* * * This is the name (and) email who I corresponded with * * *

NAME: JAMES COLLINS
EMAIL: collinswalmart21@aol.com

I answered an email looking for shoppers to do a Wal-Mart (Money gram) shop vs. another business location (Western Union) shop… to wire money to NY.

You guessed it! The check was bogus and I’m out $1,700.00 dollars. It sounded too good to be true, and it was! They were paying me $250. To do the assignment – and - $20. To make a purchase = $270.00!! They sent me a check for $3470.50 and told me to take my $270. Out first, then split the balance ($1,600.) and wire it from two (assigned) different locations. Luckily the second location doesn’t wire money… so I’m not out the other $1,600., too!!

In my 13+ doing Mystery Shopping, I have never been cheated/not been paid for any shop I’ve done. In the past, I would go to the bank and cash the check DAYS BEFORE I would do the shop, making sure the check was good. However, this time, because of the holidays, we were going out of town, and they were rushing me to get the assignment done… I didn’t take the time to do what I’ve always done in the past.

UPDATE: Since that last shop (even though I still haven’t wired the other $1,600. ~ Like I would!! HAAA), they have sent me another FedEx envelope ~ this time with FOUR money orders for $977.12 each ~ and my pay this time is $300.00!! (Needless to say, I’ve already gone to my bank, and they confirmed it) So, I’m letting them think I don’t know that the check (was) and the money orders are BOGUS!!

The first red flag should have been their bad grammar/spelling, and they would not give me a contact phone number. They said its company policy to do all correspondence by email (only) so there is a record of it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this ~ as I hope it will save anyone else from being the sucker I was!!!

ShopperJudy

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2010 08:33PM by shopperjudy.

You should contact the police and give them the cheques you were sent. The sender is perpetrating mail fraud. I was also sent some FedEx stuff and asked to cash the cheque but I went to the sender's bank and was told immediately that the cheque was fraudulent. I gave everything that was sent to me to the RCMP and PhoneBusters who are the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center.

This scam has been around for a long time. I'm really sorry you got caught in it.

Yup, same old 'too good to be true' scam. Sorry you fell for it ShopperJudy.

I as well have been through this same scam, I'm just too old and wise for this. Sorry, but, if it seems too good to be true, well.....glad you caught on!!

Come on people. No one should ever fall for this again. There isn't anything about this sort of arrangement that seems legit.

royalnbn, that's what I wonder sometimes. No one is going to send you money ( and a large amount of money on top of that) for next to little work.

Alright, already... I'm already beating myself up over this... I don't need anyone else to kick me while I'm down!! I had a senior moment and dropped my guard... and I paid for it ($1,700. worth).

The ONLY reason I posted it is to warn anyone else ~ who may be a NEW SHOPPER and isn't aware of schemes like this!!

Shopper Judy

* Thank you FLASH & IRENE_L.A. for your kind words!

If you read through the forum there are, unfortunately, a whole lot of folks who ask about the mystery shopping big checks they get. They seem to fall into two camps--those who want to find out about them before they deposit them and those who still want to feel that they somehow have not been taken. We have even had some folks indicate that the check cleared so it HAD to be legitimate. Unfortunately they rarely return several weeks later when the check ultimately is dishonored to provide the update.

I can see that it is just toooooo tempting to have your totally rational side shut up and be a believer. We would all like to have a few thousand dollars land in our laps uninvited. In an environment where it is hard enough in some cases to even get paid the pittance we are owed that is already overdue, upfront payment looks enchanting. It takes a bit of spine to step up and say, "Watch out, I got suckered and fell for it!" It is in the nature of scammers to be convincing. If they were never successful they wouldn't bother. So I appreciate your reminder to be vigilant and am sorry for your loss.

Welcome to the forum, judy, thanks for the warning. Sorry you are out money on this.

Judy, I am sorry you lost this high amount of money. However, you have to realize that no company is going to pay you that kind of money to shop. Anything
involving prepayment or Western Union is a red flag.

I can't believe that this is still going on. I received some of those bogus shop offers over a year ago.

If you ever put out more than the amount you are paid to shop, know the company. I don't mind spending a couple hundred bucks on a company that pays within 60 days, if I trust the company. TRUST and history of their payment. If you have neither, pass and go on. There are too many good companies that you can choose from.

thanks for the warning judy. i am new to this and this has helped me out reading all the feedback. sorry about your money loss. easy mistake.

Well, that's kinda like buying the Brooklyn Bridge and a promise for reimbursement if your report is acceptable.

I'm a little confused by something. The OP states that they've been MSing for 13+ years. How could they not know about this scam? It's on the front page of almost every MSC, Volition, here, etc. There are warnings about it all over the place. If one is working as a MS and getting assignments online, like most of us do, it seems nearly impossible to not have seen these warnings.

Again, I'm really sorry that the OP got caught up in this and I'm not ragging on her. I'm trying to understand how someone with many years of experience can still get taken because somehow, some way, we have to get these thieves away from our business. Communication and knowledge are powerful tools.

Well, the OP also said that she cashed her checks well in advance of all her assignments in the past, so I don't think she has been doing the same kind of assignments the rest of us have.....