Scammer Alet
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I am new to this and it makes me nervous doing these kind of things. How do they pay you for shopping? Do they always send you a check first for purchasing things? Please someone explain this to me. Thank you all...
You get paid after you complete the job in most cases. You are responsible for paying for any items that are required to purchase and may get a reimbursement as part of the fee. Total compensation ranges from reimbursement only to partial reimbursement plus a a little bit extra. Don't expect to be making hundreds of dollars a shop at first. Most of shops pay less than $20.
Anybody that wants you to deposit a check and or purchase gift cards is probably fraudulent.
Check out the list of approved sites on this page for places to start.
Anybody that wants you to deposit a check and or purchase gift cards is probably fraudulent.
Check out the list of approved sites on this page for places to start.
You will rarely get a check. The vast majority of companies pay you through PayPal. A bunch do some sort of direct deposit. A handful will pay you with some sort of other payment card. I'm not sure if any pay by check. Most jobs pay in the neighborhood of $20.
Common Scam Scenarios:
* You are sent a large check unsolicited. Then, asked to purchase gift cards and send the codes in. The check is bad and will bounce several weeks after you deposit it - even after the funds are made available. Do NOT deposit or cash such a check. It is ***always*** a scam.
* You are asked to send of money for a list of shopping opportunities. You do NOT need to pay somebody for the right to shop.
The best way to avoid a scam is to NEVER send money anywhere and to only accept shops off a job board from an MSC on a vetted list (linked at the bottom of this page). There are over 200 legitimate companies that will offer shops.
Common Scam Scenarios:
* You are sent a large check unsolicited. Then, asked to purchase gift cards and send the codes in. The check is bad and will bounce several weeks after you deposit it - even after the funds are made available. Do NOT deposit or cash such a check. It is ***always*** a scam.
* You are asked to send of money for a list of shopping opportunities. You do NOT need to pay somebody for the right to shop.
The best way to avoid a scam is to NEVER send money anywhere and to only accept shops off a job board from an MSC on a vetted list (linked at the bottom of this page). There are over 200 legitimate companies that will offer shops.
Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.
All good tips - I actually get paid by check by multiple MSCs each month (ACL, Sinclair, Strategic Reflections) but as the prior posters said, it is for work performed weeks prior to the check being issued, never in advance.
Scam alert if they send you a check or money order and want you to purchase anything and then send that to them and keep the rest will be a scam. Anything that sounds too good to be true will be a scam 99% of the time.
If they call out of the blue for you to do a shop - unless you have had previous contact with them or you can track down the website and have checked with other people I would say it is most likely a scam.
And one thing to watch out for is anyone texting or calling you and saying that you need to send money to clear up something. I have had a call from an ICE agent who supposedly needed me to purchase some kind of form so a package could clear customs. I got a call the other day about needing to clear up some charges or something need to press 1 to talk to an agent.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2021 01:46PM by 2stepps.
If they call out of the blue for you to do a shop - unless you have had previous contact with them or you can track down the website and have checked with other people I would say it is most likely a scam.
And one thing to watch out for is anyone texting or calling you and saying that you need to send money to clear up something. I have had a call from an ICE agent who supposedly needed me to purchase some kind of form so a package could clear customs. I got a call the other day about needing to clear up some charges or something need to press 1 to talk to an agent.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2021 01:46PM by 2stepps.
I hope diparkey didn't fall for this.
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
I got a call from Social Security yesterday. I asked the scammer for the code word. He asked what I was referring to. I let him know that Social Security required account holders to have a code word on their accounts to weed out scammers.
Dude said, "You give me the code word so I can verify it."
Dude said, "You give me the code word so I can verify it."
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
@diparkey wrote:
How do you know the difference between a scam and a legit mystery shopper?
If you have something questionable, you can always ask here with the specifics.
People here won't judge you if you did fall for a scam. They'll just try to steer you in the right direction.
If you sign up with Marketforce, you won't get rich, but you'll get a taste of what mystery shopping is about. They seem to have shops pretty much everywhere that aren't too difficult. Do a search of the discussions here for Marketforce to see what they offer.
You can also sign up and not do any shops if you don't want to. They don't pay what some think is a fair amount for some shops. Many here won't do their no shop pay shops.
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