FIRST MYSTERY SHOP: Wal-Mart Gift Card Scam?
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It is a scam, fairly well known in this community...sorry!! Not a good introduction to our activity, but please stick around 
Read a little on the discussion boards here, and you'll soon be doing lots of real jobs 
Read a little on the discussion boards here, and you'll soon be doing lots of real jobs
This is a SCAM. The check will take a few days to bounce, and the bank will want you to repay them. Meanwhile, you have sent the card numbers and PIN numbers to the scammers who are long gone. No one pays this sort of money in advance. No fees are anywhere near that amount. The scammers have gotten good at impersonating real mystery shopping companies, Contact the police and the US Postal Inspectors.
Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008
It's a scam, and thank you for asking! Too many people come here after the fact.
"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton
@myst4au wrote:
No one pays this sort of money in advance. No fees are anywhere near that amount.
At least for new shoppers.
There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind
At the moment only demons come to mind
My neighbor and friend just got an e-mail from a boutface; she was ready to take off and do the job! I had a hard time convincing her it was a scam, and she's a mystery shopper!
I finally convinced her by having her go to AboutFace website and see that the schedulers' addresses are NOT from aboutfacecorps.com
Everything else looked kosher -- no terrible grammar/misspellings, etc; pay seemed fair at $30 each "assignment", and so on.
But "corps" is NOT part of AboutFace's address.
Pretty darn slick.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2019 11:47AM by ceasesmith.
I finally convinced her by having her go to AboutFace website and see that the schedulers' addresses are NOT from aboutfacecorps.com
Everything else looked kosher -- no terrible grammar/misspellings, etc; pay seemed fair at $30 each "assignment", and so on.
But "corps" is NOT part of AboutFace's address.
Pretty darn slick.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2019 11:47AM by ceasesmith.
You mean WAS a scam, not wasn't...but I knew that is what you meant.
@ceasesmith wrote:
My neighbor and friend just got an e-mail from a boutface; she was ready to take off and do the job! I had a hard time convincing her it wasn't a scam, and she's a mystery shopper!
I finally convinced her by having her go to AboutFace website and see that the schedulers' addresses are NOT from aboutfacecorps.com
Everything else looked kosher -- no terrible grammar/misspellings, etc; pay seemed fair at $30 each "assignment", and so on.
But "corps" is NOT part of AboutFace's address.
Pretty darn slick.
It saddens me that seasoned mystery shoppers are fooled by this "gift card" scam. That leaves non-mystery shoppers really at risk. I have never had a real mystery shop where I purchased gift cards let alone scraped off the codes. Red flag! I am not sure how to combat these crooks that swindle hard-earned money from honest people.
Thank you to everyone for your responses! I feel so sorry for the people that get sucked into these things and so grateful that I found this group be able to get feedback. It felt too good to be true and you helped me see how this seeming windfall of money was going to easily backfire on me. Thank you!
I just had this scam tried on me but I *waited* to see what would happen with the check. I am fairly suspicious in nature and the whole “gift card” buying is used over the phone too, by scammers. They’re called ‘Campus Consulting’.
What di you mean you waited to see what would happen with the check?
I mean I not only waited for it to go through on my banking app, but I gave it a few days (it took 3, I was going to give it a couple weeks) to see if they’d cancel the check or if it would be proven to be false. My caution worked in my favor.
Do you mean it cleared in 3 days, or was found to be fake in three days?
@Holly_H wrote:
I mean I not only waited for it to go through on my banking app, but I gave it a few days (it took 3, I was going to give it a couple weeks) to see if they’d cancel the check or if it would be proven to be false. My caution worked in my favor.
The check cleared in three days. Three days after that, there was a debit/hold on it, therefore discovered to be fake then. There were three days in which I could have acted on it & been screwed.
Good for you. Lots of people would have taken the money out after the three days.
Common sense always prevails.....work first, payday after, not the other way around.
Live consciously....
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