I am so incredibly stupid. I warn people all the time to beware of shopper frauds. I ran into a phishing scheme that pretended to be a reputable company I have dealt with before. They even spoofed they email address and scheduled name. Needless to say it was a gift card scam. I know better. A quick internet search would reveal just how dumb. My bank account, down $1000 would reveal more. Credit card companies will not consider it fraud because I made the purchases.

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear that happened to you. I wish I knew a way that you could get your money back. You aren't the first person to fall for it.

I have not heard of this, if you post more detail, it will help all of us not to fall for this scam...thx.

It actually is that gift card scam that has been going around for quite awhile now. I think someone was impersonating KSS and spoofing their schedulers' emails, asking shoppers to buy ebay gift cards or iTunes gift cards. I think there were two other MSCs that were impersonated as well. They had shoppers scratch the back of the cards and give them the numbers. Of course the scammers were able to use the cards then and the shopper was left with nothing.

[www.mysteryshopforum.com]

Here is the link to a thread about it.

I hate to mention the company name because they actually were not involved. I received a text asking if I wanted to take part in a new Bestmark program and to reply with my email. That should have been a red flag, they have my email address. I replied with my email and then received an email assigning me to three retail locations in my area. The email used Bestmark’s logo and address information and spoofed their email address. It supposedly came from a scheduled named Jessica McKenzie. I have dealt with someone there named Jessica, but yes, should have checked. Classic gift card scam, buy them and send pictures of the cards with the PIN uncovered. And another red flag should have been she gave me a link to report the shops not Bestmark’s regular site. I cannot believe I fell for something so transparently fraudulent.

The site the “reporting” link went to was also designed to look like Bestmark’s site. But yes, I was a real dupe. I guess I was lured by the $30 fee stated. I thought that was reasonable for having to wait to have $200 reimbursed. I’ve done others in the past for actual companies where I’ve had to put out that much for tickets or a purchase and been reimbursed and they are usually a higher fee.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/20/2020 12:07AM by teddmom.

Okay yeah, I remember that they were also one of the companies that got impersonated. It was two scheduling companies as well.

I wouldn't worry about mentioning the MSCs name, you are actually helping others who might have gotten or will get the same solicitation avoid a horrible situation. At least it's clear that Bestmark isn't responsible for this. If someone Googles Bestmark this thread will likely populate.

In these scary times of COVID-19, people are desperate. The scammers were ruthless before and they are going to become more clever and relentless in their pursuit of victims.

I wish you well and good health. I hope you have enough resources on hand to make it through these hard times ahead.

You said your bank account was down $1,000. Were you assigned five "shops?"

@teddmom wrote:

The site the “reporting” link went to was also designed to look like Bestmark’s site. But yes, I was a real dupe. I guess I was lured by the $30 fee stated. I thought that was reasonable for having to wait to have $200 reimbursed. I’ve done others in the past for actual companies where I’ve had to put out that much for tickets or a purchase and been reimbursed and they are usually a higher fee.

I guess the scammers are making the "shop" more realistic by offering a typical fee instead of thousands of dollars.

Yes, I was given three local locations and then two more following my “successful completion” (when they figured out I was stupid enough to fall for it). Here I am busting my butt doing fast food shops and then get scammed by something like this.

And I have done hotel shops and electronics shops for BestMark where I did spend several hundred dollars and received reimbursement so this did not seem out of line.

Don't beat up on yourself. There are other experienced shoppers who fell victim to this scam or at least took the first bite by responding.

@teddmom wrote:

Yes, I was given three local locations and then two more following my “successful completion” (when they figured out I was stupid enough to fall for it). Here I am busting my butt doing fast food shops and then get scammed by something like this.

Thank you! But you know I will be beating myself up for a while!

teddmom, with all the red flags that you saw, how/why did you fall for it?

Im sure shes asking herself the same question, in hindsight.

So the text you received assumed that you knew who Bestmark was?

@teddmom wrote:

I received a text asking if I wanted to take part in a new Bestmark program and to reply with my email.

That is what is weird. I know they send these scams randomly, but by chance they got someone who does jobs for Bestmark. 99% of the population wouldn’t know who they were, but I guess they’d do a search and see they were a real company. I still can’t believe I fell for this

Yeah, I’m sick to my stomach over this. I know in the bigger picture with so many people out there sick or at risk, it’s only money. But I’m taking it hard.

I don’t know. I was distracted by some family matters and not thinking it through. And I really needed money (for resolving the family issues), so I was willing to believe. I know how stupid I am and that nothing can be done but I just wanted to warn other shoppers. And with all the time I waste online, a two minute search would have made me realize the truth.

So sorry.

There was some sort of database hack with one of the MSCs or scheduling companies, I am not sure which one, but a lot of shoppers got solicitation emails about this or a similar scam.

It's not weird and it's not random. There is a stolen shopper database circulating on the dark web. Scammers are buying it, or parts of it, and using it. Members of this forum have been phished. There have been a few extortion attempts. Others have posted about receiving texts and emails of the sort you received. Several recent posts have been about scammers using Bestmark's name, and spoofing their website with bestsmark.com. Apparently it's possible to buy only some of the info the database contains, which is why they had your phone number but not your email.

@teddmom wrote:

That is what is weird. I know they send these scams randomly, but by chance they got someone who does jobs for Bestmark. 99% of the population wouldn’t know who they were, but I guess they’d do a search and see they were a real company. I still can’t believe I fell for this

What was the number that texted you claiming to be BestMark?

It was a 952 area code which is Minnesota. I deleted it but I did provide it to the police. They told me it was spoofed to appear to be from there, and was probably foreign. If you wondering why I deleted it, after giving the police everything I had I am trying to erase reminders of my absolute stupidity. I have it here with the papers somewhere.

I believe it. This is all on me for trusting and not calling back and confirming.

@panama18 wrote:

It's not weird and it's not random. There is a stolen shopper database circulating on the dark web. Scammers are buying it, or parts of it, and using it. Members of this forum have been phished. There have been a few extortion attempts. Others have posted about receiving texts and emails of the sort you received. Several recent posts have been about scammers using Bestmark's name, and spoofing their website with bestsmark.com. Apparently it's possible to buy only some of the info the database contains, which is why they had your phone number but not your email.

@teddmom wrote:

That is what is weird. I know they send these scams randomly, but by chance they got someone who does jobs for Bestmark. 99% of the population wouldn’t know who they were, but I guess they’d do a search and see they were a real company. I still can’t believe I fell for this

I got the text as well, within the last two months.

Your homeowner's insurance may be helpful. Be sure you report this to the credit agencies and the FTC. The sting of the lost money hurts. You're going to be in for a lot of paperwork which hurts worse.

Scammers are gaining access to corporate emails and finding out who sends mail to whom and researching the writing styles. An employee receives email at work from his or her boss stating they must do a wire transfer.....how many would suspect the scammers were sending mail from within the network and who's going to call the boss and verify the mail was from that person.

It's getting tougher and tougher. Thanks for telling us and be good to yourself.

Teddmom.....you fell victim to a professional scammer with a network of people. As with many things in life, we can see the red flags afterwards. How many people checked out where the buttons on this page would take them?

Don't allow anyone to blame you for this. These scams have been perfected after thousands of tests. They also have hacked into the MSC's systems and downloaded names of shoppers, which is sold on the dark web. If we each checked out the html from every email and verified every email, checked the ip address every time, and double checked every offer, we would not have time to eat or sleep.

A friend nearly died when they received the wrong medication from the pharmacist. She had no reason to suspect. How many people verify the color/shape/and lettering on a pill to check up in case the pharmacist made an error? And ow many people have the capability to test a prescription if the pharmacy received counterfeit pills.

Blame the perpetrator, not the victim.

Yes phishing attacks are very common because the page look similar to the original page..So i can recommend you all guys to see url before proceeding to the creditional pannel..
Thanks

wauserfriendly, how would her homeowners' insurance be of help? How would that be an option if the bank was not?