Mystery shopper scam?

[missimaxo]

Just got this email....

Dear Applicant,
We are a company that conduct surveys and evaluate other companies. We get hired to go to other peoples companies and act like customers in order to know how the staffs are handling their services in relation to their customers. once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job(either purchase
things or require services), after which you would write a comment on the staffs activities and give a detailed record of your experience

Examples of details you would forward to us are
1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Smartness of the attendant
3)Customer service professionalism
4)Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see how they react to clients when they get tensed.

And we turn the information over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving there services.
Most companies employ our assistance when people give complains about their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve their customer service. Your Identity would be kept confidential as the job states (secret shopper) you would be paid 200 pounds for every duty you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance, and funds would be given to you if you have to dine as part of the duty. Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area.
No commitment is made on this job, and you would have flexible hours as it suits you. If you are interested do send in these information:

FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
Post-CODE:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
MOBILE NUMBER:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
EMAIL:
BANK NAME:

N:B. You will help us receive payment from some of our customers in your region in which you are entitled to 10% on each payment you receive in your account on our behalf.
So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put your service into, and your address would also be needed for your payments.

Thanks
Yours Sincerely
Nicolas bright
email:nicolasbright2008@yahoo.co.uk


I don't like the bit about receiving money in my bank account for them. Looks like a scam to me. Also - uses a Yahoo address. What do others think?

PS I am signed up with a couple of mystery shopper sites but have not recently applied/ registered for a new one.

[hollydays]

Bad grammer,bad spelling,bad punctuation.Hardly likely to be evaluating other peoples standards.
Sounds like the 419 type scam( advance fee fraud)

[peter_the_piper]

Could even be one of the money laundering ones, delete.

[Becles]

That does sound like a scam - bad spelling and grammar and there is no way a MS assignment will pay £200 plus travelling etc!

Some MS companies do use hotmail, gmail etc., email addresses for people who work from home and do work for them. Don't discount all freebie email addresses as there are genuine people out there working for MS companies.

[titian10]

i would't take a chance with this.
delete it.

[Kavanne]

Send it back with some false details?

[SandC]

Agree with all the above, very bad spelling and grammar, would a genuine personal shopper be asked to deliberately wind up staff? I don't think so.

Payment of £200 per visit sounds way over the top too - if it paid that much I don't think they would be looking for new shoppers!

[geo555]

With all the bank phishing scams being sent out addressed to "Dear Bank Customer", most savvy people will recognise a scam. Giving all your details, they can be more convincing with them. Addressed personally, maybe a follow up phone call.
Avoid at all cost.

[poker_face]

Don't trust anything where the email is @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com or any free email, because if it was a real company they would have their own domain name. Also i know people who have done mystery shopping before and you have to register to do it, they dont just send out random emails.

[hollydays]

Shame they didn't go into a bit more detail about how you have to upset the attendant:
"you may be required to poke the attendant in the eye to see if this tenses her,An extra fee may be payable.."

[nicky63]

Steer clear.... this is a definate scam...... you will receive a fraudulant cheque apparantly from HMRC [Revenue & Customs] which is to be your start up money, then your first task as a mystery shopper will be to transfer funds.......

[Hootie19]

Originally Posted by Becles

That does sound like a scam - bad spelling and grammar and there is no way a MS assignment will pay £200 plus travelling etc!

Some MS companies do use hotmail, gmail etc., email addresses for people who work from home and do work for them. Don't discount all freebie email addresses as there are genuine people out there working for MS companies.

Agree that the email in the OP is a scam.

However, I got paid £160 plus travel expenses for a Courts Furnishing store assignment about 5 or 6 years ago. I only ever got the one, and of course Courts are no more, but the big payers are out there.

[Freddie_Snowbits]

bait them for gawds sake. A few of us who false them on, the more work they have to do to weed out the chaff

[giggity]

Same message from a different email ad.

Dear Applicant,
We are a company that conduct surveys and evaluate other companies. We get
hired to go to other peoples companies and act like customers in
order to know how the staffs are handling their services in relation to
their customers. once we have a contract to do so, you would be directed to the company or outlet, and you would be given the funds you need to do the job(either purchase
things or require services), after which you would write a comment on the
staffs activities and give a detailed record of your experience

Examples of details you would forward to us are
1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Smartness of the attendant
3)Customer service professionalism
4)Sometimes you might be required to upset the attendant, to see
how they react to clients when they get tensed.
And we turn the information over to the company executives and they would carry out their own duties in improving there services.

Most companies employ our assistance when people give complains about
their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve
their customer service. Your Identity would be kept confidential as the
job states (secret shopper) you would be paid 200 pounds for every duty
you carry out, and bonus on your transportation allowance, and funds would be given to you if you have to dine as part of the duty. Your job
will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of
shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area. No commitment is made on this job, and you would have flexible hours as it suits you.If you are interested do send in these information:

FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE:
POST-CODE:
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
MOBILE NUMBER:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
EMAIL:
BANK NAME:

N:B. You will help us receive payment from some of our customers in your
region in which you are entitled to 10% on each payment you receive
in your account on our behalf.
So we can look at your distance from the locations which you have to put
your service into, and your address would also be needed for your
payments.

Thanks
Yours Sincerely
Nicolas bright
email:nicolasbright2007@gmail.com

[Bronk Fronk]

The Real address for these Mystery Shopper Scamsters is:
###################################
Vee Networks Ltd
Plot 1678 Olakunle Bakare
Opp Sanusi Safina
Victoria Island
Lagos
Nigeria
######################################
Nuff said:+}

[Chevalier]

I do agree it's highly tempting to send a spoof reply, but unfortunately this would give away the information that the scammer has found a genuine e-mail address, and expose you to further phishing attempts of this kind.

At a recent presentation from our local Trading Standards, we were warned that these type of e-mails are sent out in a blizzard in the hope of catching some real people. The big clue is the fact they actually ask for your e-mail address - even though they've supposedly personally sent you an e-mail on it!:confused:

What's really worrying is they won't even necessarily ask for a fee - you may not even hear from them again. The gold they're really after is all that nice information on your name, age, profession, phone numbers etc, all of which is highly saleable in the ID theft game...

Very depressing. Thanks for posting, missimaxo - this is one I hadn't seen before.

[Macmuffin]

Another storm of these 'invitations' has just hit the wires this month (Jan 09). Nice work by Bronk Fronk in finding the Nigerian link; home to much identity theft and laundering of personal details for fraudulent use. Couldn't agree more with Chevalier's advice - DO NOT REPLY, however tempting; a confirmed, live e-mail address is also a saleable item! I have forwarded a copy of the latest version in circulation to UK Trading Standards (Consumer Protection) for their attention as well.

[Macmuffin]

Just received another one of these 'invitations' (18th Jan 09), the e-mail address on which is very similar to that of a genuine MS organisation [mystery-shoppers.co.uk]...................................

From: Mystery Shopper Inc. UK [mailto:admin@mysteryshopper.co.uk]
Sent: 18 January 2009 18:03
To: Undisclosed recipients:
Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] *** SPAM ***Mystery Shopper Needed

EARN NO LESS THAN Ј200.00
Need extra INCOME!
Become our [ MYSTERY SHOPPER]:
Earn [ NO LESS THAN Ј200.00] Per Venture:
It is Very Easy and Very Simple:
No Application fees:
Here's your chance to get paid for shopping and dining out.
Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide Variety of shops,Stores, restaurant and services in your area.
Mystery shoppers are Needed Throughout UK. You'll be paid to shop and dine out-plus,you can also get free meals, Free merchandise, Free services,free entertainment, Free travel and more. Great Pay. Fun Work. Flexible Schedules.
No experience required.
If you can shop-you are qualified!
Let me explain to you what it entails
What is a mystery shopper?
A mystery shopper is like being 007 at the mall. Mystery shoppers must complete their assignments and go un-detected.
Mystery Shoppers receive assignments consisting of a variety of business types such as: restaurants, food chains, automobile dealerships, retail stores, and more.
Businesses benefit from the services of a mystery shopper because they report their unbiased review from a customer standpoint.
This enables the business to identify problems that could result in a unhappy customer and loss of sales.
As you can see, mystery shoppers have a great responsibility and are paid accordingly.
As a Mystery Shopper you can:
earn up to Ј200 per assignment have a flexible schedule and hours pick and choose what assignments you want bring your kids with you on assignments.
work part time or full time.
get free merchandise
get paid for dining out
stay at hotels for free
get paid for going to the movies
and much more...
What you need to do is to get back to me with the stated details below..
Full Name:
Address:
city:
Post code:
Age:
Phone Number(s):
Banking Institution:
We are looking forward to read back from you.
Jacob Miller.
Mystery Shopper Inc.

[Macmuffin]

Mystery-shoppers.co.uk (a genuine MS company) provide advice on these scams and would be pleased to hear of any further variants; URL for their 'scams' advice page is:
http://www.mystery-shoppers.co.uk/my...pper_scams.htm

[adamheat]

Yes it is a scam here is one i got today, thought I would stiff it out, on sign up it asks for bank details yep really, DON'T FILL IT IN. Proper mystery shopping sites will give ask you your bank detials after completion.

details enclosed below:


Attn,
HERE IS YOUR MYSTERY SHOPPER TASK AND IT SHOULD BE COMPLETED AFTER RECEIVING THE MATERIAL REQUIRED FOR THE
TASK.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL ASPECTS OF THIS TASK SHOULD BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL SO AS NOT TO DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF THE TASK.
You are invited to run a survey on Western Union Quick Collect Service System at any Western Union Agent Location(s) within
your vicinity. The objective of this assignment will be to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a payment system
called "Western Union" -- a fast, reliable and convenient money transfer. Some Western Union Agent location was reported for
evaluation for the following Reasons:
* Delay in the Quick Collect System.
* Rudeness and agents inefficiency to customers.
* High Transfer charges
For this to succeed, you are not to divulge any aspect of this Evaluation Task to anyone. The TASK is supposed to test
Western Union Agents COMPETENCE AS REGARDS CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Your Customer Service Evaluation Requirement would be to:
*You will go into "Western Union" as a potential customer.
*You are required to make use of the Money Transfer and Quick Collect services to make a Western Union Money Transfer.
*You are required to send in a detail report of the Time it took you to get the Money Transfer made from the time of arrival
at any of the Agent Location
* A Confirmation of the Western Union Transfer fee.
* You are required to forward back to us a detailed copy of the Western Union Transfer Details as soon as the assignment is
completed at any of the Agent locations within your vicinity.

A Check will be sent to you to enable you perform your TASK effectively. It will be sent to you via courier as soon as
possible, so if your Postal Address is different from the one stated please confirm and respond to this email.
PLEASE NOTE: YOU AS A SHOPPER WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO PAY ANY TAX AS IT SHALL BE HANDLED BY OUR CLIENTS WHO CALLED FOR THE
EVALUATION. IN THE EVENT OF ANY TAX BEEN PAID, IT WILL BE REFUNDED TO YOU.
I hope all details of this TASK is well noted and understood, please be on high alert and vigilant in the course of your
duties as errors will not be appreciated. FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS WILL BE PASSED ON TO YOU SHORTLY. Also you are required to
respond to this email as an acknowledgment of your Task.
NB: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO ALL EMAILS WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIVING THEM.
Further to the email on instructions as regards the Mystery Shopper Evaluation TASK, contained in the post you will get is a
Cheque. You will cash the Cheque in you bank and proceed to any Western Union Agency within your vicinity and perform your
TASK.

Remember you are to ACT like a normal coustomer and take note of the way you have been attended to . Find here the
Information you will use for the Western Union Transaction, there is going to be a TRANSACTION CHARGE at Western Union, you
can let it be deducted from the amount and make sure you deduct your 10% which is your comission for performing the TASK.
SEND MONEY TO:
NAME: DEAN DAVIDSON
CITY: London
POST CODE: EC2A 3AH

After the transaction at Western Union, you are to send an email with the following information:
SENDER'S NAME:
SENDER'S ADDRESS:
AMOUNT SENT:
MTCN:
Wish you the best in performing your FIRST TASK with Corporate Watch-dog as a mystery shopper.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards,
Darren Wales
Robert Scott (C.E.O)
External Evaluator
For:Live Mystery Shoppers Inc