$10 cashiers check made out to myself/general report

The day after completing my first assignment, while they were preparing my report, I received this instruction: "Please purchase a local bank cashier check of $10 with cash today and send the picture to my email,make the check payable to your self." When I asked the purpose, I received the following response: "We just need a general report while you purchase the cashier check."

Because I'm brand new to this I am paranoid about identity theft (so far everything seems to be on the up & up but you know...). Also I received the instructions on a Saturday so was unable to get to my bank that day - I tried to get one at a bank that was not my bank and they said they only give cashier's checks to their own members so I assume all banks are that way. (NOTE: the instructions say "today"

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A) does anybody know the purpose of this?

Will not getting to the bank the same day as instructed affect my rating?

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What company is this? I have never heard of such a thing. I too would be wary, it doesn't sound right.

Okay, just to double check, you: went to a mystery shopping company website to apply as a mystery shopper and were given a user name and password (not solicited by a random email to be a shopper and then receiving communications via text). After receiving your user name and password, you were assigned a location to shop on the website, then went to do the shop, reporting ON THE WEBSITE afterwards, right? And this did not involve you depositing a check for a large sum and wiring funds to someone or purchasing iPhones or iTunes giftcards, correct? This just sounds so odd, because it seems like someone could use the photo of the cashier's check you are supposed to purchase to perpetuate the common "fake check scam" that has been going around where a large check is sent to some poor unsuspecting person who deposits the check then later finds out it's fake. It would be great if you could provide more details about what happened with your first shop, especially the name of the mystery shopping company.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2018 04:55AM by JASFLALMT.

I believe I was totally scammed by a company that was claiming to be GFK

Being the weekend I can't get many answers today but most likely the check will end up not going through and I'll be on the hook for the $2850. I feel like a fool

This is a long shot, but I would try contacting whoever you used to send the funds, Western Union, iTunes, etc., as soon as possible to report the fraud and hope they can somehow put a hold on or cancel the transaction or itunes card or whatever. I would try to do this today asap.

thank you

Hi Cynthia, I am sorry to hear this happened to you. Act quickly and even if you spend a few hours today trying to cancel the transaction it will be time well spent. If no one picks up the phone drive to the place you went to transfer the money. Tell them you found it was a scam. You might show them the correspondence too to prove it. Hoping you can get your money back!! Many of these money places are open every day and if it was a bank many have 800 numbers that get answered 24/7.

If it was gift cards of any kind, iTunes, Walmart, Amazon, that money is gone. It’s just like sending cash. Collect the cards and receipt and take them to the police and file a report.
I worked for Apple for several years and received calls about this every day. It’s unfortunate, but the money is not able to be refunded. As in it’s not possible. It is gone.
A high enough quality picture of a sign money order can be used to reproduce counterfeit money orders and travelers checks.
Your bank should have a fraud department open 24/7. Call them today and let them know about the check. They may be able to stop processing and at the very least prevent a fee.

How did $10 turn into $2850?

I explaind the whole thing above - the $10 cashier's check was the follow up to me being a complete fool and fallinig for the initial scam. Totally depressing.

Actually I guess I didn't explain it: for the initial "assignment" I received a text and email from someone appearing to be from GFK. A cashier's check for $2850 arrived that day via priority mail and my "assignment' was to immediately buy 25 $100 Itunes gift cards, keep $300 as my bonus, $30 spend at a specific store (evalution to be filled out on the store) and $20 for additional expenses. The quicker I got it done would lead to a 30% increase in future bonsues. I was then to send them a picture of the scratched off back of all 25 cards - the cards were supposedly to be used for future assignments evaluation Apple stores. I'm an idiot. The smallest bit of checking would have shown that it was a scam. I'm ashamed and embarrassed and am paying an expensive price for greed and foolishness.

Sorry. You are correct. It’s too late.
ITunes are used as currency to fund “bad” activities as well.

The absolute best thing you can do to turn this experience into a positive, is share it. Online like this, with family and friends, with co-workers, news media, wherever. Hundreds of people fall victim to scammers like this every single day. That certainly doesn't make it any less embarrassing. If someone else had described this to you, you likely would have immediately thought it was a scam. But something about the email and how the "shop" was presented, overcame your natural suspicions. And that's why these scams work. Helping even one other person to identify and avoid this situation can make all the difference.

If you have not already, the best advice at this point was to call your bank's fraud department. Being proactive will show the bank you were duped rather than complicit. When things like this happen, banks will often shut down accounts then it may be next to impossible for you to get an account anywhere else. Depending on their largesse, they may be willing to waive some fees, allow you to keep an account with them and set up a payment plan to recoup the money.

Equal rights for others does not mean fewer rights for you. It's not pie.
"I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag." -Molly Ivins
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of your time and it really annoys the pig.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2018 09:53PM by LisaSTL.

Contact your bank and report it to police or internet has a web for this. Bummer.

Live consciously....

@cynthiadown wrote:

Actually I guess I didn't explain it: for the initial "assignment" I received a text and email from someone appearing to be from GFK. A cashier's check for $2850 arrived that day via priority mail and my "assignment' was to immediately buy 25 $100 Itunes gift cards, keep $300 as my bonus, $30 spend at a specific store (evalution to be filled out on the store) and $20 for additional expenses. The quicker I got it done would lead to a 30% increase in future bonsues. I was then to send them a picture of the scratched off back of all 25 cards - the cards were supposedly to be used for future assignments evaluation Apple stores. I'm an idiot. The smallest bit of checking would have shown that it was a scam. I'm ashamed and embarrassed and am paying an expensive price for greed and foolishness.

I'm sorry that you got scammed. The obvious scam was in the assignment itself, not the follow up. Since it was the follow up you described in detail, that's why the forum members who responded didn't immediately say SCAM. The follow up part is kind of interesting. For some reason the scammers also wanted your picture. I wonder if it had anything to do with redeeming the itunes gift cards?

Any time someone recruits a stranger by email to do an assignment, it's a red flag. Another red flag is sending money in advance. Who sends a stranger money and then waits and hopes the stranger will do the job? The amount of money is another red flag. Mystery shopping doesn't pay anywhere near that much money.

No roflwofl, they didn't want a photo of the OP, they wanted a photo of the cashier's check so that they could make new fake cashier's checks for new victims.

Cynthia: my heartfelt condolences to you. Please do follow Lisa's advice especially by calling your bank immediately to make sure your bank knows you were an innocent victim and were not complicit in passing a fake cashier's check. You could also contact the Federal Trade Commission about this matter.

Just so you know, at the bottom of this page is a link with a list of legitimate companies who do pay for work, and most pay a reasonable fee...after the work is completed. Best of luck to you.

It also not mean more rights for you

What??

I think he’s referring to the quote below Lisa’s post. Probably doesn’t realize it’s not part of her reply.

OK, I am new to mystery shopping. My first interaction with this company was they sent me a check for $2860 and said deposit the check into your account. Then, only $300 is for you,take $50 and go to Walmart buy anything you want and will send you instructions on how to write a report. The balance of the money split it between these two people and wire it to them immediately from Walmart. This sounds like a scam to me I don't know what type of mystery shopping this is. I haven't cashed the check it just doesn't seem right. I haven't heard from them anymore. I never received email instructions on how to write the report either.

DindDangIt, the check is fake and it is a scam. Call the post office, sometimes the postmaster general will handle it because it is mail fraud if you receive the check in the mail. The Federal Trade Commission also handles these matters.

Why do people still fall for these scams!

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Because as imperfect human beings, we all make mistakes in life - to varying degrees.

Cynthiadown-Please let us know the final result of your scam.

It's unfortunate that most of the time people don't come back to let us know what happened. I always am curious as to whether or not it was reported to the FTC or post office and how they handled it.

I too received a cahier’s check via fed ex. I knew msmcompanies do not work that way but was curious so I called the bank that the cashier’s check was drawn on. I didn’t even have to give her the name of company that sent it. It was counterfeit.

It's a shame that many of these scammers used real mystery shopping companies names.

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$10 cashiers check made out to myself/general report

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