Hey everyone! I'm new to all of this, never done it before. About 3 weeks ago i signed up with a mystery shopping co, filled out app etc. It said i would receive a confirmation email. Never happened. Today I received a large priority mail envelope. Inside was a letter from a Jason Brown with the website of www.shoppremier.org. But the clincher was a legitimate looking cashier's check for $1,987.52 from Arvest Bank in Lowell, Ar. The remitter is Paul Wood. Has my full name including middle initial.
Instructions are to deposit check then in 24 hours withdraw cash, keep $200 for my commission, spend $15 at Walmart then purchase 4 Greendot Money Paks for $425 each then text the pin #s to the telephone # given and email a photo of them to him.
First, I'm not completely stupid lol. But what gets me is the authenticity look of the check. Complete with watermarks, 11 security features etc. How does that person know someone wouldn't cash (if legit) the check and keep it. Then, I had been reading through some of the posts on here and Corporate Research International's logo is on it.
I googled the name and landed here. I also went to the shop premier website it gave.....doesn't exist.
Can someone please tell me about all of this. It is impossible for anyone to get money out of my account because I am broke lol. My ex ruined my credit already plus I have also been a victim of identity theft. So it's not possible for anybody to scam me out of anything lol
Thanks and sorry this post is so long :-/

This is a classic scam. No matter how authentic it may look, once you deposit it, the check is going to bounce and your bank will be looking for you in a few days to a week.

YOU are the one taking money out of your account. Less than you think you put in, except that the check is going to bounce. Call the police and the postal inspector!

Corporate Research became Stericycle which became Expert Solutions. Call them if you don't believe me: 317-601-6586 [audit.stericycleexpertsolutions.com]

Look at this website: [www.fakechecks.org]

It almost seems like you are wanting to cash the check and keep it?

Thanks so much myst4au! I suppose my biggest surprise is that people would pay that much for the priority mail plus all the trouble of putting all of it together. I'm not gullible at all. Would never have cashed it etc. I simply needed to know if anyone else had heard of something like this.
This whole thing is totally new to me. No experience whatsoever. Actually a nurse by profession but can no longer work as one due to 2 severe neck surgeries. So, need to make money asap lol.
Thanks again

Run the other way NOW!! Put the scam check through a shredder!

Not at all Bbird0701! Like I said, I have already been a victim of identity theft. To the tune of $43,000. Have alerts on my credit report etc. I just needed to know about CRI because the things I had read on here were conflicting.
Are the jobs/companies listed on this site all legit? I have got to find a legitimate way to make some $$. Take care of my dad 24/7, three children and just found out the bladder cancer that was in remission in me is back. So public work is out of the question. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks and God Bless

Lol bestofbothworlds. Don't worry! Gonna take it to the police tomorrow ;-)

You've got a tough row to hoe, ipraz. Getting scammed is not going to help your situation however. Sign up with as many MSC's as you can and also start watching Jobslinger for shopping opportunities. Good luck. Hugs and prayers for you and your family!

Where was it sent from? If within the US you can take it to police. If outside the US, don't bother. You can always take it to the postal inspector, but if it's one of the thousands originating from Lagos, it's a waste of time for all.

If it DID originate in the US, it could be an interesting twist on the advance fee fraud aka: Nigerian Scam aka: 419 scam, if it actually originated from Nigeria and they roped an American into re-mailing it from US through some sort of envelope-stuffing scam. File that one under "things that make you go hmmm".

Thanks everyone! I am in the US and if the local police doesn't want to do anything, I am good friends with the local prosecuting attorney.
And thank you all for the prayers!

It is not even good enough to use as toilet paper. They do catch some unsuspecting people just by the sheer volume of the scams they run. Such a shame - but if it is too good to be true.....

Try signing up with companies that have telephone shops. There are several. While some of the assignments are a bit unusual, none of them is impossible. You can do them at home. The pay will add up. I tend to call areas of the country where my dialect would not be commented on. When it is, I just say that "my husband is from here and we decided to move to be near his parents who are sick". You can get phone numbers just for one use. I also had a pay-by-the-minutes phone so I didn't have to answer any return calls but I knew why I was getting a call. On my regular phone, I changed the name to a business name because one person knew how to look up my name as the owner of the phone the second time I called that company.

Had a friend who got a scam like this last year but they sent it from Canada.

The best way not to be a victim of scam in this business is to not sign up with a company until you have checked them out and know they are legit. It is great that you caught this scam...but now this fake company has some info about you. If they represented themselves as CRI, a real company, then make sure their web address is the same as that of CRI before you fill out any forms. Best yet is to go directly to CRI, or whatever company you think is offering the jobs, and sign up there. You can easily search info on most legit companies at this website.
You will find conflicting info even about legit companies. Read thru what people are saying recently. Sometimes things change at a company and get better or worse than they were. Even good companies can go bad. Sometimes people have bad things to say due to one bad incident they encountered but if everyone else has good things to say it is probably okay. Your job is to read enough to make your own decision about how a company fits your personal style.

Not only that, but these scammers prey on the desperate - who are the most vulnerable. That is the worst travesty about it all....

Happened to me about 8 weeks ago. Exact same thing. I took the whole package and money order to the Postal Service.

Scammers can monitor the sites you visit from your browser searches and can get about you in that manner as well.

Pooch5210 Wrote:
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> Scammers can monitor the sites you visit from your
> browser searches and can get about you in that
> manner as well.


But, how would they know what my browser searches contain?