• Planet Antares Scam Solutions | How to Avoid Mystery Shopper Scams

    Date: 2010.09.02 | Category: How to | Tags: ,,,,,,,,

    You’ve seen the ads for “mystery shoppers.” They advertise the opportunity to shop anonymously and rate the shopping experience. The ads promise good pay for the undercover information the mystery shopper provides. It sounds like a quick way to make cash and get some excellent products at the same time.

    Mystery shoppers shop on the company’s dime and write up a research report that detail’s his or her experience with the company being studied.  Consumer businesses don’t usually run their own mystery shopper programs.  Instead, they work with a mystery shopper company that provides shoppers and helps collect and report data.

    The trouble is that some “mystery shopper” positions are scams.  While it’s true that some businesses and market research firms use “mystery shoppers” to report on a stores, restaurants, and other consumer-oriented businesses, there are plenty of opportunities to get taken for a ride.  Mystery shopper scams are often advance-fee scams where a victim is sent a fraudulent check for some amount and told to spend a certain amount in local stores. They are instructed to forward the rest of the fee elsewhere.  If the victim bites, the victim ends up paying for an expensive shopping spree and losing potentially thousands of dollars on the advance fee.

    Planet Antares Scam Solutions provides some tips to help avoid being taken advantage of by mystery shopper scams.

    Check with the Mystery Shopping Provider Association to see if your company is a member. Legitimate companies may not be members, so by itself this may not prove anything, but MSPA members have undergone a rigorous examination by the organization and are known to be trustworthy companies.

    Do not pay an application fee to become a mystery shopper. Legitimate mystery shopper companies are like other businesses; you shouldn’t have to pay to work!

    Beware of ridiculous claims about how much money you can make as a mystery shopper.  The reimbursement rates are not substantial and you usually won’t make hundreds of dollars per hour, as some scammers claim.  Payments and reimbursements depend upon what you’re being asked to do and by whom.  Payment is usually by the job, rather than on an hourly rate. Reimbursements can cover the cost of meals, transportation and other legitimate expenses, but even these rarely add up to full-time work.  Most often, mystery shopping can supplement an income, or provide a fun, easy way to spend time and try products, but few people are able to make mystery shopping a full-time venture.

    Never cash a check provided by a mystery shopper company and forward part (or all) of the fee to someone else.  This is an advance-fee scam and can cost victims a small fortune.