My new roomie has started mystery shopping with Market Force. We obviously share the same IP address but different computers. I have heard in this forum of members being deactivated by MF for having the same IP address with 2 shoppers. Anyone out there care to give some advice. I know married couples shop for the same MSC and do not get deactivated. Any advice would be appreciated. I fear that I will lose my MF jobs due to helping my new roommate.

The best thing to be in this circumstance is to proactively contact the MSC and inform them of what the situation is. I *believe* I've read that it's okay to have two shoppers in the household as long as they aren't using the same computer, but it would be best to give them a heads up and find out if they'll need any verification on your part.

I'm just curious. How well do you know this new roommate? It is someone you actually have known for awhile or is this someone who answered a Craig's list ad?

It always surprises me when I hear someone was deactivated simply because there was another user at their address, because that has not been my experience.

I have shopped with Market Force since 2009. A family member who shares my address and the same IP address has shopped for them since 2008. I started to shop a year after her. Neither of us notified MF. I simply registered. We are two separate MF shoppers who share the same household.

We not only share these same address and IP address, we frequently use the same desktop computer because the computer is in a good central household location. We both also use our laptop computers when we are at our offices during the day and we both have tablets we use when we are out somewhere. Except for times when one or both of us was on vacation, I would say we have both logged in at least once daily on the same desktop home computer for at least 6 years and neither of us has been deactivated. Our work is completely separate. We both do similar shops and we do not work together on the shops we do, although sometimes we do fine dining shops together (not for Market Force).

I do expect that if one of us is ever deactivated, we will BOTH be deactivated, because Market Force would want to prevent a deactivated person from accessing their system. The logic there is that if my family member is deactivated, she could still have access to MF through my access since we share an ip address and a computer. And vice versa. So I guess we would both get the axe.

Thanks for the input. I guess I will just have to see how it plays out....

They WILL deactivate one of you... In time.... it WILL happen. Over and over the threads show this. I asked a scheduler once what about library users. She told me it is a firm fast rule. No ISP sharing.

I think - - - At the same physical address, a computer can have more than one IP address, as can a router.

ISP is a horse of a different color. Hundreds/thousands/millions use the same ISP.

My husband and I generally do not share a computer. We each shop, sometimes for the same MSC. As ICs, there is nothing that prohibits such.

There is one MSC that has no problem with it, especially if it gains them a shopper with a different demographic. We were able to do a shop that way and had tons of fun with it.

ISP is internet service provider. As said above millions use the same ISP so I doubt if MF is deactivating all of those shoppers. My question was regarding an IP address which is usually the physical address from which you are reporting your shops. If I am reporting from the library it is a different IP address but may be the same ISP. I was more concerned with my roomy and I using the same IP address if we are reporting from home.

Why haven't you contacted the Help Desk directly? You would have had a clear answer by now instead of speculating.

Just to let you know, they do deactivate you, because me and my mom had the same IP address. I made an account for my mom and kept her password the same as me because we have a common pet. They deactivated both of our accounts (but we still have access to the theater portions) Makretforce's food and theater divisions are totally separate. My dad tried applying and they denied his request, so I am totally certain they have ways on monitoring same ip addresses, phones, etc. Be careful! They wont tell you their methods of dropping clients either, they do it by will or send some bull crap email saying they have the number of shoppers they need for a certain market if they don't want you, which usually means they think your making another account from the same IP

Marketforce actively monitors for multiple users on the same IP address. If you share the same home router even if both shoppers use two separate PC's, you are still sharing the same IP address. They may not deactivate you immediately, but if one user is deactivated, the other will be found and deactivated.

This policy is due to shoppers creating duplicate accounts. It is also due to shoppers that are in rural areas that will do dishonest things. An example would be shopper #1 accepts a job and then flakes at the last minute and then shopper #2 gets the shop at a very high bonus. There are many ways one or two shoppers that are under one roof can cheat them or attempt to get around a deactivation.

I have seen anecdotal evidence from both sides on this forum -- where two shoppers use the same IP address with no problems, and where using the same IP address appears to have resulted in deactivation of one or both shoppers. I think the real answer is in between: Using the same IP address doesn't necessarily lead to deactivation, but it greatly increases the likelihood.

@scanman1 wrote:

... If you share the same home router even if both shoppers use two separate PC's, you are still sharing the same IP address. ...

What scanman1 has said is frequently, but not necessarily true. When I have both my PC and my laptop running, and I also have my cell phone logged into my home wifi network, I actually have three different IP addresses that are exposed to the outside world. Granted, they are in the same IP address block, but they are distinct IP addresses.

Having said all that, I agree with others that Marketforce actively checks for duplicate IP addresses.

Ok. Scanman finally gave me an answer that makes sense. I can see why they would deactivate 2 shoppers with the same IP address in a rural area. Seems like a lot of trouble but I guess there are people out there that do those types of scams. Still activated on my end but my roomy kinda gave up on shopping ( you know how that goes) haha.

I am thinking the question: "Did you perform this shop?" is asked because let's say you and your husband both shop, you get sick and your hubby runs out and performs your shop. I am sure shoppers have done that in the past.

@junk1958 wrote:

@scanman1 wrote:

... If you share the same home router even if both shoppers use two separate PC's, you are still sharing the same IP address. ...

What scanman1 has said is frequently, but not necessarily true. When I have both my PC and my laptop running, and I also have my cell phone logged into my home wifi network, I actually have three different IP addresses that are exposed to the outside world. Granted, they are in the same IP address block, but they are distinct IP addresses.

Having said all that, I agree with others that Marketforce actively checks for duplicate IP addresses.

You are partially correct. You will be assigned three IP addresses by the router on the LAN (Local Area Network) side of the router facing the devices. The WAN (Wide Area Network-Internet) side of the router will only take one DHCP assigned IP address from the cable modem or provider and all the devices behind the router will share the same IP address to the Internet.


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/2015 01:22PM by scanman1.

And then there is anonymizer.

@lucky7s wrote:

And then there is anonymizer.

I would not put it past MF to check for such services and red flag IP ranges that are outside the country or your regional area and immediately deactivate with prejudice! If you value working for them, I would advise you not even think about this.

My husband and I both work for them. We both registered on the same computer, 10 years ago. We do similar shops. We have the same address, the same home computer, the same laptop, and we even share mobile devices (phones & tablets). I WAS deactivated once, for something that ultimately turned out to be a no-fault error, and was reactivated (Yes, even I was amazed at that one!), but my husband was not deactivated during this time.

Most of the time, however, they are like many MSC's I deal with: impossible to reach in an emergency, but otherwise ok to deal with. Purple has easy reports, for okay pay, and not too much work. I will put up with the headaches for the work, most of the time.


Having said all that, I will say that I do have my issues with MF, especially with the new time policy. Yesterday one of my shops was moved to the "overdue" column before it was even due to be shopped, and before I got to the site I already had an email "politely" reminding me to hurry up and turn in my report. Not cool.

@scanman1 wrote:

You are partially correct. You will be assigned three IP addresses by the router on the LAN (Local Area Network) side of the router facing the devices. The WAN (Wide Area Network-Internet) side of the router will only take one DHCP assigned IP address from the cable modem or provider and all the devices behind the router will share the same IP address to the Internet.

To expand on what scanman said. You can google the phrase "What is my IP" and google will return your PUBLIC (what other devices outside your router sees) IP address. Think of it in an old company phone system where inside you would all have extensions. I might be 5551 and scanman is 5552 and you're 5553. Those numbers mean nothing to anyone outside our internal telephone system, but when we call a number from any of our extensions the same external telephone number shows up (well, not anymore but it used to and now I'm just complicating things).

Anytime you see an IP address of 192.168.x.x that is an internal, not external IP address. Meaning those numbers have been taken out of the range of public IP addresses and are only used on internal networks. They're kind of like telephone extensions in your office phone system.