I received this email a few months back and replied to it but no response then a few weeks ago I got it again. I replied and got a response this time. I'm not sure if it is a scam or legit. Has anyone done this project or gotten this email? Not sure who the client is (I assumed the cable company so I removed that but it may be Slingbox?). Let me know and I'll remove the name if that is the case.
"We are looking for shoppers in the [city] CA area who have [name of cable company] with an HD enabled cable box and high speed internet. We are not looking for shoppers with any other cable provider at this time.
ComScore will provide you with a Slingbox and the cables needed to connect it to your TV. The Slingbox uses a wireless connection to connect to your Wi-Fi.
The Slingbox allows comScore to connect to your TV’s cable menu, and control it, over the Internet. When we need access to your TV to monitor programing the channel will change to On Demand and you will see comScore access your On Demand menus. While we are monitoring you will not be able to watch your TV. For this reason, we prefer a household with more than one TV. We typically check Tuesday and Friday mornings, but also occasionally need to log in at other times.
You would set up a Slingbox account and provide comScore with the login username and password, and give us permission to access your TV.
After setting the Slingbox up, very little is typically required of the shopper unless we need you to help us troubleshoot connectivity issues.
This is an ongoing project that will last at least 3 months, but could be long-term. We’ve had other shoppers helping us with this project for several years.
The monthly compensation is $50.00 reimbursement for your cable and $25.00 payment for your time and efforts. We pay by check or ACH payment the following month.
If you qualify and are interested please respond to this e-mail with your first and last name, zip code and a number at which to reach you. No phone calls, please.
Due to the volume of responses if you don’t hear back from a scheduler the shop has already been assigned elsewhere.
If you no longer wish to receive e-mails regarding our mystery shops, please respond to this e-mail and include your name and e-mail address. It will take 24 hours for the deactivation to take place."
After I replied, I was told they would send me the details in a few weeks. So today I got the instructions today.
"We will need a screenshot of your internet speed before sending out the Slingbox. Please go to [www.speedtest.net] to obtain your internet speed and take a screenshot and send it in reply to this email.
ComScore (formerly Rentrak) is a media measurement company, and movie studios hire us to mystery shop their product. This specific project uses a set-top-box called a Slingbox, which we provide, to connect to your TV over the internet so we can check your cable menus to verify the studios’ content is available and accurately posted.
The Slingbox allows us to connect to your TV, and control it, over the Internet.
You will set up a Slingbox account and provide comScore with the login username and password, and give us permission to access your TV anytime.
We typically only do our monitoring on weekdays and between 6am-4pm PST.
We occasionally have to check for titles on weekends or holidays, but this is rare, and we will provide advance notice letting you know to expect this activity.
When we are monitoring your cable menu, if you are watching TV, you will see the channel change and access your On Demand menus and you will not be able to access your TV.
We try to put the TV back on the channel we found it and leave it off or on, depending how we found it.
Please let everyone else in your household know that comScore will be monitoring your TV, and to please not fight us over the channel as we need to be able to complete our work.
The compensation for hosting a Slingbox is $50 reimbursement toward your monthly cable bill plus $25 for your time and effort for a total of $75 month. Checks or ACH are the options for payment. You will need to scan and email your cable bill in each month as documentation for payment. Before the first payment is issued you will need to fill out and send back a W9 form.
After setting the Slingbox up, very little is typically required of you unless we need you to help us troubleshoot connectivity issues.
This is an ongoing project that will last at least 3 months, but could be long-term. We’ve had other shoppers helping us with this project for several years.
Does this sound like a project you would be interested in doing?
If YES, I will email you a Hosting Agreement (pdf). It’s a formality, which states that you agree to let us access your TV menus via the comScore-supplied Slingbox. After you’ve had a chance to read through the agreement, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If not, please sign it and scan and email it back to me. Once we receive your signed Hosting Agreement, we will send out the Slingbox for you to set up."
Thank you for reading this long post and any suggestions or insights are appreciated.
"We are looking for shoppers in the [city] CA area who have [name of cable company] with an HD enabled cable box and high speed internet. We are not looking for shoppers with any other cable provider at this time.
ComScore will provide you with a Slingbox and the cables needed to connect it to your TV. The Slingbox uses a wireless connection to connect to your Wi-Fi.
The Slingbox allows comScore to connect to your TV’s cable menu, and control it, over the Internet. When we need access to your TV to monitor programing the channel will change to On Demand and you will see comScore access your On Demand menus. While we are monitoring you will not be able to watch your TV. For this reason, we prefer a household with more than one TV. We typically check Tuesday and Friday mornings, but also occasionally need to log in at other times.
You would set up a Slingbox account and provide comScore with the login username and password, and give us permission to access your TV.
After setting the Slingbox up, very little is typically required of the shopper unless we need you to help us troubleshoot connectivity issues.
This is an ongoing project that will last at least 3 months, but could be long-term. We’ve had other shoppers helping us with this project for several years.
The monthly compensation is $50.00 reimbursement for your cable and $25.00 payment for your time and efforts. We pay by check or ACH payment the following month.
If you qualify and are interested please respond to this e-mail with your first and last name, zip code and a number at which to reach you. No phone calls, please.
Due to the volume of responses if you don’t hear back from a scheduler the shop has already been assigned elsewhere.
If you no longer wish to receive e-mails regarding our mystery shops, please respond to this e-mail and include your name and e-mail address. It will take 24 hours for the deactivation to take place."
After I replied, I was told they would send me the details in a few weeks. So today I got the instructions today.
"We will need a screenshot of your internet speed before sending out the Slingbox. Please go to [www.speedtest.net] to obtain your internet speed and take a screenshot and send it in reply to this email.
ComScore (formerly Rentrak) is a media measurement company, and movie studios hire us to mystery shop their product. This specific project uses a set-top-box called a Slingbox, which we provide, to connect to your TV over the internet so we can check your cable menus to verify the studios’ content is available and accurately posted.
The Slingbox allows us to connect to your TV, and control it, over the Internet.
You will set up a Slingbox account and provide comScore with the login username and password, and give us permission to access your TV anytime.
We typically only do our monitoring on weekdays and between 6am-4pm PST.
We occasionally have to check for titles on weekends or holidays, but this is rare, and we will provide advance notice letting you know to expect this activity.
When we are monitoring your cable menu, if you are watching TV, you will see the channel change and access your On Demand menus and you will not be able to access your TV.
We try to put the TV back on the channel we found it and leave it off or on, depending how we found it.
Please let everyone else in your household know that comScore will be monitoring your TV, and to please not fight us over the channel as we need to be able to complete our work.
The compensation for hosting a Slingbox is $50 reimbursement toward your monthly cable bill plus $25 for your time and effort for a total of $75 month. Checks or ACH are the options for payment. You will need to scan and email your cable bill in each month as documentation for payment. Before the first payment is issued you will need to fill out and send back a W9 form.
After setting the Slingbox up, very little is typically required of you unless we need you to help us troubleshoot connectivity issues.
This is an ongoing project that will last at least 3 months, but could be long-term. We’ve had other shoppers helping us with this project for several years.
Does this sound like a project you would be interested in doing?
If YES, I will email you a Hosting Agreement (pdf). It’s a formality, which states that you agree to let us access your TV menus via the comScore-supplied Slingbox. After you’ve had a chance to read through the agreement, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. If not, please sign it and scan and email it back to me. Once we receive your signed Hosting Agreement, we will send out the Slingbox for you to set up."
Thank you for reading this long post and any suggestions or insights are appreciated.