Mystery shopper scams continue to victimize innocent people.  One reason for the large number of mystery shopper scams is that mystery shopping actually is a legitimate job.  There are companies that do anonymous shopping at retailers and are paid for describing their experience in order for the particular retailer to learn how to improve its retail sales experience.  However, these jobs are few and far between.  More often you will answer an advertisement or an email soliciting you as a mystery shopper.  After you sign up, you are sent a check (in one recent mystery shopper scam, the check was $2,000) and asked to use the money to make specific purchases, keep a portion of the remainder of the check as your payment and then wire the rest back to the mystery shopper company.  Herein is the essence of the scam.  The check that you are sent is counterfeit, but the funds you wire back to the mystery shopper company from your checking account are real and you lose that money.  Recent mystery shopper scams appearing in North Carolina and elsewhere are using the names of legitimate companies, such as the Bernhardt Company, a furniture manufacturer.  By the way, Bernhardt Company does not hire mystery shoppers.

TIPS

Legitimate mystery shopper companies do not solicit buyers through emails.  If you get an email recruiting you, it is a scam.  Legitimate mystery shopper companies will not send you a check and ask you to wire money back to them.  This is a common scam.  It relies on the fact that banks give provisional credit to a deposited check in a few days while it may take much longer for a check to actually clear or be found to be a counterfeit, in which case, the amount your account was credited with is taken back by the bank, however the money you sent to the scammer from your account has been already deducted and gone forever.  It is a good rule not to do business with anyone who provides you with a check for more than what is owed you and asks for you to refund him or her the difference.   You can investigate legitimate mystery shopper companies at the website of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association at http://www.mysteryshop.org/