“Market Censure”, a scam?

Hi all, new here and never been a mystery shopper.

Received a text about becoming a mystery shopper, figured I’d see where it went. Proceeded to an email exchange, which led me to this link:

[marketcensuresurvey.weebly.com]

The website and all communication has been really clean and well-written, but it of course smells like a scam.

What’s curious to me is that I cannot find this company on Google, nor can I find a single soul who has talked about it.

The assignment (according to the email) will be to check out bitcoin ATMs which I just learned are a real thing lol.

Well I figure it’s a scam and I know how to avoid it (don’t give them any money), but I’m surprised at how clean their website is AND that nobody on the internet has talked about them.

So what is this? Are these normal features of mystery shopper scams?

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Definitely appears to be a scam but as you noted a slick website. The red flag is in the "How it works" section where it states "Get the survey funding check deposited into your valid checking account so that the fund can be credited as the issuing bank as instructed." Aside from the odd syntax and grammatical errors, never deposit a check from a mystery shop company before actually doing a job. The check will eventually bounce and you will be responsible for the funds at your bank. Undoubtedly, the scam company will require you to send them something like a prepaid card before you have been notified of the fake check.

I’ve seen a 100% legit company do these ATMs so I am not sure about this other company.

I’ve also seen few Google hits on many MSCs

Since the OP is brand new here and posted the URL, and since the OP apparently suspects it is a scam site, I won't click on the link.

Dietcruncher, welcome to the forum! I am glad you checked here now instead after getting suckered. Too many stories get posted after the fact despite the red flags being there.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

But they pay $500 per each assignment!

Wow, that webiste is really slick. Not perfect, but they are likely to fleece a lot of people.

OP, that is 100 percent a scam.

Likely designed to have you send them bitcoin and then owing the money to your bank once the check bounces, as kenasch says.

What market, or whose market, is being censured? Never mind.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. - Lao-Tzu

As others have said, this is a scam. Weebly is a free website builder, and I would think any mystery shopping company would pay for a domain. Also their clients include stores that no longer have a brick and mortar presence (like Pier 1 Imports).

Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Eleanor Roosevelt

I sent a message to Weebly trying to get it taken down. Not holding my breath. The only way I could find is to report it as spam here: [www.weebly.com]

A message from law enforcement or a public agency would be taken more seriously, if anyone wants to pursue that as their good deed for the day.

@mystery2me wrote:

I sent a message to Weebly trying to get it taken down. Not holding my breath. The only way I could find is to report it as spam here: [www.weebly.com]

A message from law enforcement or a public agency would be taken more seriously, if anyone wants to pursue that as their good deed for the day.

The website must have been taken down. I get a "404" error and the message that the page could not be found.
Good Work!

Wow. That was fast. I just sent the message. Kudos to Weebly. Of course, it could have been someone else reporting it earlier.

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“Market Censure”, a scam?

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