Hi I was wanting to find out if anybody has come across this firm for mystery shopping. It is apex consult co inc. I got a email from them recently they were looking for mystery shoppers. They said they were a new company. They wanted my name,address,phone number ect. Didn't ask for any social security number or bank numbers. They wanted my experience in mystery shopping which I did. I finally got a email today saying that I was approved and to open a account at Wells Fargo Bank. They wire your money to that account. So at least I won't be using our regular account. But they say they pay for the mystery shop up front. And they use you 2-3 hours per week and they pay 400.00 per week. But I was just wondering if anyone has worked for them or even heard of them.
I have been doing this for the past 4 years.
thanks,
bunnytails1

IT' A SCAM. DO NOT FALL FOR IT! NO NO NO!

SCAM X 10

I got an email offering a lot of money doing jobs through the western union for a textile company today. Wanting to know your name and address, etc. I emailed them back saying they should be caught and sent to jail for thinking Americans fall for their scams.

It's a new version of an old scam. They will overpay you by check and then ask you to return part of the money by wiring it to them or sending it by Western Union. Since the check will not have cleared, your wire will be from your funds not the check funds. The bank will cash the check against your funds but the check will turn out to be fraudulent and if you fall for it, you'll be out the money that you sent them.

This is an email I received.

From: john frederick [johnfrederick3030@live.com]



VACANT POST AS A MYSTERY SHOPPER @ Apex consult

Co.,Inc


Hello and how are you doing , This is a awareness to let the

public know that we have a vacancy post of a mystery shopper

in our company and we would like to know your interest in

working for Apex consult Co.,Inc. We are a new company and

we have clients we are working with as regards giving a better

service to their customers.

Mystery shopping is a valuable customer service tool that has

gained widespread acceptance in the retail, financial services

and restaurant industries, and proves highly valuable to

companies that use it to gain customer experience metrics

Your job as a mystery shopper would be quite effective and we

would provide more details on the job as soon as you get back

to us with the details requested.


Kindly provide the below information for assessment and

registration of the
company

Full Legal Name :
Address :
City :
State :
Zip code :
Country :
Nationality :

Age:
Present occupation:
Home and Cell # :

Then I receive a second email:

From: john frederick [johnfrederick3030@live.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 3:16 AM
Subject: GET BACK TO ME



HELLO
HOW ARE YOU?HOPE YOU ARE FINE?I AM SORRY FOR THE SLOW CORRESPONDENCE,I WILL LIKE TO LET YOU KNOW EVERYTHING IS SET TO GO AND I WILL LIKE TO RECONFIRM AGAIN THE FOLLOWING INFOS BEFORE YOU RECEIVE PAYMENTS
-DO YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT WHERE YOU WILL PROCESS PAYMENTS?(YES/NO)
-BANK NAME ONLY?

That one is so illiterate rteodosio that it would almost be fun to play him along like a kitten following a piece of wadded up aluminum foil to build his expectations and try to wean info from him to turn over to authorities. But who has the time to waste on that nonsense.

I received an email like this and after I provide them my address I received money orders of $980.00 in DHL maul. Still it is sitting in my home. I have to deduct my $400.00 form that money order and send a balance left to another address provided!!!

I am not doing anything because I am not sure what kind of actual process is it? I know its money order so I do not have to worry about now! May be!

Chances are that the money order is fraudulent. Jobs just do not pay $400 in this business without being inordinately complex and over a long period of time to highly experienced shoppers.

Don't sit on the money orders. Bring them to the police or call the BBB.

Glad you guys brought this up....yesterday I got home to find a fedex envelope on my porch, thought I was getting some coupons for a MS job but to my surprise it was a rather large check....that was it nothing else...tried to google the name on the check came up w/ nothing....unless a long lost relative died I have no idea, my first thought was "SCAM"...I would love to research this, any suggestions?
thanks guys
dee
cedar city ut.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2008 02:54PM by msplantladi.

Well, the scam checks these days seem to be some odd number like $4900 or $2900. They all seem to want you to deposit the check, do a couple of shops that are paying you a windfall such as $100 each for a short shop and then send the remaining funds on to someone else--usually by wire--as a 'final shop'. The problems are that 1) it is not a company you ever signed up and usually the name is similar to a legitimate company but not quite the same, 2) it meets all the 'too good to be true' warning signals and finally, 3) the check is phoney so when it bounces you will need to repay your bank for the hundreds or thousands of dollars you have wired back to the sender.

In some cases the checks apparently have been stolen, but not so often because companies put 'stop payments' on stolen checks so they will bounce too fast. The checks are usually on accounts that have adequate funds so when a call is made to the bank, there are funds available. It is only when the actual check is presented to the account owner or their bank that the fraud is detected--a process that is likely to exceed the 'ten day hold' your bank placed on the funds.

By sending you the check by DHL, the sender is attempting to avoid 'mail fraud' issues, so rather than turning this over to the Post Office, turn it over to the Police with all the materials.

Flash thanks so much I work right across from the police station so guess where I am going today...thanks so much.
have a great day!!!
dee
cedar city ut

Ok, everyone can call me stupid but I got up in the one that wanted me to process payments several years. The only different is they wanted me to open up an account in my name at a certain bank. Stupid me needed the money and I had never seen this scam before, I think it was when they were first coming out. So I didnt and they deposited a 1000.00 in the account wanted me to western union them 850.00 and the rest was my commission, it went fine for about 4 months then all of a sudden the FBI showed up at my door and took me to their office. Thank god I had not taken any of the money out of that account or I would have been in big trouble. What they were doing was transfering money from other peoples account to my account. So dont think you cant get into trouble by cashing those checks, I am here to tell you that you can. The could thing about it is I went home that night and I never lost any money.

Its funny that you said that you had a fed ex package at home. I just got a scam email that they have a fed ex package that they are trying to send me.

Ya I get those all the time...can u say DELETE.......I guess as long as they keep getting people to fall for this stuff they [the bad guys] will continue to do it...darn shame....Darn I sure could have used an extra 2800.00.
dee
cedar city ut

msplantladi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
Darn I sure could have
> used an extra 2800.00.


Couldn't we all But that is why they are successful in their scams. They know that $2000-$5000 is enough to be a very attractive bait while being still low enough folks might convince themselves it was for real.

Thank you guys for giving me an idea, I also received this kind of email from "Apex consult Co., Inc" and I’m waiting for their check amounting of $1,250.00 and $400.00 for the first week payment for my Job as MYSTERY SHOPPER, they sent it via UPS. This is the last email message I received from one of their employee. Good thing that I never give any details from my bank account or else I'll be a dead meat. I doubt... why those guys hired people without a formal process only just for an internet and they will send you a cash for just snap of a finger, it's like you wish cash from the genie of the lamp.

The economy is under Recession and I think there is no company will give you a thousand dollars with out any formal process to hire you.


Dear Garry,

Good to read from you, i would expect your swift response as soon as possible, I would like to inform you that next week will be a busy one, it wont take much of your time , maybe 20 to 30 minute everyday , but you will be getting a compensation for that you weekly pay will increase by %60, so try as much as possible to get your first assignment done in time.

Have a great night
Justin Carvelo

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2009 11:20PM by Flash.

Garry, even if you are pulling their chain by letting them waste their time and money (and hope) by sending you the money, don't try to deposit the check. It will be fradulent I assure you and your bank could charge fees for a bounced check. I was reading the other day on the web where some bankers are being fired for accepting the scam checks for deposit and causing customer ill will with the backlash of fees and grief the checks subsequently cause. It does cost the bank something to process checks whether they are scam or legitimate and certainly will cost them more to back them out again. Somehow those expenses always seem to get passed on to the consumer.

If you receive a check from these guys, please take it and all correspondence and envelopes etc. to law enforcement. Lets make 2009 the year that a bunch of these turkeys get stuffed and roasted!

Full Legal Name :luis felipe masis quintero
Address : sabana sur calle morenos, centro comercial urgelles y penon
City : san jose
State : san jose
Zip code :185-2050
Country : Costa Rica
Nationality :costarricense

Age:43
Present occupation: administración
Home and Cell # : 50683320445, 50688577061

Then I receive a second email:masisql@hacienda.go.cr

From: john frederick [johnfrederick3030@live.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 3:16 AM
Subject: GET BACK TO ME

Why r u wasting our time...go away!

This is definitely a scam. I've been receiving the same as the rest of you, except the last one wants to loan me $50,000, if I send them $650, wanted my banking information and social security number. DO NOT INVOLVE YOURSELF WITH THIS COMPANY! I'm wondering how the are all of a sudden getting our email addresses. They are not for real, obviously.

So I'm sorry to be redundant here, I have been eagerly looking for a job and I came upon this Mystery Shopper add on www.criagslist.com, I applied and they sent me this, it sounds way fake and I just wanted to check that this is in fact the same thing you all got, so I can keep looking for a "real" job. Thanks and be well.
-Margaret

Hello and how are you.



Thanks for the swift mail response , You information has been accepted and inputed into our Database and it is now Pending approval from the Recruiting department. Upon approval your job as mystery shopper would begin next week and this would result to us providing you with more informations.



PAYMENT TERMS:



Your payment would be sent weekly , Also the company is in charge of providing you with all expense money for the shopping and other expenses involved in the assignment . All the tools you need would be provided to you with details every week you have an assignment.



JOB DESCRIPTION :



1} When an assignment is given to you , You would be provided details to execute the assignment and in a timely fashion.
2} You would be asked to visit a company or store in your area and they are mostly our competitors as a secret shopper and shop with them to know more about their sales and stock , cost sales and more details as provided by the company then report back to us with report . But anything you buy at the shop belongs to you . All we want is an effective/quick job and reports.



ASSIGNMENT PACKET :



Before any assignment we would provide you with the resources needed {cash}Mostly our company send check which you can cash and use for the assignment. Included to the check would be your assignment packet . Then we would be providing you details on here. But you follow every single information given to you as a secret shopper .



You can earn more which involves nothing more than shopping at a number of selected retailers and assessing their customer service and reporting back . We tried reaching you on phone but it wasn't responding , So i want you to get back to me with confirmation of your interest and commitment in working with us ,Mostly we need you phone number for contact.

KINDLY RECONFIRM YOUR INFORMATION FOR ASSESSMENT .



Full Legal Name :
Address :
City :
State :
Zip code :
Country :
Nationality :
Age:
Home and Cell # :


I would await your confirmation response.
Best Wishes and Regards .

Gerald McCarthy
Apex consult Co.,Inc
4240 , North Sheridan Rd.
Chicago , IL 60601

This is a scam. Stay away from them. The real Apex Power Consulting Corp has a website at [www.athpoweronline.com] where you will note the warning about scam 'companies' using their name. The real Apex is located in Andover, MA.

I am with Apex. I've done one shop with them. It seems legit. I am waiting to get paid. It was $20, and I had to open an account. So far, it's only been a couple of weeks. From what I am reading, it may be a few more weeks, no large sums of money and nothing about depositing checks.

Why would it take so long to send you the $20? Doesn't this make you wonder? Did you spend your own money for the shopping?

rteodosio, it normally takes 4-12 weeks for payment for a legitimate shop performed. Most frequently it falls in the 6-8 week range. I still have one payment due from December that should be coming along between now and the first of March. And yes, with many shops you are required to make a purchase that takes as long to be reimbursed as it takes to be paid.

The most recent jobs I did for aTH (Apex) were done the first week of November and paid right after Christmas.

The old sawhorse remains true. "If it is too good to be true, it isn't." The Nigerians, Ghannans and their cousins are spread out all over the globe. They specialize in human greed. I now have by my accurate count, 1,122,333,245 dollars coming to me from inheritances, relatives who might be distant 9th cousins, mystery shopping jobs that prepay, etc. Remember that these sharpies do not comprehend syntax or grammar. When it starts with, "My dear friend in God." You may count on it being from Nigeria. I used to respond to these with the most flagrant and vulgar language. Now, I just forward each and every one to the following:
Fraudunit@fbi.gov
Fraudunit@interpol.org
Fraudunit@postalinspectors.gov
Fraudunit@yahoo.com
Fraudunit@ (whatever carrier they are using)

The best one so far has been a letter ostensibly from the director of the FBI on FBI stationary telling you that they have approved the payment to you and all you have to do is send the $580 courier fee and they will release your 5 million inheritance from your long lost cousin in Lagos. They even have the chutspa to give out the number of the Seattle FBI office. They must think that Robert Mueller, Director has his office there. It only gets better with these economic times. Wait 'till you get your letter from Mr. Obama telling you that he approves of this transaction.

Caveat Emptor.

hi , have response to an email from the mystery shoper and i did all what he told me , i got a check today from fedex and i cash it and then i deposit my part on my checking account and the rest i send it to another person thru wester union, what should i do know? shoul i go to my bank a let the know what is going on?