Y'all,
I am a complete rookie, although I did dabble a bit back in the late 90s. When I moved to rural Central Colorado, there weren't many opportunities, so I gave it up.

Today I received an invitation from Mystery Shoppers Inc. (although the included link goes to a website called www.detroit-michigan-drug-rehabs.com).

Here's the message:
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We have a mystery shopping assignment in your area and your wage will be paid Per Assignment/Evaluation. Payment will be provided upfront in form of a cashier's check/money order,which has to be posted via USPS regular mail along with Assignment instruction to your address. Assignment Instruction and Notification will also be sent to you via email and endeavour to check your email twice daily for assignment update.

POSITION TITLE: Secret Evaluator
AVAILABILITY: Open
COMMISSION: $360.00 Per Assignment (2 Assignments weekly).

You would be sent Payment inform of Cashier's Check/Money Order, Upfront before you proceed with the evaluation, which would cover $360.00 as your Income for the assignment and the remaining balance of the payment will be used for the Mystery Shopping Assignment Evaluation.

The Job Entails Evaluation process,visiting ,Kmarts,CVS,7eleven,Grocery Stores,Food Lion, Rite Aids,Publix,Giants,Winn Dixie and many other stores around your vicinity e.t.c

Mystery Shoppers Inc., can provide your business with the following services:

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I believe, due to the large amount and confusing message- it seems addressed to both mystery shoppers and retail clients who need mystery shopping analysis- that it is a phishing scam to get my info.

Thoughts?

Thanks
scott

Scott, does that sound even remotely legitimate to you? There are a lot of neon lights flashing here: contacting a total stranger via e-mail to offer a job, the high pay, the payment in advance, need I go on?

SCAM, although the phishing e-mail uses the name of a legitimate mystery shopping company.

There's a list at the bottom of the page of about 200 legitimate mystery shopping companies. To get assignments, sign up with them and search their job boards.

Definitely a scam. Don't respond. Certainly do not send your information. The grammar (or deficiencies in it) would suggest a Nigerian link, but who can say anymore. I feel sure you would be sent a bogus check to deposit, 'keep some for your efforts' and wire transfer money along back to the scammer. Your bank would probably release the funds to you within a day or two. You might even feel pretty smart until two to three weeks later when the check finally bounced and your bank held you responsible for the money and the fees for a bounced deposited check.

This was making the email rounds about six months ago, I guess the scammers are broke and need Christmas money.

Smart of you to ask!

There are plenty of shops in "rural" Colorado. Try Presto-Insta maps!

Maybe smart of you to ask but NOT smart of you to click on the link. Never click on links from unknown sources. Actually it is not too safe to click on links sometimes from people you do know.

All of the above.

It's legit. I signed up for it, that's how I've been paying my mortgage.

Spicy, that's not even remotely funny. I know you're trying to crack a joke but a newbie who doesn't know you might take you seriously.

Plenty, you can sign up with legit mystery shopping companies for FREE! And don't fall for that other mystery shopping site where you have to pay a membership for. I don't remember that site's name. The MSC will pay you after you perform the shops correctly, not upfront. Make note of the MSC payment schedules. Each MSC have their own payment schedule and payment methods. If you're not sure how to proceed with a shop, contact that scheduler with your questions. They are there to help. The schedulers want you to succeed and complete the shops correctly. A lot of the newbies come onto this forum and complain that they won't get paid because they did not perform the shop correctly. If the instructions stated you must do A,B,C then you must do A,B,C not just A and C. Start off slow first before you take on more assignments/shops. You don't want to get overwhelmed.

Definitely. It seems like it fits the warnings on almost all MSC's I am signed up with. Anytime advanced monies are more than the expenses/fees, it is usually a scam. Particularly when it involves checks. Although many MSC's pay by check, none that I am with do this type of shop.

The folks overseas are getting more creative. They are hitting Airbnb's too with this scam.