It’s going to suck to be Tiffany soon when everyone goes to her for payment from this scam.

I'm curious where they got the email addresses. my shopping email gets no spam I have never given it out to anyone not involved in the mystery shopping industry. In the almost six years I've had this email address I've never received a spam email. but somehow they seem to be targeting actual mystery shoppers with this scam and it's actually very well done. I imagine there will be a lot of people who will fall for it.

I was wondering the same thing. In all the years I've been shopping, I've received very few scam emails. Looks like somebody's email/shopper list has been hacked.

That was my thought exactly. I was curious if it might have something to do with the ISS hack.

It's upsetting that ctcss knew about this all day and didn't send out an email to warn their shoppers.

I received the e-mail and sent them my address and phone number. I didn't go any further than that, but very upsetting that they know and aren't saying anything.

Thanks to this forum or I could have potentially fallen deeper into this scam.

I’ve also only used my email solely for shops. Since I’ve responded to them, I
noticed that the address on the last email was changed to:
tiffanyctcss@gmail.com

I got it too!!!

Here's what CTCSS said on their website (https://www.ctcss.com/shopper-scam-alert) on 5/12: "... Our company emails have NOT been hacked, this is just a scam using our name, not our email...."
But of course many companies that have been hacked deny it at first; then they under-estimate and/or under-report the scope of the hack. I'm changing my password.
Also, we need to know where the email list originated.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2019 06:44AM by AuditAce.

Here's a chronic problem made worse because now we know the bad guys have our email addresses: CTCSS's log-in page, including the password, is unsecured. With such easy access to shoppers' accounts, hackers could hurt CTCSS and shoppers. (I'm not going to detail how.)
Attn. Prophet & CTCSS: You have to do better.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2019 06:43AM by AuditAce.

I just got this email today. It makes you wonder if other emails are fraudulent. Here's the enail, sent from another account:

"CVS Store Survey!

CTCSS got contracted for a survey from Market Analytics International Inc;


Shopper pay: $40


Requirements – You are required to purchase Ebay Gift Card($200) at your nearest CVS Pharmacy.


At the store you will be required to observe the following;


Were the employees friendly and courteous? Did you receive prompt service? Was the merchandise displayed neatly? Was it easy to use the service?


Your report will include pictures of in-store card display,pictures of gift card purchased and receipt,fill out  online survey.


Total reimbursement-$240


If interested please reply with:


Location of interestYou can self select closest CVS Store)

Full name

Phone number

Due Date-16th May 2019

Thanks!

April Myers

Contracted by Coast to Coast Scheduling Services, Inc. aprilm@ctcss.com
Coast to Coast Scheduling Services, Inc.

PO Box 1436

Costa Mesa CA 92628"

My first clue: Very short single line instructions, whereas with most shopping assignments, it's a neat paragraph. You need to buy a $200 Ebay Gift Card (lol) You can "self select" your store. Only a scammer would say that. Shoppers always have a store specific assignments. Let me guess, you have to scratch the back off and send them the "picture of the card" and the receipt. No shop pays that high of a fee. A joke.

I finally got mine this morning from "April" . I wonder if everyone who got the email is registered with CTCSS.

I fell for it yesterday. Out $200 and trying to figure out what to do. I have never fallen for a scam before - this came to my email address with the name of a scheduler that I recognized. It sounded legit and I mistakenly fell for it before realizing my mistake. The guy is texting me now about doing more locations because he now has my phone number too and I am telling him that I am working on it while I figure out what to do. It does seem that he is targeting shoppers directly. Damn, I feel like an idiot for for not being more diligent and I am out $200.

mine was...I should have checked here first.

No kidding - it is posted on their site (I looked after realizing my mistake). Why did they not contact us?

This is the email that I received and the follow up email in below it - it seemed legit. The follow up email even included the Market Analyctics IC Agreement. I should have been red-flagged because the report was so short. Now I am out $200 and he has my phone number. They should have warned us about this.

From: Robin Upchurch <robin@ctcss.com>
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2019 10:08:50 AM
To: shopper@ctcss.awsapps.com
Subject: CVS Store Evaluation.

CVS Store Survey!





CTCSS got contracted for a survey from Market Analytics International Inc;



Shopper pay: $40

Requirements – You are required to purchase Ebay Gift Card($200) at your nearest CVS Pharmacy.At the store you will be required to observe the following;





• Were the employees friendly and courteous?



• Did you receive prompt service?


• Was the merchandise displayed neatly?


• Was it easy to use the service?



Your report will include pictures of in-store card display,pictures of gift card purchased and receipt,fill out online survey.

Total reimbursement-$240



If interested please reply with:

Location of interestYou can self select closest CVS Store)
Full name
Phone number




Due Date-15th May 2019





Thanks!


Robin

Contracted by Coast to Coast Scheduling Services, Inc. robin@ctcss.com
Coast to Coast Scheduling Services, Inc.

PO Box 1436

Costa Mesa CA 92628





FOLLOW - UP EMAIL

While at the store you are to observe the following;

*Ebay Gift card visibility on the display stand.
*Observe staff conduct.
*Take pictures of the card display stand.
*Availability of Ebay Gift Cards in $200 denomination.
*Check out time(Card activation and payment processing).
*Take pictures of purchased card and receipt.

You can visit up to 3 CVS locations in your area.


MS Company;

Market Analytics Int. Inc.


Terms;

Total reimbursement for this survey is $240/survey($200 card purchase + $40 shopper fee) via PayPal within 1-2-days after report is received.


To proceed;

Find attached IC terms and if you agree,proceed to shop then afterwards click on the survey link to fill out online survey and upload required images of store and card.


Online Survey link;CLICK HERE

I would still report this to the police department. They can help you figure out your next step.

kiddeaux, while there is little chance you'll recoup your $200, I agree with stormraven this needs to be reported.

Wow someone has been doing some MS industry research. Enough to know CTCSS is a scheduling service and not an MSC.

@SunnyDays2 wrote:

My first clue: Very short single line instructions, whereas with most shopping assignments, it's a neat paragraph. You need to buy a $200 Ebay Gift Card (lol) You can "self select" your store. Only a scammer would say that. Shoppers always have a store specific assignments. Let me guess, you have to scratch the back off and send them the "picture of the card" and the receipt. No shop pays that high of a fee. A joke.

Almost all of the promo shops for ACL are self-selected by the shopper.

So to say that shoppers always have store specific assignments is not true. I have done 100’s of stores for a MSC where they let me choose the locations.

Scratching off the back and uploading the numbers is a clue though.

I agree. I find it lackadaisical that an email did not go out to their shopper database alerting them of this situation.

@Flyy1220 wrote:

It's upsetting that ctcss knew about this all day and didn't send out an email to warn their shoppers.

I received the e-mail and sent them my address and phone number. I didn't go any further than that, but very upsetting that they know and aren't saying anything.

Thanks to this forum or I could have potentially fallen deeper into this scam.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2019 09:34PM by pmpst8.

@bgriffin wrote:

Wow someone has been doing some MS industry research. Enough to know CTCSS is a scheduling service and not an MSC.

They also know the names of the schedulers there.

I remember doing a job where I went to CVS to purchase a $25 GC with a $9 fee. The gift card was out of stock so I was only paid the $9. I had to take a picture of the display and the exterior. No requirement for a picture of the card along with the scratch off redemption code of course. This was from a well known MSC. Although it wasn't self select, I have done plenty of jobs where it was, CVS included (2 other CVS jobs come to mind).

I have never registered with a scheduling company. Yes, it is disappointing there was no attempt by CTCSS to warn shoppers.

Attn. people who bought the Ebay gift cards: Maybe these ideas will help. Two ideas are unproven and three are definitely true.
Unproven: 1) Sign in at Ebay to check your Ebay card balance. If it's unused or partially used, immediately try to use the gift card to buy item(s) worth $200 or whatever amount is left on the card. Keep, resell or gift the merchandise.
2) Tell Ebay the card was stolen and they should not approve any purchase with it.
These ideas definitely are true:
1) File a police report. Theft losses can be tax deductible but you need the report.
2) Check your Ebay card balance. Ebay says, "An unused eBay Gift Card which has been lost, stolen, or damaged will only be replaced where required by law, when you have proof of purchase and the Gift Card number." [pages.ebay.com]
3) Report scams to Ebay at spoof@ebay.com.

Anyone who was sent the scam email: please report it to the FBI's Cyber Crime division at [www.ic3.gov] . Whenever you see a scam like this, also immediately notify the services (gmail, jotform, whatever) the scammer is using so that they can disable his/her accounts. We should encourage the MS companies to immediately email their shoppers, too. It's terrible that CTCSS didn't bother to do that once they were notified.

CTCSS finally sent out a mass email today at least.

Email came from Robin@ctcss.com. I did work for her the week prior and had no reason to think it was a scam.
The emails went sent rom that address and my responses were returned to that address. I feel that ctcss is responsible for those of us who lost money on this.

I received it as well and I was only offered $40. I actually sent an email back the scammer answered me.
I did go the real website and signed up.

It would also help if you file a complaint with the FTC at: [www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov]