If someone claiming to
represent the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) OR any
Mystery Shopping company sends you a check and asks you to cash it, wire most
of it to someone else, and report on your experience with the wire
service....don't do it! It's a scam! Someone is doing that very thing and, in
some cases, is providing a toll-free number for their scam targets to
call...and they answer the phone as if it were really MSPA. It is not.
Fake
check scammers have been around for many years, adopting identities that suit
them, trying to appear legitimate. They may represent themselves as officials
from a lottery, telling you to cash a check they send you and wire a portion
back to them because the check mistakenly was for more than you supposedly won.
They may respond to your ad to sell your car by sending you a check for more
than your asking price, then contact you to ask you to wire the difference back
to them so they can fly out to pick up the car. Fake check scammers have a
thousand stories. Don't fall for them. Especially don't fall for a claim that
MSPA wants you to cash a check and do some mystery shopping! We will NEVER send
you a check and ask you to wire a portion back to us. Anyone who claims to be
MSPA and asks you to do that is a fraud.
If
you receive a check, regardless of who it is from, asking you to cash it and
wire a portion to someone else, DON'T! Instead, immediately contact the organizations
listed below.
Call
police (they may not be able to do anything, but filing a police report can
help if discover later if the scammers are caught)
File
report with your state's Attorney General
File
and report with www.phonebusters.com.
File
a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.
File
a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by telephone at 1-877-FTC-HELP or
at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.
If
the package with the check came by U.S. mail, contact your local post office
and ask for the Postal Inspector (be sure to take a copy of the stamped
envelope and its contents).
A
useful resource about avoiding mystery shopping scams and finding legitimate
mystery shopping opportunities may be found on the Federal Trade Commission's
website at www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt151.shtm
Mystery Shopping
Providers Association (MSPA)-Mystery Shopping jobs
http://mysteryshop.org/shoppers/
