Other places to look up scams:
www.scambusters,
www.hoaxbusters.com
www.snopes.com
Better Business Bureau
www.complaints.com Or post one here.

I haven't received the check ur talking about, although I did just win 5hundred k from Yahoo..... Btu the reason I butted in on this conversation is to ask if any one hs worked with or heard about a company called Retail Report Card?

Thank you all so much for all of this informative information. I too signed up with Service Intelligence and I think I remember giving my ssn. But now thanks to you guys I will most definitly be on the lookout for all that was told above. Once again I thank you, and this is really scary. It makes you leary of signing on with anyone.

I also received a large check and the information for the shop to be done. I knew it was funny. I called and spoke to the girl at Gateway. She explained the details. I then called the company that the check was written on in Tenn. It was a valid check, but they had me to call them back in ten minutes. I did so, then they said the check was bogus. I think they were definitely connected to each other. I have received another one last month. The post mark is Canada, the check from the US, and the one for lottery well, the lottery was in 2002 and in England. So be wise and careful. I do work for Trendsource from Texas, but NOT Shoppers Trendsource. I would like to say I'm glad this forum was set up because I'm learning new everyday. Thanks Jacob!!

Service Intelligence is also called the Experience Exchange, and they are sister company to Global Compliance. They are one of the best companies I work for, they limit newcomers to 10 shops a month but I do about 15 to 20 shops a month for them. Service Intelligence is the name of their client arm, while Experience Exchange is their shoppers, but they seem to flip flop often. They don't treat their shoppers like pieces of meat, and pay decently. Any fraudulent experiences you might have had with "them", was not "them". They are a Canadian based company.

Trendsource used to be called Mystery Shoppers Inc, and so they didn't have to change their mail system, they kept the MSI for some things. Another impeccably good company; get to know their schedulers and you will never be without jobs. They have a system worked out where you can actually do the supermarket shops and make a decent wage, but it is hidden; the shops pay $14 for twenty minutes doing what you have to do anyway. (I notice CRI has been copying what they do, but I think that their client is a local company). The wage is split between reimbursement and pay, so you can miss it. And I don't think you pay taxes on reimbursements, which are essentially expenses.

Marketforce is the brand new name of three companies that have always been owned by the same parent, and if I could remember which ones, I would tell you. I believe SG Marketing and SNC (Shop and Check) and one other. It is not in full use yet, but some of my emails are starting to show up with the name. Check onto either of the two sites I've named, and they will explain it to you.

Google away; you can find negative experiences on every company that exists. My rule; if it sounds too good, it is. But I am doing one $250 shop this month, and another that is paying by the hour and likely will be twice that. I have paid my dues; my favorite teeth cutting shops..... banks. But you have to write in an articulate manner. I hate doing cell phones and beds (lol); but if they are your cup of tea, they take less writing skills than financial shops. Then the companies take notice.

Remember one thing from what I write, and it will guide you well. Do one shop for a new company. Drive far, do something you don't really like, just to show them what you can do. That is how you find out if they are for real, and how you get your foot in the door for the great shops.

This is a web business, and with it we accept risks. What price are you willing to pay to do half your work in your PJ's. If you won't give the company your SSN, they cannot comply with government regulations and get their tax breaks. So don't give it to them; but don't expect to get anywhere as a shopper. At $600, a company has to report you to the IRS, and when they have $50 to $250 jobs, if you don't have a SSN, they won't give you the time of day. There are plenty of shoppers willing to take the risk.

But do keep an eye on your credit. That is common sense.

Does anyone know the return path on these scams?

?

I recently recieved a check in the mail from a JAG Marketing Group based out of Canada and the situation was that i cash the check and then wire them the remaining amount after doing a shop, I tried contacting the number but only got the voicemail which was full, so i was wondering if anyone had heard of them and whether or not this was a scam, thank you

SCAM

Judy3 I reported mine to the local police dept. and I know there is a federal dept. but I forgot which one. Jenny

Posted this earlier, but it might help again with current check/survey scams:


Thought this might help if you, or someone you know, has received these, or any other,types of "fraudulent" checks:

To learn more about the Federal Trade Commission's information on cashiers check scams, visit the FTC Alert on the topic). [www.ftc.gov]


If you think you’ve been targeted by a counterfeit check scam, report it to the following agencies:


The Federal Trade Commission: Visit [www.ftc.gov] or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).


The U.S. Postal Inspection Service: Visit [www.usps.com] or call your local post office. The number is in the Blue Pages of your local telephone directory.



Your state or local consumer protection agencies: Visit [www.naag.org] for a list of state Attorneys General, or check the Blue Pages of your local telephone directory for appropriate phone numbers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2008 07:39PM by nwazshopper.

bump

FYI:

Just because a bank or YOUR bank says the check is "real" doesn't mean its real. Sometimes the account/routing numbers are real and match the company name/address/logo on the check. The company the check really came to might turn around and say they didn't authorize the check.

Like others have said:
1. If it involves cashing a check/wiring money where you keep a "fee" for your time, it's a SCAM.

2. Do not cash a check from someone you do not know. Do not cash a check for/from something/someone you weren't expecting.

Great advice in a nutshell Amanda!

I have never signed up for any mystery shopping and received a check. It is from Pacific Trust Research Group, a division of mysteryshoponline.com. They want me to spend $100. at Wal-Mart then wire money to two different people in Canada using the money gram system. Ha Ha.
The check is from Citibank with "Sabre Holdings" as the company. I went to Sabre Holdings web site and they have a link for check scam on their site. Apparently these people have written a bunch of these checks using Sabre Holdings.
I would have never wired any money until the check cleared but knew this people were not right but I thought it was a money laundering scheme. I contacted the authorities for my place of business. Maybe the IRS can put a stop to them. After all, it is tax evasion and we did put away Al Capone!
Good luck ya'll and thank you for the info on where else to report this!

I posted this in another thread on the same subject.

My parents received a check for close to $5000 last year. I told them it was a fake. They didn't believe me (or didn't want to). It was written on Citibank. I convinced my dad to take it to the Citibank branch down the street and have them verify the account, etc.. It took 2 days for Citibank to research it and find out it was a fake, check written on a fake account. 2 DAYS! Unvelievable that a bank can't even figure out that a check not only isn't legit, but is written on a fake account. Thankfully, they had told my dad not to deposit it until he heard back from them. They asked him to bring the check and envelope and any other materials that came with it, back to the bank. They reported it to the authorities. Thankfully, I was home at the time and not on the road. My parents would have deposited it and had their checking account wiped out.

Yes, People you all need to watch out for SHOPPERS CHOICE INC, They are also a scam company that will send you a check and tell you that it s real and they also have a connection with the bank some how, because when I received the check I call them and spoke with a lady by the name of jennifer that kept calling me, but I told her that I had to wait for the check to clear and when it took so long I called the bank in carson city, nv and a clerk there verified that the check was good, but after I did the shopping the money was refunded back out of my account so be careful cause someone at that bank lied for this company and it put me $1511,00 in the hole. I need help,can anyone tell me who I can report my situation to.

Local law enforcement is probably the best place to start. Collect any materials and correspondence you got from these folks and turn it over to them. You will more than likely never see your money back because these scams are rarely solved and even if they were prosecuted and the courts awarded you restitution the likelihood you would ever receive it is slim.

Also watch out for Cash Crate. This is a survey company that many people actually speak highly of on the violition site. This is NOT the case. I joined it since many others gave it good reviews in the past, claiming that they do pay. However, while completing one of their surveys, it asked me for my phone number so they can contact me for future survey opportunities. BUT, on the bottom of the screen in very small print it stated that by providing your phone number, you would be agreeing to a $9.99 additional monthly charge on your phone bill to receive text message advertisements from their sponser. Of course, the only way cash crate would credit you the lousy 50 cents for completing the survey, one would HAVE to supply their cell phone number. Besides that, what scares me is ANYONE, could easily put in anyone's phone number in that spot and cause them to be locked in on an additional $9.99 agreement! That's very scary. I would think phone companies would be secure enough these days that they would ONLY make changes to your plan IF you specifically ask THEM to via THEIR website or by calling their customer service and verifying your personal information with them only. I guess this is no longer the case, according to this most recent scam I came across.

This forum rocks....I had asked about GfK on another post then checked my list of places I have applied to...yes didn't have enough coffee should have done it the other way around...lol..I have now added sneakers tips to my list......"Trendsource = MSI, MarketForce=Shop n chek, GfK=Cybershop." It's confusing but i am trying to stay organized and you guys do help alot. Thanks!

Dee
cedar city ut.

There's even better name stuff: there's "Secret Shopper" and "The Secret Shopper." Two DIFFERENT perfectly legit companies.

I received an assignment from mysteryshoppingonline.com, DR. TOWERS RESEARCH CENTER. Their home office is in Alberta Canada. Has anyone heard of them? The check that was sent to me was from a chiropractic and infury rehab center in irving texas drawn on WAMU bank. I was planning on calling the bank for verification of the check, etc. They also requested that I make two wire transfers in this first assignment back to their company. Does anyone have any clues?

Don't do it. Plain and simple, it is a scam. For the scam to work, the account has to be well funded and legitimate. You can call WAMU and they will not divulge any information about the account except that there ARE funds to cover. But once the check goes through to them either the bank or the real owner of the account will find the check to be a forgery. Chances are that this process will take more than the 10 day hold placed on the check by your bank. But when the check is found to be faked, WAMU will take their money back from your bank and your bank will take the money back from you. If you have already wired it away, you are left holding the bag and likely some bounced check fees etc. to boot.

Another name has come up as well. I just received this weekend a letter and check from Business Research Inc. with a check to perform wire transfers and then token money to a couple of retailers. I checked the website for the South Dakota Secretary of State where the letter head says the Corp. is from and there is no such corp. registered with them. I then called the bank from which the cashier's check is issued, Ossian bank in Indiana and they are aware of the problem. The envelope that everything came in has a stamp from Canada and no return address and is hand written. All red flags. My next stop is to my local authorities and my postmaster. Wanted to let you all know, it is still going on and to beware.

I can't repeat the advise enough....."IF ITS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT USUALLY IS" please please stop and use common sense I hate to see anyone get taken.
dee

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2008 03:48PM by msplantladi.

Anyone ever use MSI Services, Inc? I signed up with them, but just want to make sure they are legitimate before they get all my information. I did some Googling, and it seems there a few different companies using this name, so I just want to see if anybody has experience with them...
[www.msishopper.net]

Yes, woofboy, that address for MSI is the right one and they are legit.

You can read about them more by searching for Trendsource.

And the trick to finding legitimate companies is to use a known list such as the one here at [www.mysteryshopforum.com] or the one at Volition.com at [www.volition.com] or the one at the MSPA at [www.mysteryshop.org]

While there are companies on all these lists that different shoppers will not work with because of fees or issues with management, at least you know that the companies are real.

Some time ago I received a letter requesting my help with mystery shop. It used the name of a company I'd done shops for in the past so didn't think too much was amiss until the letter went on to describe the shop which (duh) involved cashing a check that would arrive at Kmart and send the money by wire to an address. Funny thing is, I'd just come from Kmart and knew that they DO NOt wire transfer money at all anymore. If that wasn't insulting enough the address and contact number was not right. I won't apply to any mystry shops that I can't call toll free or fax or find online. Also I was already aware of that type of scam. I had so many scam emails that I used to keep a file and periodically forwrd it to the FBI.

There is no easy fix to catch these scammers. The FTC is of little help. There is really only one way to catch these people, and it involves legislation regulating the way Western Union and Money Gram does business.
When you wire money to these "scammers" they can get the money from ANY Western Union/Money gram location.
If we could get legislation to make it so if you wire money to a specific location only that one location could release the funds. This would make it easy for the authorities to set up a "sting" but more importantly it would make the scammers a little more leary about going to a specific location.
When these scammer do receive monies they are using fake ID's, so you really don't know who they are, but again, limiting where the monies could be received would make it easier for law enforcement to get a handle on this.
Before any legislation can be introduced we would need to 1). Get a list of those who actually cashed a check and suffered a loss 2). How much the loss was and 3). How many actually received a check but did not cash it.
It is an uphill battle, but a battle that can be won.
NWLPC is exploring what it would actually take to start the process and we are exploring to see if anything is currently being introduced.