Hey, shoppers! This is Mary from Presto Support! First, I want to thank Hollie for starting this thread, and for everyone who has contributed their experience and advice. We first heard about this scam earlier this week, when a shopper got suspicious and reported it to us. We can't stop someone from impersonating us, but we can do some things to make it more difficult to run the scam. We've filed a complaint with the FTC and compiled an article on how to spot scams and what to do if you are approached by a scammer (https://shopper-support.prestomobilesurveys.com/support/solutions/articles/8000110517-spotting-scams).
To address a few questions that you may have:
- The scammers didn't get your information from Presto. We don't know where it came from, but we don't keep shopper phone numbers or home addresses. If you get a text message with a "shop offer", it didn't come from us!
- Presto is a technology company, not a mystery shopping company. We don't have "coordinators" or schedulers.
- Presto does send shop offers, but only via email, and only to shoppers who have set up hotspots and subscribed to receive these emails.
The article listed above contains more details on how to spot and report scams, and shows a copy of the actual mail and check that was sent to one of the targeted shoppers. There's also a link to an FTC page that describes how to try to get your money back if you have been scammed. We hope that it will be helpful to you.
Please warn other shoppers, and IF YOU ARE TARGETED, PLEASE LET US KNOW! We're trying to get the word out in any way we can. Please contact us at
support@prestomobilesurveys.com if you think you may have been targeted by a scam or want to know if a shop offer is legit.
Thanks to all of you and the whole shopper community for working to keep each other safe!
- Mary at Presto