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Taking the mystery out of mystery shopping?

May 15, 2023 08:31PM
Has anyone else noticed the increasing number of "mystery shops" that
require the shopper to use their real name, IDs, take a photo of their
uncovered entire face, utilize their own credit to apply for a loan, or credit card or finance a product (all of which affects the shopper's credit score IRL), or require the shopper 'to use their own actual bank or investment accounts to "take screenshots"?
Then there are the many types of shops that require the shopper to allow
their ID to be entered into some nebulous database where they will have
no control over how long that data is stored or how it will be used, or with whom it may be shared.
Many of these shops tend to be a bit to quite a bit higher paying than
the more standard mystery shops and many of them seem to be quite popular.
Curious how others feel about these types of shops. Do you take them? Do they concern you? How do you feel about leaving negative comments for employees who know your real name and where you live? So many issues as this industry continues to morph with less and less accountability on the part of MSCs.
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May 15, 2023 09:04PM
It is mostly financial industry shops that have these requirements. I do a ton of these shops and have not had any issues over about 18+ years of doing them. NEVER have I been contacted by employees after such shops regarding anything having to do with my reports. You cannot very well do most financial shops without using a real identity and all that goes with that. I have a good understanding of what really does or does not influence my credit score and the shops that I have done, including those with hard credit pulls, have had negligible influence on my score.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.
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May 15, 2023 09:11PM
If they pay appropriately, I see it as just part of doing business. Real shoppers have their information harvested, so it is kind of a job hazard we can't easily avoid in this line of work. And some of the shops you describe really couldn't happen any other way without taking elaborate steps such as making fake bank or investments accounts. More cost effective to pay people like us to use our real accounts.

The part about employees knowing our names and addresses, and possibly losing their jobs over a negative evaluation, that one is a legitimate concern. Just recently someone posted here in another thread [www.mysteryshopforum.com] about running into someone who thanked them for getting them fired. Made them think twice about taking another local job of that type.
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May 15, 2023 09:40PM
I completely agree with Wales. The ONLY occasion where anyone should be concerned about a hard pull, would be if their score were right on the cusp AND a large purchase was being considered. The last hard pull I experienced dropped my score 15 or 20 points for a few months.
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May 15, 2023 09:46PM
It depends on the project for sure. Some of them are market research on the user interface design and specify for you to block out any private info. They just want to see what features or functionality is available on xyz competitor app. Sometimes projects like these are done through focus groups instead.
I generally am not very protective of basic demographic info like address, age, etc but I don't put my bank account info on anything if I can avoid it.
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May 15, 2023 10:36PM
I agree with the comments about the financial shops that need that information to make the offers, etc. I do not consider those a danger, but that is just my opinion. But, I do not like my information out there for the simpler shops. The apartment shops that take a photocopy of your identification or scan them in, they do save those. When one location scanned my i.d., I played dumb and asked what that was. The agent stated it was just to verify the i.d. was valid. I asked if my information was saved after that and they said it was not. Not true. I went to a sister property the next week and they scanned my i.d. and told me I was at the other location. I knew my other report had not been finalized, so I was able to say: "Yes, I am trying to compare a few places before deciding this week." And I have had agents email me about a report I submitted. One shop I did last week asked for my i.d., walked away with it to "secure it while I toured." But after touring, when I received my i.d. back and all the promotional material, the agent accidentally included a photocopy of my i.d. with the material. (Thank you. You did not ask or tell me you had made a copy.)
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May 16, 2023 01:30PM
@shopperbob wrote:

I completely agree with Wales. The ONLY occasion where anyone should be concerned about a hard pull, would be if their score were right on the cusp AND a large purchase was being considered. The last hard pull I experienced dropped my score 15 or 20 points for a few months.

I disagree about the hard pull. If you have good credit, you can typically make more than most of these shops pay by opening a new credit card and getting a sign up bonus. Chase, Citi and American Express regulary have bonuses worth $500+. With Chase, they limit your ability to open new accounts; if you have opened more than 5 accounts in the past 24 months they will deny you a new card.

For the average joe who has no desire to capitalize on credit card and bank bonuses it doesn't matter that much. It is good to be aware that you can make real, legitimate money from opening these kinds of accounts and not have any report to write up. (However, if you can open an account and get a bonus from the bank, that's a win!)
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May 16, 2023 01:39PM
@veebeeshops wrote:

Has anyone else noticed the increasing number of "mystery shops" that
require the shopper to use their real name, IDs, take a photo of their
uncovered entire face, utilize their own credit to apply for a loan, or credit card or finance a product (all of which affects the shopper's credit score IRL), or require the shopper 'to use their own actual bank or investment accounts to "take screenshots"?
Then there are the many types of shops that require the shopper to allow
their ID to be entered into some nebulous database where they will have
no control over how long that data is stored or how it will be used, or with whom it may be shared.
Many of these shops tend to be a bit to quite a bit higher paying than
the more standard mystery shops and many of them seem to be quite popular.
Curious how others feel about these types of shops. Do you take them? Do they concern you? How do you feel about leaving negative comments for employees who know your real name and where you live? So many issues as this industry continues to morph with less and less accountability on the part of MSCs.

I have done several of these kinds of shops. I am not always thrilled about giving away my info but I often feel like the payment is enjoy to justify the requirments of the jobs.

There are some where I feel somewhat uncomfortable with the info that I'm giving out. I mostly feel annoyed about the follow up marketing and sales emails from the companies. I feel like I get a lot more spam from the companies and also others with similar services.

One of the screenshot shops I did end up asking to have cancelled because it asked for SO much more than what the job listing shared. It was exremely low paying (I think $10-15) and I did not feel like the description matched the job or the pay.

I guess with some of this it's a calculated risk. When the fee is high enough I will apply for something that could be a minor inconvenience in the future. I'm not willing to give away all my info for a pittance though.
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May 16, 2023 02:14PM
I use an iPhone, an iWatch, fitness tracker app, credit cards, grocery store shopper rewards programs, my Subaru Outback has Bluetooth and Wifi, I’m registered to vote and contribute to candidates, I shop online at REI and Amazon, etc etc.

I’m tracked and monitored literally every step I take.
Rightly or wrongly, I’ve just given up trying to plug the constant flow of my personal information to Big Data.

That said, I change my name slightly whenever I can on shops. Different last name (“Im getting a divorce “) a slightly different first name, and I have a PO Box for follow up mail. I ALWAYS use a Burner phone number and have about 25 different Gmail addresses.
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May 19, 2023 11:41PM
@mystery2me wrote:

If they pay appropriately, I see it as just part of doing business. Real shoppers have their information harvested, so it is kind of a job hazard we can't easily avoid in this line of work. And some of the shops you describe really couldn't happen any other way without taking elaborate steps such as making fake bank or investments accounts. More cost effective to pay people like us to use our real accounts.

The part about employees knowing our names and addresses, and possibly losing their jobs over a negative evaluation, that one is a legitimate concern. Just recently someone posted here in another thread [www.mysteryshopforum.com] about running into someone who thanked them for getting them fired. Made them think twice about taking another local job of that type.

YEP- many people - are nuts nowadays. This is what prevents me from doing too many shops that my real name is used. Exception: Kia. I sort of know ahead of time that things will not be atrocious so I go in knowing it probably won't be a 'bad ' review. Thus far in 6 Kia shops - the worst I had to summarize was the experience was 'good' - not great. DOn't want to be shot over $100.00. What would the women of the world do without me you know?
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