A very serious and costly scam is currently targeting mystery shoppers right now. I have been contacted by several of my subscribers, who have been victimized by it. Unfortunately, some of my subscribers have informed me that someone is impersonating MysteryShopOnline.com in perpetrating the scam.
This is very serious: If anyone claiming to represent a mystery shopping company sends you a large check, DO NOT CASH IT. Even if the bank says it is OK. Even if they claim to represent a company you have worked with. Even if they claim to represent MysteryShopOnline.com. They are lying and out to steal your money. DO NOT CASH THE CHECK. Instead, contact the police, the Federal Trade Commission. Your state’s attorney general may also be a good person to contact.
When protecting yourself from scams in the mystery shopping world, there are two rules of thumb that I follow:
- Never cash a large check from any mystery shopping company, especially as part of an assignment.
- I never give my Social Security Number to any company until AFTER I have completed an assignment with them, and gotten paid for it.
There are plenty of legitimate mystery shopping companies out there, and if you’re a little careful it is relatively easy to avoid scams.
If anyone claiming to represent MysteryShopOnline.com has contacted you about completing a mystery shopping assignment, please send me an email or leave a comment. I would like to get to the bottom of this, and stop the person who is damaging my business. Thank you.