The mystery shopper scam draws in people with the promise of earning extra money
, something that will appeal to even more people with the increased unemployment due to the recession. The heartbreaking part of this scam is that it often is targeted to people that cannot afford to lose any money.
What is the mystery shopper scam and how does it work?
First of all you receive a letter or e-mail from a respectable sounding company which claims to have been contracted by major companies to help improve its customer service. To sucker you in they will usually send you an advanced payment of a couple of hundred pounds via cheque. If you decide to go ahead with this so called legitimate scheme they will then tell you to cash the cheque and start work on the first assignment. This first task is to test a money transfer agency. You will be required to transfer money to another international country such as the US; normally of 1,000-2,000 which they say will be returned to you.
Those that are suckered into the scam will never see the sent money again and the cheque will bounce which may well leave you with fees from the bank too. This scam is a variant of the Nigerian money scam and auction site scams of "I've sent you too much money, can you send me the difference".
There are several points that should raise alarm bells when looking at the above scam. First of all did you apply for this work? If not be very cautious and investigate first. The amount they are willing to pay is very high, why are they offering this much and why have they sent an advanced cheque? It's done to tempt you into the scheme. The reason a cheque is the payment method is it takes four days to clear giving the scammers' time to get you to send the money and it doesn't matter that it attracts those not willing to work for it because it will simply bounce.
You can assess potential scams by carefully assessing the information, if things such as the above occur then alarm bells should ring. Take care before entering into any financial agreement and if you have a business educate yourself and your employees about the risks when conducting business over the internet. Learn about the latest scams and fraud schemes by attending one of the next