New Mystery Shopping Scam

There’s a new mystery shopping scam going around that I wanted to alert people to. It seems to be most common in the southeastern United States right now, but like all such frauds, is likely to spread.

Here’s how the scam works. People put classified ads in local newspaper or on classified ad sites like Craigslist and Backpage for mystery shopping jobs. Then, once you register they get you to do an “assignment” where you take a check, usually a cashier’s check, to conduct an evaluation of a bank, cash advance or check cashing company, or someplace like the Wal-Mart customer service desk, which will cash checks for you.

Then, they have you cash the check, keep part of it as your shopper fee, and then send the rest back. The problem is that the cashier’s check is fraudulent, and they just got real money in exchange for you helping them launder fake checks.

Never forget: If it souds too good to be true, it probably is!

A legitimate mystery shopping assignment will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER, send you a check in advance of the shop. You will ALWAYS have to front the purchase yourself and then include receipts with your report to receive a reimbursement.

So, be careful, and always be skeptical out there.

Peace,

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