Never thought this would happen to me but it was very smooth from the outset. Heading out to file police report.

Details please.

I'll bet it was one of those scams where the scammers were impersonating a rep of KSS or CTCSS. A lot of people got those emails. That really sucks.

So sorry to hear that happened to you, OP!

ok, is it email about Ebay gift card from convenience store, it says reimbursement... and not when they say I need to mail it back to them....
I got email from the face company...

Can you go into a little more detail? How did they contact you? How much were the gift cards? How did they get the codes from you on the back of the card?

About Face has one targeted at them as of the scam email I received this morning.

Not to be unkind, but what did you imagine the purpose of purchasing a gift card would be? What would such a shop actually uncover that you would not get from any other transaction?

For the record, I did not proceed as it was too good to be true... It was a big $200 amount and I was wondering what they wanted to check. The instructions said to take picture display, presentation, and submit the receipt. I did not notice they wanted the gift card numbers as it would be a big flag...

SCAM!

It seems that you received a check, which I guarantee is fake and will bounce if deposited (it would take a few days). So, tht means that you got it in the mail. please report it to the US Postal Inspectors as well. they can shut down PO boxes and cancel mail delivery to street addresses if warranted.

Just from the sender's email address, I'd be suspicious: Angela Mero <7nxzdlir0l@seoshnek.had.su>.
Wow, AboutFace has schedulers in the Soviet Union! (Why isn't there a font for sarcasm?)
Plus, the rest of the email address stinks like Russian caviar gone bad. Very fishy.

Bgriffin asks that question all the time. No sarcafont in the forum. The best we can do is emojis

My email is supposedly from “aboutface” but the email address is

lasermann@telus.net

The wording in the email is perfect. I wonder how many fish they catch who are unaware and not part of this forum.

Just noticed the address in the email:

5579B Chamblee Dunwoody Road Atlanta Ga

That is actually the address for Aboutface but it’s not needed for them to complete the scam. All done by email apparently.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2019 10:08PM by kenasch.

I wonder if OP will return and let us know what happened.

The best clue is the email, but there are others. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A SCAM AND NOT A SHOP!!!

Shopper needed !!!!!!!!!!!!

Angela Mero <7nxzdlir0l@seoshnek.had.su>
11:23 AM (5 hours ago)
to

Aboutface Corp. has been contracted to conduct a Retail Store Customer Service Survey! your city was also selected for the exercise.



Requirements

You are required to purchase an |Ebay |Gift-Card| ($200) at any | CVS | Walgreens | Kroger | 7-Eleven | Rite-Aid | close to you.


While at the store you are to observe the following;

• Quality of service
• Response time
• Availability of item


Your scope will include images of card display rack, images of gift-card, receipt and submit your report.


- Shopper fee| $30
- Total refund| $230 ($230 for every $200 card purchased)


NOTE:

• Number of cards allowed: Between 1 to 3
• Number of stores you can visit: 4
• Number of allowed purchase per store: 2 cards per store



Refunds will be made 2 to 3days after report submission.


please reply with the following, detailed guidelines will be sent on reply.


* Full name
* Phone number
* Location of Interest (You may self-select between 1 to 3 stores around you )
* Date of planned visits


Due Date - 22nd September 2019

Angela Mero
Scheduler


|Aboutface Corp.|
5579B Chamblee Dunwoody Road,
Suite 204 Atlanta,
GA 30338

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2019 11:34PM by cammikun.

Really?????????? People fall for this? I'm sure no experience shopper would.

I wouldn't front $200 with some of the legit MSC.

People fall for this...over and over again.

THANK YOU for this post! I can't believe I almost fell for it. It does feel legit. It was the quirky e-mail address that sent me here. Yes Shopping Dad, even long time shoppers could look twice at this offer. There are plenty of shops that are reimbursed many hundreds of dollars. About Face had a project a few years ago (and may still) that reimbursed up to $75 to simply purchase prescription drugs. I had that project in mind when I saw this offer from Angela Mero.

laura007, I am so glad you came here to check!

I have seen it with a variety of different legit companies. I do front many high-end restaurants of the bill but I always find the shops on the company website. They never contact me.

@laura007 wrote:

THANK YOU for this post! I can't believe I almost fell for it. It does feel legit. It was the quirky e-mail address that sent me here. Yes Shopping Dad, even long time shoppers could look twice at this offer. There are plenty of shops that are reimbursed many hundreds of dollars. About Face had a project a few years ago (and may still) that reimbursed up to $75 to simply purchase prescription drugs. I had that project in mind when I saw this offer from Angela Mero.

I did a project last summer where they mailed me gift cards and they reloaded them every night from overseas. I went to approximately 200 stores and bought gift cards with the gift cards that they mailed me. It took me about a month. I was able to keep all of the gift cards that I purchased.

And as completely crazy as that sounds, it was a legitimate project.

When I first got the gift card scam email a couple of months ago, I had to look at it twice because that’s the kind of stuff that I do all the time.

So, I don’t judge people for falling for this one. I would hope that they would realize what was going on when they had to input the pin numbers from the gift cards.

@laura007 wrote:

Yes Shopping Dad, even long time shoppers could look twice at this offer. There are plenty of shops that are reimbursed many hundreds of dollars

Didn't say there couldn't be shops with large reimbursements. These are usually from long time companies that specialize in certain fields, luxury entertainment etc.

You did the right thing investigating.

There never are shops like this. Don't ever fall for it. BTW, police report won't do jack since these scammers are all overseas.

@DTrump wrote:

There never are shops like this. Don't ever fall for it. BTW, police report won't do jack since these scammers are all overseas.

Not true. Read the link below. They may have connections overseas but the arrest here was in the U.S. I also remember arrests in Canada.

[www.justice.gov]

Found one in Canada:

[www.cbc.ca]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2019 04:44PM by kenasch.

I got one a couple of months ago and played along for a while and a lady called me. I asked her if her mother was proud of what she was doing and she HUNG UP>

WARNING

There is a new take on this scam--now they're sending it through text message! I just got a text message, offering a $30 fee for every shop completed, for a Bestmark (a legit MS company) Customer Service Survey. There is a link in the text. When you click on it, it takes you to a page full of logos of legit companies, including Bestmark, describing the "guidelines." Those guidelines involve buying $200 Ebay gift cards!

If you get this text message, don't click on the link! I don't think my phone was compromised, but I know the scammers have my phone number (that's how they sent the text). I don't know how they got my number.

I will now go and report it to the authorities and then run all sorts of antiviral/disinfectant apps on my phone.

I will post this again for those who haven't seen it. There is a stolen shopper database actively circulating on the dark web. It is almost certainly from the hack of an unknown MSC that took place earlier this year. At a minimum, it contains emails and passwords. It is reasonable to assume that that is where these scammers are getting our email addresses. That is why they send shopping related emails to us. They know we are shoppers.

The database has also been used for non-shopping related phishing emails. It appears to be for sale to any scammer who wants to buy it.

If you haven't changed your passwords in the last 6-8 months you might consider doing so.

And now I guess we have to watch our texts too.

There are laws (federal and state) requiring companies to give notice to people when their data are stolen/hacked. Did anyone here receive official notice of this?

The other day I got a phone call stating they were Amazon and that someone charged $700 on my account. I did not and would not give any information over the phone. The SCARY part was the phone number was the real Amazon number. I contacted them through email and yes this is a SCAM. I do not trust anyone on the phone. All the companies, banks, etc. will never ask you for information about your accounts, NEVER.
Yes I have been notified by the IRS, Tufts Health Insurance.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2019 08:46PM by shopper8.