This is a serious warning: Do NOT mystery shop for “Apex Consultants America Inc.” They will steal your money, and you will never get it back. If you get a large check in the mail from them, know that it is a scam! DO NOT deposit it. Instead, report it to the authorities.
Mystery shopping is real, however, it is plagued by scammer such as “Apex Consultants.” However, once you know what the scams are, they are easy to avoid. First and foremost, never wire any money, never deposit large checks. That’s all you need to know to be safe. Mystery shopping NEVER pays very well, and it usually pays $6-$30 per assignment. Anything more should put you on guard.
I have written about Apex Consult Co before, however, they seem to be rearing their head again, now as Apex Consults America. All you need to know: Stay away, and you’re fine. There’s plenty of real mystery shopping opportunities out there.
Just received a cashier check for $2,835 from Apex Consumer Protection Agency to mystery shop. Cashier check written by IU Credit Union payable through The Bank of NY Mellon, Everett, MA. I am to cash check, wire $2295 with $140 fee through Western Union in person to make notes of how WU personnel handled the transaction, spend $100 at any one of the several department stores and keep product/s and report back on the transaction of the store. Keep $300 for mystery shopping. Really strange, Mellon is legitimate bank and this is cashier check to be cashed which means, my bank would either cash the check for me and at that time I would certainly know if it were legitimate. Can someone please explain what they may be up to. Too good to be true. Not planning on cashing, just curious why someone would send that size of a check to just anyone through the mail.
Pam – The way these scams usually work is that you receive what appears to be a legitimate check, are asked to cash it, and then you are supposed to immediately/quickly use some non-refundable service like Western Union to wire the proceeds to “Acme”. The check may look real, but most likely it isn’t. If it is, then it is not truly a cashier’s check and it will be drawn on an account that will have a zero balance or be closed by the time it clears your bank and the originating back.
By the time your bank is notified that the check is NSF (Insufficient Funds), you will have supposedly withdrawn the funds from the account you deposited the check into, and wired the money to Acme. At the end of the day, you will owe your bank the face value of the check plus any NSF processing fee, and Acme will have the money you wired to them.
Most likely “Acme” deposited a large amount of money into Mellon, sent out these kinds of checks to many different people, and then closed the account (if it is truly a Mellon check and not a clever forgery).
Your best bet is to wait for a chilly evening and use the check for kindling.
— Steve
I recently received a United States Postal Money Order in the amount of $988. I received a letter from a company named Bestmark to do a secret shopper job at Walmart and go to Western Union to wire $700 of the $988, is this a scam? The money order looks extremely authentic so instead of taking to a bank can it be cashed at the post office? How would that scam work?
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