Mystery Shopping Tips

Last week I was inundated with reports that someone was perpetrating a check-cashing scam under the guise of MysteryShopOnline.com. Several of my subscribers reported losing thousands of dollars, and many more reported that they had been contacted by the scammer in some way.

I reported the situation to the FBI.  Apparently check-fraud is a severe problem, costing as much as $8 billion dollars a year.

Here’s what you can do:  If you lost money, or if you were contacted by someone attempting to scam you please send a report to the IC3, which is a divison of the FBI.  Do that here:  http://www.ic3.gov.

Also, please DO call your local FBI agency.  And if you have lost money, please file a report with your local police department.

Remember, never cash a large check as part of a mystery shopping assignment.  If you ever have any doubt about whether or not a check is legitimate, call the bank issuing the check and ask.  Also, if you do deposit a large check, wait until you can verify with your bank that the funds have been secured before you touch the money.

That’s about all it takes to avoid this scam.

If you are concerned about protecting your social security number, then get an EIN from the IRS.  You can do this very quickly over the internet.   Its a relatively simple way to protect your identity.

Let me know if you have any more questions.   I am here to help.

It’s been more than a month since I’ve posted here, and I thought I’d give you an update.

I spent the better part of December, and the first week of January traveling in Vietnam & Thailand. Upon getting back, I got a cold, and have been recovering from it.

Vietnam was a wonderful country. I was initially ambivalent about traveling there, because of the recent painful history between our two countries. My girlfriend’s father lost a limb in Vietnam, and my mother lost many good friends. But, upon arrival I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth of the Vietnamese people.

For the most part, they have put the pain of the war behind them, and are optimistic, entrepreneurial, and almost always ready to share a smile or a laugh.

I had a wonderful time in Vietnam. Perhaps the favorite thing that I brought back from there was two pounds of what I believe to be the best coffee in the world. It was purchased from a beautiful garden cafe in an alley off an alley, in the coastal city of Phan Theit.

Thailand was such a contrast to Vietnam. The city of Bangkok is a very wealthy city, with a whole strata of social classes, from rich to very poor. But the highlight of that city is in the street food. At night, restaurants appear on the sidewalks, seemingly out of nowhere. Complete with tableclothes and candlelight.  These sidewalk eateries serve some of the best food in the city.

A delicious meal for the equivalent of about $1 is something remarkable indeed.

Now that I am back home in Seattle I am planning several new projects to help out mystery shoppers.

The first of which is an audio CD that will get you started with mystery shopping, and then give you some of my best secrets earning a very nice income.

It’s good to be back.