stupid. I did look on the internet but couldn’t really find anything out about the company. When I got the note from the bank I looked under scams and found this site. I should have looked first. My check was for 3875.00 and said almost exactly what the rest of you have been saying. I had to go to walmart and send a money gram as well as shop at two other places. I hope this site helps some others. I don’t understand how people can do things like this. By the way in answer to Felicia I did talk to two different men. But when I tried to call them back tonight the phone has a message in a woman’s voice and speaks a different language and then justs cuts off.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
I checked my PO Box today and there was a return to sender envelope that I never sent. Curiosity got the best of me seeing as the return address was my old PO Box number (which no longer exists b/c the building got torn down) and the addressee was someone I’d never heard of in Texas. I opened the envelope and lo and behold, a shiny (REAL) cheque for $2,800 and a letter from Consumer Research PLC.
Now the funny thing was that the company name on the cheque was different than the company name on the letter so I was a little suspicious. I googled both. The name on the letterhead came back with “fraud” and “scam” and the name on the cheque is a real company “Eagle Components, Inc.”
Went to their website and on their homepage in big bold bright red letters was “WARNING!!! If you received a check from Eagle Components for a sweepstakes, Wal-Mart secret shopper, or lottery, this is a bank scam. Sorry no free money and sorry for the inconvenience.”
So if anyone reading this gets a letter with the return address PO Box 1883, Station B, Montreal QC H3B 3L4, that is no longer a valid address (hasn’t been for 18 months now) and everything inside the envelope is a scam. Just letting people know.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Samantha! I hope you have also reported this to RECOL, Joy I am so sorry for you loss, It was a big one, everyone who got scammed, or didn’t but had this type of experience should keep all documents and report it. I hope that with enough of us they catch these Ba&^%@#$, sorry for the swearing, but it just isn’t fair.
July 12th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I received a letter in the mail today from Endeavor Mystery Shoppers, Inc. with an address in Newport, RI. The letter included a check in the amount of $4,850.00 drawn on Citizens Bank, Rhode Island. The instructed me to evaluate Wal-Mart, Home Depot, JC Penny (sic) and one day lodging at “this Hotels” Best Western or Days Inn. My second evaluation would involve me to go to Western Union or MoneyGram and I would be instructed to send money to “our-training agents in a different location to be specified to your assignment coordinator.” The letter contained grammatical errors and JC Penny is incorrect.
The check definitely looked legit – even had security features included on the back. Of course, I was skeptical because the check had the preprinted name of Endeavor Seafood. So I researched Endeavor Seafood in Newport, RI and it is legitmate. The address matched up to the one on the check except for 2 things – different Suite # and entirely different area code and phone number. So I researched the telephone number on the letter and it was out of Quebec.
The envelope they used had my address on a pre-printed label and the stamp was a Canadian stamp. No return address. I am definitely taking this to my bank for their fraud department to investigate.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Viki, I went to the RCMP office and left the letter and cheque with them. They told me they would contact me in a few days. Just waiting now…
July 14th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I just received a letter similar to those above except this one was $4,850.00. I went to the bbb.org website to report them because I knew it was too good to be true. They have a rhode island address in the letter but a Canada stamp. The company that sent mine was Endeavor mystery shoppers inc. Wow it looks so real.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:23 am
How weird, I just got one of these in the mail, as well. This one was only for $650.50, though. Awkward, really. It wanted me to deposit the check, send some to an unknown person (who is only mentioned in the sending) and then keep the rest for myself, which totals out to be $475. Wayyyy more than I normally get from them (on average I get around $20).
This is really weird though, I secret shop for Fullscope, but the person is claiming to be from there and they even have a cheap address like “fullscope1@hotmail.com”. What doesn’t make sense is that it’s not a corporate address (like it should be) and the agent isn’t the person I normally talk with.
Of course, being angry, I sent a lovely message back:
“Hello Scott,
My name is Frank McDougal and you have been talking to an agent of the Federal Trade Commission. Currently, it is my job to intercept, prevent, and end these types of internet schemes. We have been working hand-to-hand to prevent false claims and “scam”s associated with the Fullscopre, Inc.’s trade, so we will have been granted full access to their members log. Scott, I would like to see your seven digit identification number from Fullscope, Inc. as well as your current Fullscope, Inc. company email address to verify your service with the company. Please note, however, if you do not reply with your information, the Internet Fraud and Safety Department (FSD) of the FTC will be forced to open an investigation concerning these recent events. However, if you have been accidentally associated with this false firm, which we will check with the identification we receive from you, we do provide our greatest apologies and will attempt to return the information sent through us via UPS through The United States Postal Service which should take up to 4-5 days to receive. We are sorry for this inconvenience. However, please do, once again, note that we require your Fullscope, Inc identification immediately and that the information we have received (via UPS and E-mail) will be held for prelaunch investigation until further notice.
Thank you,
Agent Frank McDougal”
Haha, hopefully it scares them. I guess I’m going to report the check to my local police station, since I have nothing else to do with it.
July 17th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Way to go Dan!!!
Maybe by taking matters in your hand will scare these scammers!
But reporting to the police I hope will also help
July 17th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
@ Dan, that is too funny!
@ Everyone… thanks for sharing your experiences.
It seems this scam is sweeping across the country. I sure hope the authorities are able to crack down on them. It makes me sad to know there are many who’ve fallen victim to these scams.
July 25th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I recently received one from Global Research Services. Saying that I can cash a check worth $3,850.00, but they needed me to send about $3,350.00 back to another place and i keep $500. After i send the money to the other company I would receive money every week $550-$850(depending how longer i work for them). They say all I have to do is spend $100 on certain stores and write stuff about my experience there. Do u think this is anything i should worry about? I mean i keep $500 and if I don’t get anything after it, I still keep $500. It sounds similar to what you all are talking about
July 25th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hi Esther. Don’t do it. It is absolutely a scam.
July 27th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Esther….. Please DO NOT do anything that these people want you to do…. IT IS A SCAM!
I got burned for 1700.00 and the RCMP has still not called me even thought I made a report. ad my bank will not reimburse me, so PLEASE do NOT FALL for these freaks!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I simply cannot believe I was getting ready to walk out the door to cash this check… Thank God for this blog!! My check came for 2980.00; $2585.00 for my relative “PATTIE MARCHMAN” in Canada, $200 mine to keep, $105 to pay for the “money gram” at Wal-Mart. The check is from a bank in South Carolina 30 minutes from my hometown, seemed legit, but the envelope was marked with NO return address and it came from freakin Canada. Odd. I still called the # to validate the check, spoke with “Barbara”, signed as the “Co-ordinator” on my letter. (I’m guessing she must stay pretty darn busy handling the entire country as a one-woman operation…but anyway.) Called my boyfriend, got his opinions… Then I called WalMart to check pricing for Money Grams. 50 bucks charge per each $700.00 sent- something like that…I figured I’d still have 100 bucks remaining even if it would cost closer to $200 to send. Win-Win situation? Apparently not after googling “Secret Research Inc. scam money gram.” What I can’t understand is why Barbara (the woman I contacted after recieving my check and “training” assignment) would tell me to cash the check? And she specifically said i can CASH IT ANYWHERE. So what kind of crazy paper trail could they invent (that would come back to me) if I actually DO cash the check? After all, they’re the scammers…
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:36 am
I got an almost identical letter from a company called Dimension Research. Same idea, cash the cheque for $2500, sent $2300 to a ficticious relative through moneygram and keep $200 for myself. Definately too good to be true and it didn’t make sense to be sending such a large amount of money to evaluate moneygram. So I took it to the RCMP and an interesting thing happened when they photocopied the cheque – the copy had VOID written all over it!!!
August 6th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Stay away from a company called Service Probe,Inc. They sent me a check for 4,992.00. I turned it over to our local police. It was also mailed out of canada and signed by Kristy Hudson. Lucky for me I checked this website.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Still no response from Recol. and I am in a loss for 1700.00
Please, do not fall into this trap as I did. I wonder if I should call my local police!
August 9th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I got a letter from this company called:
SERVICE PROBE, INC. ‘Improvement throught observation’
TEL/FAX # 1-905-599-1-7380 or 1-905-616-2463
—————————————————————————-
“ATTENTION: VERONICA XXXXXXXXXX
We are a MISTERY CUSTOMER emloyment firm that specializes in the assisting of corporations on how to gather first hand informaton about their bussiness, in order to improve the customer service offered to their clientele; we represent….”
and it goes that this the rest of the letter.
I looked on the website…and I finally find this blog!!!!!!!!!!!
I WILL SEND THE ENVELOPE AND ALL OF THE CONTAINED TO THE FBI, may be they can help us to track down this HORRIBLE PEOPLE. DON’T PUT ANY MONEY DOWN…believe me they are thieves, but the worst kind.
Veronica
August 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I received a letter from United Mystery Shoppers Inc. with an address in N.Y., N.Y. The check was for 3530.00. They wanted me to keep 400 snd transfer 2980 (the other 150 was for the transfer fee). I still have the check, but don’t plan to use it…..people are crazy! If it seems to good to be true..it probally is!
August 12th, 2008 at 12:53 am
I just received the same thing, and a money order fo $1,900.00 So what happens next ? Since this is most likely a scam, the chq is fake ? What do I do with this S-H-*-T ??
August 14th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I have received the same thing and cash it out from my bank. But lucky enough I didn’t send any money, I call them and said wait until the check is clear. Today I found out from my bank that this check is a fraud check. I go to bank and deposit back my money. I told the bank that I been scam, and I don’t know anything about this.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Andrew, you can place a complain at the police station or you can destroy it, be very carefull..it has your name on it…burn it…whatever just destroy it.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Just curious……… Has anyone tried cashing these checks and sitting on the money for like two or more weeks to see if they clear? Sounds to me like the scam is that you send them your money, then the check bounces at your bank, and your bank wants their money back…….you are out the cash!!!! If the checks are real your bank would know within 5 to 7 business days.
August 21st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Hi Bob,
Yes, many people have deposited these checks and have found out within 5 business days that they were fraudulent. There is no money to be ‘sitting on’.
The directions that come with the fraudulent check is to deposit it into the bank and transfer the funds (your savings at this point) within 2 days.
By the time you find out the check is fake, you’ve wired your very own money to some low life across the country.
There is a safe way to find out if a check is real. Deposit it and wait for it to clear before withdrawing on it. If it come back NSF – or fake, you’ve not lost your own money to anyone.
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:54 am
Make a photocopy of your cheques – bet they say void all over them like mine did.
August 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Hi all:
Just received a letter with a check in the amount of $3820. The company is called Flex Monitoring & Research Group. The address is Houston Texas, but the phone number is 514-570-8916, which is a Quebec number. It seems that these fake mystery shopper companies are multiplying. Two years ago won $250,000 in a lottery – same type of scam!!!!
August 27th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Today I recieved a Check from NATION WIDE MARKETING OUT OF
SAN ANTONIO TEXAS….BEWARE IT IS EACTLY LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE LISTED ABOVE. THE MYSTERY SHOPPER DOING THE MONEY GRAM WITH WALMARTS. THIS WAS A BIG CHECK. ITS IS GOING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT.
August 31st, 2008 at 6:55 am
Wow. These people are ubelievable. I just opened one of these letters this morning with a Check for $4998.00. Same wording. Same directions to send Western Union and Money Grams. For a great half second when I scanned the check for “This is not a Check” and similar messages (that is an automatic function) I thought wow, maybe a real one. I read the letter again…HMMM….maybe it’s real. I got to the directions for dispersal of funds…Spend $50 at Wal-Mart Okay…Spend $40 at the Gap, not my style but alright…SEND $1600 via Westen Union and $2900 via Money gram…HARD SQUEALING BREAKS IN MY HEAD. I see it very clearly. I’m presented with a check, Yay free money, but I have to act quickly, I rush out to deposit the check and the bank doesn’t immediately identify it as fraudulent and probably puts a hold on it, but my greedy little brain doesn’t want to miss the deadline so I run out and send these money orders from my own account, and now buy mechandise from two stores that I normally refuse to shop in (mechandise that I can’t afford now that I’m out Almost $4700.) Later the bank says the check showed insufficient funds, and I realize I’ve just sent a stranger in Canada money it took me 3 years to save up. OOPS!
Not only do these horrible people try to swindle you out of hard earned money, but they add insult to injury by sending you to spend money with the legal villians at Wal-Mart? How dare they!
Well to the folks currently calling themselves SHOPPERS INSTINCTS INC., Daniel Haskins Cheif Assignment Co-ordinator hope the police can track you down eventually with letters like mine turned in to them.
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:31 am
I received a letter like that in the mail today. Same thing with Money gram. I live in memphis tennesse and I responded to a newspaper ad for a customer service evaluator. They asked for my address and said they would send me an application in the mail. I got it and it contained a check for 2890.00. My mom got excited, she thought it would be a good oppurtunity. I however am a very skeptical person. i googled the company I was supposed to be “working” for. ( global research) Nothing. So i looked up the bank that the check is drawn off of. Completely legit. (sooper credit union) The name of the bank is actually what made me skeptical about the whole thing in the first place. I am so glad that I found this blog. Me and my family are going through some really hard times and I was going to get my dad to cash it for me. I am sooooooooooo glad I checked it out first. It took forever to find something on here about this particular place but, something just told me to keep looking. These PPL were out of Canada so it was weird that they would run an ad in our newspaper. Thank God for these blogs!!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:33 am
The idiots even spelled my name wrong
September 8th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
wow ross, i have that same letter. down to the penny. i would soooo have done this if i hadn t had the since to look it up first. shame on them for messin with peoples hard earned cash when time s are as bad as they are. i ve been layed off for 8 months unemployment ran out 2 kids to raise all alone. no real jobs left in this town. too many lookin for work.
September 10th, 2008 at 7:00 am
I received the EXACT letter yesterday that Ross received. I told my husband it was a scam, but he thought I should take it to the bank to see if the check is real. I wanted to do some research first, and so glad I did and found this site! Thank you all! I knew I wasn’t going to do this anyway, but I was very curious. Years ago there were legit secret shopper services, so thought hey maybe this is legit too. NOT! Too many red flags went up when I read the letter. For one, I did NOT send for the info, however I was chosen. hmmm yeah right. And then send the money gram for such a large amount, well sure. They get cash, I get an overdrawn bank account. No thanks Daniel Haskins.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Hello,
I have just recently moved out with my daughters due to a divorce and after the first week in our new place I was laid off. The amount i was receiving for unemployment was just enough to pay the rent, but nothing left over for food, gas or bills.. Just then i received this check in the mail and called them to see what it was about. Word for word as above is what i read. I had a bad feeling about it and then took it to the bank, because it was a great way to earn fash cash to buy food for my children and I. cashed the check at my bank, waited three days and the money cleared. I called set did my assignment and bought some food for dinner and gas money for the car.. Now I am ready this and I am sick to my stomach, because i can’t affoard to lose my bank account or pay 4K for this fraud…
I have to call the bank and warn them of this faud.. Now what do i do so I don’t lose my bank account or have to pay this money back??? Please help?
footjeep
Santa Clara CA.
September 17th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I just got a letter from SHOPPERS INSTINCTS INC and looked up the address on the better business bureau-they say they are not legitimate. It said they could not even be located. Total SCAM stay away from them these people really creep me out. I tore my letter to shreds
September 17th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
i put it in my account i do not know what to do
September 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I to have received these letters. I called each bank that the checks were drawn on and verified the funds. I was very suspicious though so I did not wire any of the money. I tried called the two agencies and couldn’t get anyone on the phone. The first check has been returned and I put a freeze on my bank account for the second. Should I be worried about legal trouble because I deposited a check that I was told had funds and then turned out to be bad? This is so frustrating!!!! What do I do?
September 26th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I received the same letter today, September 26, 2008 with a check for $3950.00 and same instructions as all the above victims.
Our bank, THANK GOD, takes great care of us. El Dorado Savings, Jackson, CA is a small local bank and they did an investigation and advised it is a SCAM and returned the check to us.
Is there anyone in the New York PD Fraud Department we can all mail these scam letters & checks to put them out of business? I contacted them and there was always someone answering the phone and promised to contact our bank. THEY NEVER DID.
Glad we werent too victimized and I feel bad for those who weren’t so lucky.
Deborah
Pine Grove, CA 95665
October 12th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Service Research Inc. sent me a check also for nearly $5,000. Same scenario as stated by the others, except SRI doesn’t claim to have gotten my address from any place or site in particular, and after searching, can find no website for them either!
Glad there was a site to verify my suspicions. Thanks much.
Nancy
Charleston, SC.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:16 am
I just got one of these letters and I see it as a SCAM. Do not CASH or Deposit your check, it is not real. Thanks so much for your site so we all can see what criminals they are. The company’s name is Mystery Shoppers Inc. 330 West 42nd. St. New York NY 10036. This address is The NY-NJ Port Athourity Bldg. If someone had benifeted from this PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS BLOG AND ADVISE. As far as I can tell I see this as a SCAM. Again Thank You
October 26th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Max,
I too received the same letter from the same company. I called them, and it sounded fishy, but legit. I have since deposited the check in my BoA account, but have yet to spend anything. At this moment, the check is on hold with my bank. Received a phone call yesterday and a VM asking if I had completed my assignment yet and to let them know ASAP. Rather interesting… Needless to say, this will be sent to my local authorities for them to take note on…
October 27th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
My daughter recieved this same letter in the mail today! Mystery Shoppers INC. 330 West 42nd St New York, NY 10036 with a tel: of 1-403-399-4518 and a fax: 1-519-208-4809, with a Canidian postmark. It to has an representative ID number and dated Oct. 15, 2008.
Wanting her to accept this offer & she would be requested to complete a paid trainig assignment within one week of her acceptance. OH, A HANDS ON self training that is. She would be posing a potential customer & would spend $100 at K-Mart, Home Depot, Gap, JC Penny (oops spelled wrong!), Wal-Mart, Sears or Lowes. The she would need to complete the second part of the training w/ a finicial transaction by sendina a Money Gram or Western Union to any of these training agents…Jacissa Adams, Bronx NY. Sarah Williams, Queens NY and Paul Daniels In New York NY.
Her offer expires 5th November 2008
Below is the breakdown:
1. Probation Training Pay $100 x 3 $ 300.00
2. Required fund to be transfered $ 3800.00
3. Service charges $ 180.00
4. Funds needed for shopping $ 100.00
TOTAL $ 4380.00
NOPE…they didn’t get her….
but I sure hope we can help get them
October 28th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I just rec’d the same letter as Mimi did yesterday. The check I received was $3970.00 it is drawn on Wells Fargo. I just received it today. Who should I contact?
October 28th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Hi Merrill,
I would take the letter/envelope/check to the local authorities. They need to be made aware of the scope of this scam, and the only way they will understand this, is if we let them know about it. I’m glad you didn’t fall for it!
October 31st, 2008 at 11:07 am
I recieve this E-mail from these people. My husband says it is a scam. Is there anything I can do to help put them in jail? Sent resume thru the mail and insist on postal mail contact? That makes it Mail Fraud?
confero incorporated
1152 executive circle suite
100 cary north carolina 27511
fax…….8183807136
http://www.conferoinc.com
Good day
We are a company that conduct surveys and evaluate other companies. We get hired to go to other peoples companies and act like customers in order to know how the staffs are handling their services in relation to their customers. once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do thejob(either purchase
things or require services), after which you would write a comment on the staffs activities and give a detailed record of your experience
Examples of details you would forward to us are
1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Smartness of the attendant
3)Customer service professionalism
4)Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they react to clients why they get tensed.
And we turn the information over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving there services.
Most companies employ our assistance when people give complains about their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve their customer service. your Identity would be kept confidential as the job states (secret shopper) you would be paid $200 for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance, and funds would be given to you if you have to dine as part of the duty
Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety
of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area.
No commitment is made on this job, and you would have flexible hours as it suits
you. If you are interested do send in these information:
FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:(NO P O BOX)
CITY:
STATE:
ZIP-CODE:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
MOBILE NUMBER:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service into, and your address would also be needed for your payments.
Thanks
James Clayton
October 31st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I just recieved a letter like that in the mail! It was called E-SHOPPERS VIEW INC. They sent me a money order for $2950 and told me I could keep 250 of it and send the rest to some Angie Baker chick in St johns Nfld. I called the police.. like come on.. these people are selfish and retarded to be takin other peoples money.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Received this one just right now. All I did was a quick google check and it seems like lots of people have gotten this.
Full Scope Inc.
5601 6th Ave
Seattle, WA 98108
Email: fullscopewonder@live.com
Date: Oct 13, 2008
Position: Mystery Shopper Evaluator: Rep ID# FPH04609
Here’s your chance to get paid for shopping and dinning out.Your job will be to evaluate and
comment on customer service in a wide Variety of shops, Stores, restaurant and services in
your area. Mystery shoppers are Needed Throughout United States/Canada .
You’ll be paid to shop and dine out-plus,you can also get free meals, Free merchandise,
Free services, free Entertainment, Free travel and more. Great Pay. Fun Work.
Flexible Schedules. No experience required.If you can shop-you are qualified!
If you are chosen, you will then be notified regarding the assignment, within 24 hours.
* If Interested, we request you, Please fill out our shopper profile below for immediate
consideration : fullscopewonder@live.com
* Full Name:
* Phone Number:
* State:
* Sex:
* Age:
* Occupation:
* Email:
We will be contacting a number of shoppers and will make assignments on a first response.
(Please note: I will be unable to contact everyone who responds. You will be notified via email,
only, if you are chosen).
Note: Please contact us only if you are Interested!
Thank you and we look forward to working with you!
Reid Huish
Market Viewpoint
November 10th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hey there….I was compltely fooled by this. I worked with checks in the past and this seem hihgly legit to me, we placed the check in the account after calling the place which still seemed legit. My bank informed me that it will take 5 days to pend which during TODAY one day before the pending was complete I found this site and many others and called my bank right away…..took care of it and we are so trashing the check shreding and maybe even calling them to inform of their scams. Thanks again for the conformation!!!!
Amanda in Cali
November 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
I think I found a new one. On Craigslist said flexible & fun part time job.
Here is the ad copy:
Do you like dining out,shopping and trying new places? Would you like to get paid for shopping and dining out?
If you are interested in applying for consideration as a Mystery Shopper and meet the following criteria
* Must be 24 years of age or older.
* Must have reliable transportation.
* Must have good written communication skills.
* Must be able to focus on details.
* Must have full internet access (at home or at work).
* Must be reliable, observant and detail-oriented
For inquiries on how to get started contact via e-mail The Manager Human Resource Department
* Location: Los angeles
* Compensation: $200
* This is a part-time job.
* OK for recruiters to contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
They say they are Merrill Lynch Evaluation Incorporation In their job list was one store and Money Gram. I have the emails and stuff…Where would I report them….They can not be found on the internet; I looked all over. The only contact was their gmail address, no website or phone numbers.
November 12th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hey everyone! I received the same type of letter that you all did in the mail yesterday. My gut feeling told me not to believe it but needing extra cash made me investigate. I googled the company, SHOPPERS INPUT INC., and found nothing. So, I thought that was strange so I kept searching with not luck. Then I googled the bank, which is legit. Well, then I found this blog and all my instincts were right. I woke up this morning and for some reason was really mad about the whole thing so I decided to call them. I totally busted them out about being fake and the woman ended up hanging up on them. I then found the REAL number to the bank in South Carolina and they confirmed also that it was a scam. I called the jerks back and continued to tell the woman that they were scammers. She hung up on me again ha ha. I left a message saying that I was contacting the appropriate authorites and to never send their scams to my address. I was really happy, I got that woman all nervous. I hope no one falls for these jerks again. Bottom line, do your research and we will outsmart them for good.
November 14th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I got one from North American Research Institute. Seems similar to a scam. Imagine, they send me a check and then want me to send them 3,330 back. That doesn’t make sense. The total check was for 3,890 issued by “BY George 1999 Bryan Street Suite 1900 Dallas, TX 75201-6871″ The letter was signed by Judith Anthony Manager, Human Resources. They have NARI in different places on the paper.
November 15th, 2008 at 9:28 am
I know about this because my husband WAS a Wells Fargo banker. One of his regular customers deposited one of these mystery shopper scam checks. He followed all the security steps — after all, as noted above, these are real checks on real accounts — but when the check turned out to be fraudulent, Wells Fargo fired him. This has been a real disaster for us financially, as not only has he lost his job, he probably won’t ever be able to work as a banker again.
If anybody is tempted to take a gamble on one of these scam letters, stop to THINK who else might be hurt by it!
November 15th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Has anyone got a letter with the same break down but they have requested you fax the receipts along with the evaluation form. I got the same letter today but that seems to be the only difference. If you go to the bank the check is wrote on and the money is there why not just cash the check at their bank. Never putthe check in your own account. I would make sure the check was real and never put it in my own account.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I recieved a letter today from a ‘Mystery Shoppers Inc.’ saying practially the same thing. I was asked to visit such stores as K mart, J C Penny, the Gap, and a few others. Enclosed was a check for over $3700. I really need the money and would love the job but I believe that I am being scammed. I need to know if Myster Shoppers Inc. is legit or not, could you tell me? Thank you.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Well I guess I have been included in this club. I answered an ad from Craigslist for a mystery shopper and got an email from Scott Toomey telling me I had been selected. The firt email had a tag from Evaluate Consultants and the last one was Full Scope Inc. Has anyone had any contact with them. Again it was to do a Moneygram transcation and I received 3 money order via DHL today total amount of $2130. Once I couldn’t really get in contact info off of Total Scopes website I started searchng the web. And came across this website. Has anyone heard from these companies or been stung by them? Thanks Mary
November 23rd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
My brother called me this morning excited about a secret shopper gig. Me being aware of internet scams, I immediately asked him if there was a bank name on it & if it was a national bank to take the check to their bank to try to cash it, that way if it’s fake it will come back right away. The bank name was something I’d never heard of & he was going to take it to the currency exchange once he got in touch w/the rep listed in the letter. He read the letter to me. It had all the same things as the ones in the others listed above. I asked him the address & company name. It had no toll free # & that struck me as odd as well. It was: Broadway Monitorng & Research. 5159 Decor Blvd, Montral PQ. I couldn’t find the company name or address any where online. Then I came across this site that was very helpful in sheading some light to this madness. So I just called my brother back to break the news that it was more than likely a scam. he was discouraged, but releived that it was found out before hand. it really gives a bad name to the legit mystery shopper companies out there & in this day of hard economic times, no one can afford to loose $10, let alone thousands. I almost fell victim to such scams with a lottery before, but knowing that things are sometimes too good to be true, did further reasrch to find out before it was too late. They get savier & savier, so beware. Thanks for posting this information & thanks to all others for posting their similiar experiances. Knowledge is power.
November 25th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Thanks for posting the info about this scam, these scammers go very far to make these things look legit these days and I must say i was quite surprised by this one. But one quick search by Google and my suspicions were cleared. thx for clearing the smoke
November 25th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
@ Concerned Sister, Jacob and everyone…
You’re so very welcome!
Knowledge is power… lets all share knowledge and spare our community the pain & frustration of being a victim of greed.
Jen
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
Hi I received the same letter yesterday from Shoppers,Inc. It is the same letter as the ones are posted; thank you for taking the time to help people as naive as me.
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:04 am
Hi there, Unfortunately, I looked up this company when i received a letter from this company. however i did not come across this website and cashed the cheque and sent the money gram. yes… i sure did. so then i came back online and was loking through and still never came across this site but many others so i called the money gram place and was able to cancel it before the scammers cashed in the money gram. PHEW! was i lucky! my cheque was for 6000 and some odd dollars, can you imagine being scammed for that amount I am a single mother with two children. So in my quest to catch these people and save others i asked to post my letter at the local post office. and they are not allowed to do so. I called the cops and there is nothing they can do either! How many more people is it going to take to be scammed before these people get caught?
December 5th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
beware…. horizon brand solutions are mailing a mystery shopper scam.”research4cash”
cash the cheque at your bank then send money via western union to a fake relative in manchester united kingdom. the email address is account@horizonbrandsol.com or dennis.clarkathbs@gmail.com this is to verify conclusion of your paid survey phone number onthe letter is 1-905-598-2373 fax 1-905-248-5073 this scam must be stopped
December 10th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I saw a mystery shopper add on Cregslist that was signed by a “John McDonald.” The company was called Fullscope INC. The wording was very similar to the e-mail posted above. I replied to his add and soon received two checks made out to me in the amount of 2,500. I contacted him via e-mail when I received the checks, and he gave me the following directions for one of the checks:
Spend $100 at Walmart on anything I want and evaluate the service
Use $50 for transportation
Use $100 at MoneyGram and evaluate their service
Send the $2050 via Western Union to the address he provided.
Keep the remaining $200 as compensation for your work
He was unaware that he had sent me two checks.
I deposited both checks in my bank account. 24 hours later, my account showed that these checks had posted. However, within 2 days I found out that my account had been closed. After talking with my bank, I found out that the 2 checks had been fraudualent and the company’s account was fake.
December 19th, 2008 at 7:24 am
On December 17, 2008,I recieved a very similar letter & check for $2690.00.
this was from “MASTERS- Consumer Reserch PLC”
The letter shows a Wilmington, Delaware address but the STAMP came from Canada.
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:45 am
I received 3 money orders of $730 each, from UPS. The return address was: Flex White, Mystery Shopper, Inc., 798 Lighthouse Ave., #321, Monterey, CA, 939401010. The instructions were to deposit these checks to my acconut. After the payment clears, I was to deduct $200 for myself and wire the remaining funds to my training coach via western union. The trainer’s info was as follows: Gbolade Blaize, Ottawa, Ontario, 76354. There isn’t any website or phone number, only an email address which was: fw809652@gmail.com. This sounds like a scam… ever heard about this company?
December 26th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I received a letter today from Meridien Research Group, with the same letters as described above and a check for $3,981.17.
It gives a company on the check, which I did actually find on the internet..Spectrum Properties, LTD. in Dallas, Texas. The return address does come from Canada. The companies I was supposed to check out were K Mart, Sears, Walmart, JC Penny, and stay at Best Western or Days-Inn. And a second evaluation would be using a system called Western Union/Money Gram or any other specified Finacial Institution. There was one word that was misused in a legal section, which added to my suspicions about this being a fraud. So, I guess the way it works, is you cash the check, send money via a money gram to a person, they get the money, and then their check bounces in your account, and you have actually sent your own money to them. Thanks for your blog, it added to the other warnings of this scam. I’m also going to give this to the police department in my town.
January 5th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Hi, I reponded to an ad on Craigslist in Portland and received virtually the same thing from Scott Toomey from Full Scope, Inc. I thought the wording of the email sounded a bit to “scammish” so did a search on Better Business Bureau…they state this company is out of business. I also googled and found this information. I hope it saves someone else the pain of going through a scam.
January 13th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Back in November 2008 I got the same letter and everything only my check was for $2950.00 and I was too keep $250.00 get a money gram for $2600.00 and then had $100.00 for the service fees at money gram and I was too send it too ” Sue Richards” in Quebec City…that’s all it said, so stupid me, I went to CIBC too get it cashed, but first I had the bank manager look at it, and even she said it was real, so I cashed it but when I went to send the money to “Sue Richards” money gram couldn’t do it, they said it was because of no full address, so I called the number 1-204-951-2799 ( I had called it twice before I went to cash the “official check” ) and every time I keep getting the same thing ” the person you are calling is not available, so I sent ALL $2950.00 back to the address on top of the letter ( 190 Rupert Ave, Winnipeg MB R3B 0N2 ) and never heard anything back…until a week and a half later when CIBC called me and told me that it was a fake check and that I had to pay back the full amount even tho they found out it was a scam, so now I’am out, well you might as well say $3000. I should of known by what was wrote on the bottom of the letter ” Remember this shopping so have fun!! ” and it was signed by Patty Malloy ( Assignment CO- Co-ordinator )
January 29th, 2009 at 8:09 am
i recieved a genuine HSBC cheque today, just in a brown envelope, no instructions or anything for 900pounds, the cheque wasnt from a company but from Mr J Vasvari, tried to research him ,but got nothing. Dont want to risk cashing it, rather lose out on 900 then get scammed
January 29th, 2009 at 8:10 am
however, my cheque was from a london branch, which doesn’t match other comments on this page from america
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I was just sent a check for $720 from SCOTT TOOMEY from Full Scope Inc.
5601 6th Ave Seattle, WA 98108 telling me to I was selected for a MYSTERY SHOPPER and I was to deposit it in my account and take $200 for my fee and send the rest to some guy in NC. I came to this website and I am going to report it and rip up the checks.
Thanks everyone for posting,
February 6th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Hi. I recieved the same type of letter from a company called the ZENITH MONITORING AND RESEARCH GROUP. I was just about to do everything it told me. THANK GOD I saw this blog!!! Thank you Thank you Thank you! I called the company before I deposited the check and he made it sound so legit! I had this little birdie in the back of my head saying to research everything first. I found you you guys just in time! Its just crazy. Thanks again!!!
February 6th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
You’re very welcome Reagen, and others who have gained knowledge and protection through reading this post.
February 8th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
My daughter was so happy to recieve the same type of letter from a company called the ZENITH MONITORING AND RESEARCH GROUP. I told her you would not jump into the pool with out making sure there is water in the pool first. So research found your site. Thanks for letting us know whats going on here. The check looked so real. even comes from a real company and real bank. Oh well. glad we did not get scamed. Sad were not getting rich shopping. lol
February 10th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Received same letter from Zenith Monitoring Research Group The check is wriiten on Holiday Inn Express KHAMPP Hospitality LLC this web site does exist But the Zenith Monitoring has no web page Also the letter was sent from Canada Dah!! So the scam is still going on Thanks to you for having this web page to confirm my instinct that something was wrong It was to good to be true
February 10th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Hey,
I replied to an ad on kijiji.ca and I was a bit skeptical. I received a cheque from Silex Innovations for $6000. I was told to transfer $2500 to two seperate places in the UK and then keep $600 salary, $100 for gas allowance, $200 transfer fees, $100 spend at Walmart.
I have actual talked to this Jon Baron a couple of times on the phone. He calls me a few times of days and says I can’t call him back because he’s calling from a pay phone.
Thank you so much for this blog. It saved me $6000.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I never would have imagined when posting this story how many people this blog post would help!
Thank you everyone for sharing your story, to help warn other would-be-victims of the scam they are being lured into.
February 13th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
WOW!! I was all excited over this check.. thinking I could take 100 bucks and spend it on whatever I wanted!! Needless to say.. it isn’t true. I wanted to check out their site before doing anything and I came along this site, grateful I did too! I found another site which says to contact your local authorites, with whom I just got off the phone with and he laughed and said I bet they want some of the money back but thought it was weird they wanted most of the money back. Sooo he is having someone who can handle that siutation call me back with what I need to do with it.. So after almost a year with these people doing this..they still aren’t caught? I hope someone gets caught.. really does make a bummer out of things. Thank you for the stories.. really helped me out.. would be a waste of time cashing a check that really doesn’t exist!!
February 13th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
More to what I just typed in a few minutes ago. I just got a call back from a police officer. He is making a report of it, but he had told me that elderly people around here have been getting the same letters and that they cashed them and after they cashed them and did what they paper said a few weeks later money was dissappearing out of their accounts. He said for me to just shread the papers but glad I contacted him because they have contacted the FBI as well to catch the people doing this.. hope they do.
February 18th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
You know the old saying, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. I recieved a packet from Mystery Shoppers Inc, in an envelope from Canada and a check for $3850 and a breakdown of how I was to spend the money which included transferring money via Moneygram to someone in Canada. I thought I would open a new account at the bank and deposit the check but after reading all of your experiences, I think I will take it to the police station instead. The business name on the check though is odd. It’s Wayne Farms LLC. They appear to be a legitimate poultry business. I wonder if they should be notified….?
I’m in Oregon. Looks like they are just working their way across the whole US.
February 19th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I’m in Massachusetts and applied for a part time customer service job on Craigslist. I received an email from Reid Huish on behalf of MysteryShoppers Inc., offering me a mystery shopper job. The fact that he was contacting me from an organization called “retailtrack consulting” but had an untraceable email address with google instead of the company he worked for was the tip off.
I googled his name and like all of you, came across this site. I think you should definitely contact that police and have them contact the poultry business. Since this is fraud that is crossing state lines, I think you could even contact the FBI, although I don’t know how high it would be on their priority list.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:08 am
I almost fell for this because I’m dead broke right now, but I’m so glad I found this site! My correspondence with the supposed “Full Scope Mystery Shopping” company has been completely through e-mail with someone whose fake name is Daniel Soto. I was pretty suspicious from the start, because I didn’t understand why someone who was supposedly a higher-up in the company couldn’t spell for crap and had no sense of grammar either, not to mention he had a gmail account.
More than anything else, I’m curious as to HOW THE F they do this. It might be completely obvious, but it really isn’t to me. I got a money order in the mail, and aren’t money orders supposed to be the most legit of all cash transactions? The only way a person can get a money order is by having the cash up front in the first place, which they give to the teller who makes the money order, so SOMEBODY had to have the cash. The money orders I have don’t look fake… I just don’t get it. What an elaborate hoax.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:10 am
I’ve responded to an add on craigslist about mystery shopping for ZENITH CONSULT but it’s also a scam!!! They’ve sent me 2 post officie money orders, the total being U$1800. They looked real. When I’ve told them that I had gotten the money orders, they would be calling me all the time, pressuring to complete my task and send them their money thru money gram. When I’ve ask the guy (who had a african accent) why have they sent me such a big amount of money just to evalute money gram, he hung up the phone on me. The next thing he sent me an e-mail treathning to report me to FBI because I was holding his money and wasn’t doing my part of the agreement. I responded the e-mail saying that I thought he was a scammer and told him to give me a phone number that I could reach him and his company website. He told me he was in London so nobody would answer his number here in the U.S. and he was garanteeing that the company was legit. So I went to the post officie with the money orders and they’ve told me they were fake!!!!! They’ve told me that it’s a high quality fake and that they have gotten many of those. I hope I can help someone with this.
April 18th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
It’s very sad to see so many stories of people who have been conned.
This is a very common scam used by fraudsters who mostly operate out of Nigeria Africa, hence the reason that letters are in broken english, and the people who answer the phones cannot speak fluently either.
Unfortunately, if you have sent them money, it’s gone and the chances of it ever being recovered are almost nil. The people the money has been sent to in the US and Canada, are also victims being used by the scammer to receive funds and send them on to Nigeria.
NO legitimate secret shopper organization will EVER ask you to cash a check at your own bank and send them the money.
If it seems to good to be true, it always is.
Educate yourselves, and congrats to those that did just that and saved themselves from this con!
TheEYE
FraudWatchCanada.Org
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
was just wanting to let people know if receive a letter from patrol staffing it is suppose to be mystery shopping then they want u to send a money gram with a check from HSBC bank it is a scam dont fall for it the addy they send from is 35 west 64th st ny ny 10462 and they have been changing the addys but not the phone numbers so if ur letter has a 1-403-667-5180 or 1-347-3940038 dont fall for it
May 11th, 2009 at 10:51 am
I received one from “Basic Seal” at 257 Grand Ave., Rochester, NY 14609. The phone for the woman I was to call to “activate” the $3470 check is Cindy Fuller – same number as joey from May 2nd 2009 at 12:52pm. 403-667-5180. This is the 3rd one of these that I have received. I am unemployed and could use the money and wish there were some way to get these guys financially as they have gotten others who don’t check this out and want to believe that it is true.
Anyway, the signature on my letter is from Joanna Levi and it is basically the same – I am to Western Union $2900, take $300 for my “first week pay”, pay Western Union $150 for their fees and go shopping at one of the stores of my choice as a secret shopper for $120. The check is from “Vision Bank” in Ada, OK, payable through Huntington National bank, Columbus OH. The letter is addressed from NY but has a Canadian post mark. Lots of inconsistencies. Too bad.
May 12th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
i recieved a message from ENDEAVOUR INC. and i dont know what to think since no one has said anything about it this specific company. i unfortunatlry deposited the check but i since i read the blogs on this site i have decided to call my bank and put a hold on the transaction since i dont know what to think anymore until my bank can confirm the where abouts of this company.
May 17th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
thank eveyone who left a comment about these scams. I recieved a letter in the mail Friday the 14th of may a check was enclosed for the amount of 3,845.00 I was so excited that I deposited the check into my account and was waiting to start my first assignment. On sunday something told me that this might be a scam so I went online to see if i could find anything on the company that sent me the letter. the name of the company was EXPRESS PREMIUM FINANCE CO.,L.L.C. out of AUSTIN TX. I didnt find the company but thank God I found this site. Icalled the bank and had them put a hold on that check so that i wouldnt be charged with fraud and i would still have my savings we need to stop these people some way and get the word out to everyone that if you recieve a letter like this that it is a scam!!!!!! thank you thank you thank you thank you.
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:42 am
Hello. I am the owner/operator of Full Scope Mystery Shopping
website urlin Fort Lauderdale, FL. I am sorry if any of you have been scammed by imposters using my company name. I only found out about this recently, and have since posted a warning on the home page of my site. These scams were featured on national news recently. This has quite possibly seriously damaged the reputation of my company, which has been in business for over 12 years. There are many other legitimate companies out there whose company names have been used in this scam. Fraud Watch Canada is correct: NO legitimate secret shopper organization will EVER ask you to cash a check at your own bank and send them the money.May 22nd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Hello everyone. I have read all of your posts, I have received a scam letter today that hasn’t been mentioned. In the top left hand corner of the letter reads, “ELITE RETAIL SOLUTIONS” Tel: 1-905-462-5277 Fax: 1- (800) 622-8403. It is located in Hamilton, Ontario 627 Barton Street East L8L 3A1. It gives me my employee id number and the position mystery shopper and said “Research4cash” was conducting an experiment. With the letter was a cheque for $1, 900.00. I am suppose to go to my bank to cash the cheque. Then I am suppose to go to Western Union to send $1650.00 to some guy named Sean Irving (same last name as my own) (.. & $100 is for the Western Union service charge & $150 for myself). I am then suppose to fill out a survey, which was also enclosed with the cheque & letter. As I continued reading I figured out how they got my mailing address. I replied to a job ad on Kijiji.com for a customer service rep. The company replied back to my e-mail address, asking me to hit reply to the e-mail so they knew I was still looking for work and they would then call me to set up an interview. I thought that was strange already, but figured there was no harm in replying. The e-mail address on the letter was the same e-mail address I replied to for the job. I began trying to find out some information on the internet. I found one company with the same name, however the conact information was completely different. Since there was no information about this company ANYWHERE I knew it was a scam. Then I came across this website.. I had no idea how many different kinds of scams like this there our there & how many people have been affected. I will be contacting the police with the information I have && I am thinking about putting the cheque in my bank, but putting a hold on it until is clears, or bounces in this situation.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
We got the letter from:
EXPRESS PREMIUM FINANCE CO.,L.L.C. out of AUSTIN TX.
Total scam. Thanks for the blog post!
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
Looks ilke some people are using legit shopper sites too. My husband responded to a posting on Craig’s List for Mystery Shoppers Inc., and after getting a similar e-mail (and stumbling upon this blog) called them. The woman from the company said that they do not post on Craig’s List, and the Craig’s List posting was a scam.
So heads up, looks like people are putting names of legit companies on non-legit e-mails/postings as well as just making them up.
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:59 am
hello there!
Wanted to give a heads up on a recent Craigslist posting “STAR SHOPPERS NEEDED” scam going on and urge people not to participate. If, like me, you are struggling to find a job during this harsh time, and chance upon this craigslist posting, disregard it entirely for your own protection!!!
http://denver.craigslist.org/csr/1216249220.html
PostingID: 1216249220
(Bear in mind, “Denver” in the URL. This is easily substituted for any city, Denver just happens to be where im from, hence its use here)
the company the mystery shoppers email supposedly comes from
http://www.mysteryshopinc.com/
is in fact a legitimate company. I called their contact number and spoke directly to an employee who assured me they NEVER post on cragslist and to immediately flag the posting as a scam, which i did as a courtesy to other people who got their hopes up on this much as i did, and who may succumb in the future. It is truly unfortunate that these scams are out there and that the terrible people responsible will continue to modify their scams to make them more believable. It is important to stay diligent, always.
Again, thank you VERY much for this thread. It has saved myself and many others a LOT of unnecessary trouble, and provided a place in which to post updates and keep people aware of whats going on with these “companies”.
Cheers everyone! Keep this thread alive and well
June 29th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Thank you soo much for all your bravery and info! I too received the same letter and when I asked him for more company info and maybe a website I could look at, Reid Huish replied that their website was down and that their company trusted me and blah blah blah. Thank goodness for websites like this, that warns people of the scammers that are out there!
Thanks again
Tara
July 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Hello All
Thanks for all the information. I am told that i have been sent a cheque for $ 3700 and i need to transfer $ 3200 after mystery shopping and expenses.
Although i havent done anything i would need to know from you folks how to best deal with this so that i could catch them hands down?
Any suggestions?
July 1st, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Hi Kish,
If I were you, I’d head on down to your local authorities. Bring your letter etc with you, tell them about this scam, and let them follow through… they may be able to trace the phone call and catch them red-handed. Best of luck!
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Hi everyone!
Just after I had signed up to “Mystery Shopper Inc” I found this site. After reading everyones posts I decided to find out for myself what this was all about and wanted to see if they were going to send me a cheque for a great amount of money. Well I had an email saying that they will be sending me a so called “package” in the mail and once I receive it to email them back immediately so that they could give me instructions on what to do next. Well I received it and inside it contained 2 Canada Post money orders for $999.99. On the back it stated the security features that are on the money order and I tried both of them and none of them worked. So I emailed Mystery Shopper Inc. as follows ” Hi there, ok I have received the package with the money orders, but I know that they are not real based on the security features that are on the cheque. What would you like me to do with them? Sincerely, anonymous. Ha Ha I wonder what they are going to respond, If they even do respond
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Oh and related to the posting above, I have also tried the number on the back of the money order to verify the money order and the authentication FAILED. Wow what a scam! who are these people!
July 25th, 2009 at 9:37 am
My wife just received a letter from BRAND CONCEPTS INC including a check from Sovereign Bank for $2500.00 with instructions to send it to “Judy” in Leeds, London. This letter had all the same types of info explained in the previous notes. String of logo’s at the bottom, Employee ID# at the top and the instructions to send it through Western Union. This company did have a website up and running at brandconceptinc.com and an address of 1405 Upper Ottowa, St Hamilton, ON, L8W 3J6 and phone numbers 905-598-4875 and 800-863-0042.
I would like to report this to the authorities, but do not know which one to report it to. Any suggestions?
August 4th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Justin, I too received the same mail from brand concepts inc, I thought it was a scam myself and so did my wife. I then called the bank listed on the nice $2500.00 check and they advised me to shred the check it’s not legit. They investigated this account and advised me that were several checks of $2500.00 going out on this account. I then called the number listed on the mail and spoke with the famous Jerry Duncan and he didn’t think he was gonna be called on this and as soon as I told him this check he sent me was invalid that I called his bank he hung up on me. COWARD! I tried calling back and I got a message in french. If you get something from BRAND CONCEPTS INC trash it immediately and contact the bank listed on the check. Thanks for the information on the other companies I’ll sure watch out for the rest. Will not be duped again.
August 5th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Chuck and Justin, just wanted to add to this list. EXACT same scenario and EXACT same details, right down to Mr. “Jerry Duncan”. Folks beware of this SCAM.
August 30th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I recived 2 money orders in the amt of $1000 and I cashed them. And did what the email instructed me to do. I’m now afraid. Cause if they wwere fake I will need to pay that money back to my bank. I started researching it after and now I find this. I don’t know what to do now.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Hi all,
I just recieved an email asking me to become a Secret Shopper, i filled out the application the recieved an email back, see below:
Dear Shopper,
You have been Accepted as our Mystery shopper/Survey Agent.You will be evaluating a Western union outlet and grocery stores in your neighborhood. You will need to locate the Nearest Western union store as soon as you get this email today. Email us the STORE NAME AND STORE ADDRESS in your next email. That is where you will carry out your first assignment and Evaluation report.
There has been reports about lapses in the services of western union Management and some of their staffs,the complaints were based on reports which their customers forwarded anonymously and Phone calls which were also made to the head office.The Western union location was reported for evaluation, Negligence for the following reasons:
(I) Customers have reported their money missing
(II) Slow services
(III) Unbalanced transfer charges The 2nd company was reported to be rendering Poor services
(IV) Rudeness to customers
(V) Exccess charge
(VI) Late opening time and Closing before time.Your Secret Evaluation would be:
1) To make a transfer of funds from this western union location to our Mystery shopper, and the funds would be picked up by another mystery shopper at the exact location Which a customer reported their funds missing.
2) You would have to record the time at which you go to the location and how many minutes it took them to attend to you.
3) You would be sent a Money order of $2000. As soon as you receive the money order, you would cash it at your bank, and deduct $200 as your evaluation commission, and use the rest of the money for the services.
Please remember that you are to act Cool, Calm and Confident through out the period in which you will be carrying out the survey, in order not to alert the western union attendant. We will furnish you with transfer details which you will send Funds to via Western union after you cash the money orders in your bank. Also you are to write an evaluation report and send back to us via Email using the following pointers:
1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet
3) Smartness of the attendant
4) Customer service professionalism
5) Reaction of personnel under pressure
6) Information that you think would be helpful
7) Your comments and impressions.
You would also provide me with the name of the cashier that attended to you.Please, confirm to me that you did received this message so that the Money order can be sent out to you ASAP.Thanks for your anticipated co-operation in order to start work soon.
I was just about to reply with all the information that they requested but thought i would look more into it. I found this blog, THANK YOU so much for making everyone aware.
Im all the way in Australia so it does show how big these SCAMS actually are.
Jacqui
Thank you.
Warmest Regards,
Michael Williams.
Hiring Manager
Secret Shopper®
MYSTERY SHOPPER INC
September 5th, 2009 at 1:49 am
thanks for the blog – just got the same email. I am based in the Southwest of England.
September 19th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Hey everyone, I’m soooo sorry to those who has fallen victims to this scam, a couple of months ago I filled out an application as a Customer Service Rep on careerbuilder.com, next thing I know I recieve a Email stating that I got the secret shopper job and my first assignment is to go to my local Money gram and cash a $1900 check minus my commission and transfer fee , I was to wire the remaining balance back well this was an automatic red flag to me for a couple of reasons 1. I never applied as a secret shopper 2. When I went back on careerbuilder and tried to look up the company Bi-Global Inc it was expired and the companys email kept coming up not valid, 3. I recieved the email 4:30 am and finally my husband tried typing the supposed address into our gps system it could not be found… The day I was to recieve the check my so call trainer who sounded jamacan called me 11 pm to confirm if I’ve gotten the package my hubby tried calling the number back but it wouldn’t go through, this really pissed off me and my hubby we was very aware that this was a scam because who would send such a large amount of money to someone all the way in Miami? So I got online did a search I got nothing on the company, so I reported them to bbb and FTC, my hubby sent the phony Bi-Global a email regarding secret shopper scams and in the headline he wrote you’ve f**** with the wrong wife, I haven’t heard from them since… I was angry and shocked that careerbuilder could put me through this, isn’t it their job to invistigate the jobs that they post? I put my resume on their for a job not to get screwed, so I politely sent careerbuilder a angry email… I’m sooo scared to apply to anymore jobs on their, I did a scam search and I found out they even do this on Monster, Snagajob… How are people suppose to protect themselves when they have no idea this is going on? I was lucky and smart, I know never to cash anything and transfer money to anyone that I don’t know, but for some it’s tooooooo late and they’re stuck flipping the bill….
September 19th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
There’s also a new scam going around I want everyone to be aware of, if you’ve applied online for a payday loan be aware that there is scammers that can obtain your information including your SSS# .. last month my hubby got a call from a guy name Chris saying that my hubby owed their client $100 plus intrest because they deposited money into his account and my hubby cancelled the transaction, my hubby was angry he tried to get more info fro
this Chris but he kept getting the run around I ask my husband do you owe anyone money and he of course said No! I said baby they are a fraud, my husband called Chris and he ask how does my hubby plan on paying? Or would he rather go to court? My husband said I’ll see you in court this got Chris angry he started screaming profanities at my husband I told my husband a legit collection agency wouldn’t show sooo much unprofessionalism and they most def wouldn’t hang up on you, well Chris says my hubby will be recieving a subpeona for court the next day in California which made no sense, well I’ve been harassing this company ever since just to give them a tast of their own medicine, I went online and typed in who is calling me and come to find out they have run this scam on people that has fill out a application for payday loans which is how they got his SSS# and the last four digits of his account # my hubby called the bank put them on threeway and called Chris even our bank said this is a fraud..these people will sound foreign and they call from diff # the one I was blessed with is 310-598-1768… I feel people need to be aware because on the who is this number there were alot of victims that actually paid these @ss, I for one hope and pray that they pick me they will wish they never met me or my husband…
October 6th, 2009 at 12:01 am
I too receiced a seimilar letter I was scammed the checked they sent was bogus, Ia’am out of aprox.$3,000. not to mention I lost my car behind this so when the bank is paid up a class action law suit is forth comming, Mystery Shoppers Inc. and Meridien Research Inc. aka the one who sent me the letter, is going to pay. and the eyes are watching.
October 17th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Here is how this works you cash the check at your bank and you think it has cleared (wrong). When you cash a check at your bank you are getting a short term loan on the amount of the check. When it comes on back the bank wants you to pay them for any money that you have gotten from the check plus a service fee for the returned check. This is nothing but a newer version of the payment collections scam. If you are signed up for this and you are still not sure if it is a scam it is real simple to check it out and all it will cost you a little time the check. The check will come either UPS or Federal Express run the tracking number and see were it was sent from now look at te check and the address of the account holder if the city and state do not match there is a 99% probability it is a phony check. Also look at the name on the check and the city and state of the bank if it not at least in te same state Phony! I know I have gotten a lot of these checks and never had a good one yet! Also you can just call the company listed on the check do not go by any phone number printed on the check look it up you self. Call the issuing bank 90% of them will be happy to confirm if the check is real or not. Once in a while you will get one that wants to play stupid! Just tell them all you need to know is it a good account and is the account flag for fraud. If you get no were with the person who answers ask to Speak with the Manager or their supervisor. If yopu are lucky and tey have a brach in your city take the check to the closes branch They will tell you if it is good or not! Bring everything associated with the check with you!
November 14th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I received a cashiers check from Global Trend Inc for $2,500 recently and I am very grateful for this blog. It was sent from Ontario, Canada. It looked very legit. Global Trend Inc has a very professional web site. I was to send the money thru Western Union to a supposed relative in Leeds, London. They said that I could cash the check thru my bank or a check cashing place. It is under the Research4cash program. The check was supposedly by Travelers Express. The check was drawn on Huntington Bank in Columbus, OH. They got my address through a website job application. I hope this helps someone.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:31 am
I got the same letter as Bill from Nov. 14th 2009… except I’m all the way in arkansas… and the previous comments and related article are all old as hell… seems the same scammer took a break and is now back at it.
December 26th, 2009 at 5:55 am
A new twist- I haven’t applied or even heard anything about this until Xmas day. A postal lady came to my door saying a pkg I sent was returned. I explained I hadn’t mailed anything, but being afraid it was a mistake & been sent to me, I signed for it. It was a scam letter & $3910 ck. I’M LISTED AS THE SENDER! The check is in the intended victims name so I couldn’t cash it anyway, but if she had, it would appear I am invoved! How many did they send out & how did I get involved in this? I will contact the PO & FBI after the holidays, I’m furious at having my identity stolen!
December 29th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
MY wife got one addressed to her a day ago. What tipped us off were a couple things:
- Mail from Canada enclosing a check for a Florida Bank
- No street address on the check for the bank in Florida
- This blog, which said this scam centers around walmart and moneygram (ours was western union, walmart, and mcdonalds)
- The letterhead looked like it had been run through the copier a few hundred times
- When we called the enclosed number, it went to a no-name voicemail
The name of the company is Eagle Brand, Inc. who claim to offer mystery shopper services. The wording of the letter is almost exactly the same as the other letters reported, and we have not recently applied to be mystery shoppers.
Recipients beware!!! Scam written all over this one.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Interesting enough, my mom just received a similar letter. $3938.96 was the amount. I work for one of the large local banks and gave me the check and letter attached and asked me to research it for her. Of course the first website I come to is this one. Thank God for this and other websites. I know I will sleep well tonight knowing my mother did not cash this check risking her savings to these crooks! I have seen similar letters and I know immediately if it is a scam…but the elderly cant always tell..its good some of them have people to turn to….these crooks ought to be shame, shame, shame….they will get theirs in the end….
February 9th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Hello!!
Wow!! Am I ever thankful that I found this site!! I just opened a letter from “Sunlife Resource Group” stating that they had found my resume online, and that I fit their profile. They also said that they are running a research program called “Research4cash”, it’s research program designed by Sunlife to seek real people opinions about various products or services. Anyways, there was a $2500 cheque… and I was of course, supposed to deposit it into my account and go from there. It looked so sketchy, and I googled immediately! When I found this site, I knew that my instincts were right. Thank you for confirming that this is indeed a horrible scam!!
February 13th, 2010 at 9:53 am
I was very skeptical in Nov ’08 about the same Secret Shopper” letter and enclosed check with my name on it , for $2500.00 i was told to my local check cashing office or western union and pose as a mystery shopper ……….this is the 2nd scam ive not gotten suckered for(thank god i have good instincts) i still have an $80,000.00 check from 4 yrs ago as well ..they look nice in a frame……which is the closest they will ever got to anyone to be scammed.
Like you ‘ve always heard …if its too good to be true .it usually is
February 16th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
I applied to an advertisement in our local paper”Warren Advocate New South Wales Australia” for a mystery shopper and after numerous email received 6 $500 travellers cheques which i was to cash and then take $300 as my wage and deposit the rest at western union. Meanwhile taking a mental note on the service and security at the business. I too found this too good to be true..i will be contacting the local police about this…im angry
March 5th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
I applied for a Customer Service Position on CareerBuilders.com with a company called TNT Express (which it appears is an actual company) but today’s mail brought a Letter from Canada stating the company’s name is TNT Express Research. The head office is listed as 165 KIng St W. Toronto, ON M5H1J9. The letter references a company called “Research4cash”. I decided to look online and came to this website. It’s scary how real this looks and I am sure others will receive this and cash the check. I am taking to my bank tomorrow after a stop at the Police Station. So many people are searching for work, its a shame low down creeps are trying to scam them. Thanks for the help….. NOT GOING TO BE A VICTIM!!!
March 23rd, 2010 at 8:12 am
Thanks for the heads-up! Just received a cheque for $2500 from TNT Express Research, based in Toronto, Canada. Same scam, cash cheque and go to a Western Union, send $2175.00 to June OBrien (same as my last name) in Leeds, London UK, and keep $200.00.
PT Barnam & Bailey is alive and well.
Thanks Again
March 26th, 2010 at 7:34 am
I received the same type of letter and $2500.00 check yesterday . Same wording looks legit ,but, come on who is going to send out a check to someone they don’ know . Silly I’m a recent grad…and not very experience in the world..but come on guys..this is common sense
April 1st, 2010 at 7:35 am
I received the same letter from TNT Express…I live in peterborough on…I knew it was a scam reported it to the paper where this company placed the add…but todate have not heard anything about them investigating it..
April 6th, 2010 at 8:10 am
April 6, 2010
Hello All,
Company: A CLOSER LOOK, INC.
460 S. PEACHTREE STREET
NORCROSS, GA 30071
This SUCKS!!!! With the recession and being out of work I don’t see how these Scammers sleep at night. I got an envelope with a Canada stamp and a check from CHASE bank for $2,850.00 to mystery shop. The company is A CLOSER LOOK, INC.; 460 S. PEACHTREE STREET, NORCROSS, GA 30071. The lady’s name is Ashley Coleman. My girlfriend who lives in Atlanta says they have a real building and everything. I got the check in the mail yesterday advising me to carry out tasks in 48 hours. Spend $40 in Wal-mart, Western Union $2439.00 and keep $200.00 for me. I have been scammed before and convicted and I have a Forgery Felony so please take heed. I took the check to my bank here in South Carolina and they ran it and the system only required a one day hold. I called Ashley Coleman back and advised her that the money cleared. They almost got me again until she said this…..
“Western Union the money to her with her First Name and MY last name to London England”. I just went straight back to the bank and gave them their money back and told them I thing a scammer was trying to get me again. I live in a small town so the girls at the bank knew me. They are holding the check to help me and the local authorities catch these people. Please Friend, if it sounds too good to be true………”IT IS!!!!!!!!!!”
April 6th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
I have not recieved this scamming letter. It is disturbing to hear that there are ‘mystery shopping’ companies out there scamming people. I have experience with EvaluateIt, and have never had any problems with them. I participated in their Via Rail campaign, where I was reimbursed for half of my ticket from Windsor, Ontario to Toronto, Ontario.
Mystery shopping can be a great way to get somet higns you need, or go out on the town for a night. I’ve have many good axperiences with a company called SQM (www.sqm.ca). They do mystery shopping for companies in Canada and the USA. If you’re interested in having a good mystery shopper experience, I sudgest you check them out!
April 7th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I got a letter in the mail today from a company calling themselves TNT EXPRESS 165 KING ST W, TORONTO, ON,M5H1J9.
The letter was referencing being a mystery shooper going to Western union after cashing a check in the amount of $2500.00 and wiring money to someone in Leeds, London United Kingdom (UK). The funds were to be dispersed as follows:
1. Participation Wage………………………………………………..$ 200.00
2. Test Transaction Funds…………………………………………..$ 200.00
3. Western Union Service Charge Fee……………………………$ 100.00
4. Total Funds Sent…………………………………………………..$2500.00
I am sorry to say but the bank could not verify funds nor the draft nor the check number. The phoner number on the website given which was http://www.tntexpressresearch.com was for a cell phne which was not yet designated to a phone and the number the paper answers only 1 time and then never again. Am sorry folks but don’t get suckered in by these people by depositing this in your bank account. you deposit it and you get screwed. Don’t let these scammers get you.
April 28th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
I tried Paid Surveys as a way to make money online but it seems that Adsense and Infolinks is still better. “
May 10th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I got something similar and i took it to my bank. they looked at it and were able to tell me that by cashing it i was giving them access to my account. i did not cash it!!
May 19th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
I hate the phishing emails these people appear to get more desperate by the day I recieve 2 or 3 every day and submit them to phishtrackers a site I found which lets you submit them anonymously.
May 23rd, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Don’t just trash the checks – file an online complaint with the USPS (united States postal service) and the Attorney Generals Office – they are after these people! I’ve gotten a couple of them already (I’m baiting them and the idiots are sending me freakin counterfeit checks with Western union and Money Gram instructions! Idiots! File the complaints, it only takes a couple of minutes and they face “federal mail fraud charges” – minimun of 9 years in the slammer!
May 29th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
WHAT HAPPENS TO ME IF I HAVE ALLREADY CASHED A MONEY ORDER
June 1st, 2010 at 3:48 pm
got a letter that should not of been mailed, with the wrong state on it. Check had the same mistake, dumbass crooks. Letter was mailed from Canada. Girlfriend thought we had some money & I knew it was to good too be true.
August 30th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
People should always be leery of these kinds of “offers”.
Mark´s last [type] ..Car Insurance Estimates
October 7th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
hi i received an email from http://www.aboutshopper.com for an assignment to make a WESTERN UNION money transfer to US .The cheque dispatched to me was of 1950 dollars.I was asked to keep 250 from it.bbut now i read about this scam.The company didnt ask me to pay any fees to join them.I need help now coz i am scared wat if it was a scam.what should i do ???.
October 31st, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Hi Cass;
Pls tell the replies ~ for everyones sake ~ not to throw the cheques out but rather turn them into your local police headquarters ~ along with all paperwork you received in the mail and potential (if available) the ad in which you responded. A couple years back I had a very similar experience with a $2500 payment ~ thank goodness I am known at the bank and my teller asked me where the cheque came from and I told him due to the close relationship I have with my bank. He (the teller) asked if he could just check on a couple things for me and speak with his manager which of course I was more than happy for him to go ahead (after all they’re trained for these types of incidents). Sure enough as it’s been said a hundred times over here in your blog alone “sounds to good to be true ~ probably is” and it was the cheque came back as a fraud after the teller spoke with his manager etc and then they both spoke with me and they were going to make some calls ~ I did leave the bank to run some errands and while I was gone I received their call informing me of their findings ~ It was the manager of the bank who suggested I take all the paperwork I had to police headquarters and the bank manager gave me her business card so that if the investigating officer had questions she could fill him/her in.
Throwing them away does nothing and some naive individual ends up getting the cash (then owing it back) and lining these fraudsters pockets ~ so pls encourage everyone to turn them in ~ it’s the only way they can be tracked, charged and this whole scam brought down so no one suffers huge finacial burdens from potentially making it through the whole process.
thanks
Michele
November 30th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I received a letter from a place called DOUBLE-EDGE MONITORING & RESEARCH GROUP a division of DSET corporation located in Norcross, GA in the mail on 11/23/2010 prior to thanksgiving along with a check for $3,994.00 offering me a part-time job opportunity as a customer service evaluator
The letter went on to say that I was selected to participate in a paid research program in my area as a mystery shopper. The first evaluation of my assignment would take place in businesses like Wal-Mart, K-mart, Home Depot, Sears etc… and that the purpose of it was to identify and compare popular products and prices.
The breakdown of the check was listed on the letter as follows:
Probationary training………………………………………..$450.00
Funds for shopping…………………………………………..$100.00
Service charge by western union/moneygram…$290.00
Required funds to be sent………………………………….$3,154.00
Total…………………………………………………………….$3,994.00
When I called the assignment co-ordinators name listed on the letter as Monica Williams at 1-514-570-2831 for confirmation, activation and authorization of this check, she said to go ahead and deposit it at my local bank.
The letter sounded at first like performing this job would be something I would be interested in, so I went ahead and deposited the check. Later on in the evening that day, I had an uncomfortable feeling that this could involve stealing, so I started Googling the reputation of this so called company on the internet and saw many complaints about them being part of a scam operation! I immediately contacted my bank and placed a stop on the check. The bank assured me that nothing bad would happen to my checking account at this point. Thank goodness for people complaining about companies like this on the internet. I will be turning the letter I received in the mail from these horrible people over to my local police department for investigation.
December 14th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Your post will help people avoid those mystery shopping scams that are out there and taint the actual industry. Thanks for sharing!
Kat @ Jobs as a Mystery Shopper´s last [type] ..Find Out How To Become A Mystery Shopper
December 18th, 2010 at 10:56 am
I applied for a position of mystery shopper in the Fort Worth star telegrama few weeks ago. Yesterday 12/18/10 I received a check in the mail from a Micheal Hodge at hodge.michael@hotmail.com saying that I they had a assignment for me this week. To survey a money gram and send balance to them. Thanks to this site I am heading straight to the bank along with the emails that I received from them. Thank You
March 1st, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Thank you for posting this scam on the internet. I received a similar letter with a $2000 check attached. The return address is in Burlington ON L7L 7H7, website is fake, phone # is “Cellular ON,” and fax # is from Flowery Branch, GA. I contacted HSBC bank; and, the fraud department is having me fax all information to them for an investigation. We’ll see where it goes from there.
A word of warning to job seekers. This ‘company’ must have obtained my name and address from one of my online resumes or job inquiries, since the letter idicates “As an active job seeker your personal information and resume was gathered in from a recent job posting.”
As a job seeker, this is not the first time I have been targeted by scam artists who are quick to cash in on my job search efforts. But, it is the first time they have used the USA mail system in their efforts.
March 25th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
I Got One Of Those Letters Today, Who Can I Turn It Over To, We Need To Put A Halt On These Bums, I am Already In Desperete Need Of Money Then This Comes, Wow, From A Company PROBE INC. Check Amount 3995.00, 495.00 For Me, 100.00 For A Mystery Shop At Home Depot, Or Walmart, Then A Money Gram To Send The Rest Of The Money, This Check Looks So So Real, Lets Take This A Holes Down!!!!!!
April 29th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
I have also received a very nice sum of money via a cheque, with all the water marks and codes attached, I however got my bank to verify this cheque. To my surprise this cheque actually came back confirmed; in doing this I called the number to inform them I have deposited the cheque into my account, but played it to them that it had not cleared and it hadn’t cleared, just verified. In the email i received after the phone call, is what gave me the “knot in my stomach” I was to wire transfer a fairly good portion back to them, once i visited one of the stores below evaluating of course they’re money gram or “wire transfer” customer service department. I quickly called my back and asked “if it has been verified but not cleared what can actually happen? According to my back just because they have verified the cheque to be true and funds to be sufficient, it does not mean at the other end that they can not withdraw the funds at the other end , which in turn once you withdraw at your end the funds have also been withdrawn at the other end, allowing you to assume it is legitimate. But a few days later the cheque actually will bounce even though it has been verified. So please wait till the actual cheque has cleared even though there is no hold on your account or even if the hold has been taked off. Call your bank and ask if the cheque itself has cleared before touching the funds.
This blog is an excellent way to worn other individual. I hope my situation and cautiousness helps those. Be weary. Do nothing until the cheque is cleared!!!! no mater what the harrassment you may receive from the so call mystery shoppers.
May 13th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
wow.so i totally just recieved a ck in the mail today from PROBE RESEARCH INC, a subsidiary of THE RAYMOND CORPORATION……a check for $3,998.00 to be a customer service evaluator, and to shop at wal mart, kmart,j.c.penny or and best buy.i too thought wow this s really cool how do i join?? i tried to contact an “assignmeant coordinator” and said the number restricted calls…or had a call block,not sure…..but i thought hey…too good to really be true,right….so i looked and there are alot of research groups under the name Probe Research inc, and i guess maybe some are legit….but how can u tell if these are a scam or not? I would love to know how to decipher them…or are they all scams?? thanks for blogging about this cus i so almost tried to continue….
May 13th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
side note…….there was also a part in the letter for evaluating western union or money gram….and to send them an amount of $3,158.wow ppl…..soo glad i researched this first…
July 23rd, 2011 at 8:08 am
Hello, I recieved a letter from Advanced SbS Inc. Do you know anything on this place? I’m not sure if it is a scam or not but my family told me to do research on them first.
September 12th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
hello there! i haven’t receive the same email but also a confirmation as a mystery shopper. It’s a simple message from them and it doesn’t sounds too good to be true. I am also aware of scams.. they crowded in my mailbox. and i also receive a daily newsletter from scambustter. I searched all over the internet and read everyday about scam. but i did not see anything that wil convince me that it is a scam. because i am also get tired dealing with scam. that’s why i ask them. it takes more than 2 weeks before i got my first assignment. and that is to go all locations of the western union to evaluate their kind of services. at first i cannot believe it. they send me money via western union for the amount of $1600. then i get the %10 as my salary and also the charges in western union. then send it back to their given information the remaining funds to another mystery shopper. We talk in YM.. we chat there. they are also good in speaking English. all my repeated questions was answered correctly. But i want to be wise. i really wanted to make sure if i am dealing with good person. is their any way that this is also a scam?
September 13th, 2011 at 7:41 am
Yes, it is very possible that this is also a scam. Not only is it possible, it is very likely – be very careful.
October 17th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Hi, So they are back at it again. Got an e-mail asking to choose 2 Wal-Mart locations as well as a Western Union location. I then got an e-mail saying I was accepted for the shop and that a cheque would be coming for me with instructions. I then got an e-mail today …this is the exact words used…
Thanks for getting back to me as we have received your details. This is to inform you as we have another program for you which you will benefit more. You will be working on a part time basis therefore you will take inventory of incoming funds and also be in charge of disbursing funds for our suppliers. A business license will be mailed or attached to you which you would open a business account with your bank for the job purpose. Once it is done we will instruct our client to direct payments to you which you will deposit in the account.
Basically you will make report on inventory’s and keep records of the account proceeds. You will be entitle to 10% of all funds that comes to you which is tax deduct able.
I will keep you informed as soon as it is ready and let me know as soon as you get this email.
I knew it was not right so I googled the company and came across your blog. I will wait till I receive everything and take it to the police.
Thanks for keeping everyone informed
October 17th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
I’m glad I was able to help out Jodi!
January 6th, 2012 at 6:47 am
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