So I just got an email that was supposed to be from a KSS scheduler about purchasing gift cards. Man oh man but the scams these days! Of course I knew instantly that it wasn't a real shop offer and I forwarded it to Lorri. Here it is for your viewing pleasure, all typos included:



Kimberly Motl kimberlys@kernscheduling.com

Walgreens Store Survey!

KSS International Inc. got contracted for a survey from Market Force Information Inc.

Shopper pay: $30

Requirements – You are required to purchase Ebay Gift Card($200) at the nearest Walgreens close to you.

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?

• How easy was it to locate the store

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

Total reimbursement-$230 ($200 for card purchased and $30 shopper fee)

If interested please reply with:

Location of store interest: (You can self select the closest Walgreens Store to you )

Full name:
Phone number:

Maximum cards allowed for purchase: 3 cards

(shopper fee will be $30 / card and the initial $200 per card)

Due Date-28th May 2019

Thanks!

Kimberly Motl
Project Scheduler

Contracted by KSS International Inc.

KSS International, Inc
41 West Street FL 6
Boston, MA 02111

Ha, I think KImberlyS got married to Mr or Ms Motl and in the bliss of being married forgot to change her email address to KimberlyM. Other than that it sounds great. She does not mention anywhere that I have to scratch off the backs of the cards and send the numbers. And since there is only one card to be purchased there are no s's or articles in the sentence. Too bad I only have until 5/28 to do these. I want to do three of these. Wonder if I can buy the gift card and spend it that day. I need to purchase a bunch of liquor for a party and Walgreens sells that. Then they will reimburse me. I know MF is a reputable company and I have been telling you fees are going to go up pretty soon. So now finally a MF job that pays $30.
(Warning to Kids or gullible shoppers, Do not try this shop at home.)

You do realize that your sarcasm might be lost on some people (the gullible ones you mentioned).

@JASFLALMT wrote:

You do realize that your sarcasm might be lost on some people (the gullible ones you mentioned).

Ha , I prefer to think of it as witty. Miriam Webster says they are synonyms but I do not think so. Sarcasm has a more bitter and negative feel to it.

I thought that was snark that had a slight negativity, not sarcasm. Sarcasm is not bitter IMO.

I've gotten 3 of these also. They looked instantly suspicious to me but I wasn't sure who to inform.

I just did a reverse IP trace on the email header information. One of the IP's goes to New Delhi, India.

Umm??? No!

It is just too bad so many of these scams are around and unsuspecting trusting people get taken in. Some of the scams are not so obvious to people who are always on the alert to them. Just the other day for the first time I got the grandma scam on my phone. Picked it up and the late teens,early twenties male voice said, "Hello Gramma." I have heard of these scams. Many older people have memory and/or hearing issues and they would do anything for a grandchild without checking. As these scammers get even more expert they will probably be having stories that do not sound so fantastic and implausible as the ones now often do.
I apologize for making a joke about this serious subject.
Sandy

I got it today too. What struck me was that it could actually sound somewhat legit at first glance. Much more plausible than the typical check-cashing ones anyway

You guys, they are making me crazy. I get probably 50 emails and 25 voice mails a day about these scams. That isn't to mention the facebook messages I get. So many people falling for these scams. We have put warnings on our facebook page and on our voice mails and STILL people are falling for it. I'm not sure what else to do.

My company's reputation is on the line here. Besides posting it publicly EVERYWHERE.. what else can I do to help warn people off?

They obviously picked my company because we have a good reputation in the MS world. I've talked to the FTC, the police, everyone. The scam is originating outside of the US and nothing can be done legally yet.

I'm beside myself in dealing with this and can't make it stop. Happy to hear your ideas.

Lorri - if you can find any phone numbers that the scammers are using, we've had luck finding out the carriers and reporting the numbers for fraud. I know how frustrating and upsetting it is. We've been hit hard twice in the past couple of years.

@Lorri Kern KSS
There is not much more you can do. When anybody gets email offers that seem too good to be true, it behooves them to be skeptical and verify. Most folks do this, but some small percentage to the population just doesn't take the time to do that and, when the scammer sends out 10,000 emails, they are bound to snare a few folks. You can't babysit every shopper who is registered with you - much less those who are not.

Lori, this should be on you Sassie home page as well. Any idea how the scammers got your mailing list?

How are they finding out the real names of schedulers for CTSS and Kern and getting shoppers' email addresses?

Schedulers’ names and email addresses are published on their websites.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How are they finding out the real names of schedulers for CTSS and Kern and getting shoppers' email addresses?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2019 11:29PM by MFJohnston.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Schedulers’ names and email addresses are published on their websites.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How are they finding out the real names of schedulers for CTSS and Kern and getting shoppers' email addresses?

Yes, and the scammers are using amazon work emails (awsapps.com) to make the addresses seem legitimate.

In a minute, I can sign up and create

mfjohnston@ mysteryshopforum. awsapps.com

anything @ anything@ awsapps.com can be created in a minute.

@MFJohnston wrote:

Schedulers’ names and email addresses are published on their websites.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

How are they finding out the real names of schedulers for CTSS and Kern and getting shoppers' email addresses?

But how did they get all of our shopper emails? It would appear that a data base was hacked.

Posters are forgetting giant corporations with incredible firewalls are hacked on a regular basis. MSC's have likely taken precautions to protect shoppers info, but the precautions may not be robust enough to keep hackers out.

I'm here because I got the email today. I responded and, of course, got accepted for a shop but my alarms were going off!
So irritating.
I first went to my KSS homepage and was surprised there was nothing in the announcement section. I searched my email to see if I had received other emails from the same person....nope.
And since there were no shops on my board I took that as a final confirmation this was a scam.

Read Lorri's response upthread. Notices of scams are posted in multiple locations ...

@bestofbothworlds wrote:

Read Lorri's response upthread. Notices of scams are posted in multiple locations ...

But not on their own Sassie home page.

I got it too and when I tried to email the person it said it was coming from it bounced back as no email

Yeah, I got as well, it looks more legit than most, but it was too specific for an Ebay gift card and it said:

"You are not to use the cards, if used you will not be reimbursed. You are to hold on to it and await further instruction from your supervisor after you have uploaded the card"

and that was a dead giveaway as well.

Got one of these invitations today. If you are new to mystery shopping please beware...SCAM.

I wonder how many people have fallen for this.

Lori,

I traced the IP of the email back to New Delhi.

Lori, I am so sorry this is happening to you. Folks here have given good advice for the short term, but long term, the MSPA needs to come up with a comprehensive plan for protecting its members. They need to think outside the box--like dropping the term "mystery shopping" to describe what we do. That term begs for scammers and scammees alike.

I think it's not really mystery shoppers who fall for these scams, but I'm naive and could very well be wrong. I think it's mostly people who never have mystery shopped and have heard about mystery shopping but never really tried it who think the offer is real.

I mean, the one I got in the mail was so PERFECT.....no obvious English errors, came in priority mail envelope, the USPS Money Order looked so real my local postmaster couldn't tell it was fake -- after I INSISTED to her it was fake!

I assure you, my neighbors would have fallen for it. They all know I mystery shop, but none of them really knows what it involves.

@kenasch wrote:

Lori, this should be on you Sassie home page as well. Any idea how the scammers got your mailing list?

They did not get my email list. 90% of the people getting this email have never registered with us (I check at each complaint).

It really is mystery shoppers. Recently my daughter received an email from a KSS scheduler that she thought was legit as they have been emailing each other from time to time. She has done a fair amount of mystery shopping. She spoke with someone she trusted in another state who does lots of mystery shopping and felt like the company was a good one. She has now been scammed for thousands of dollars and trying to deal with it!