Mystery shopper scam?

hpattenden

I actually applied for a Mystery shopper role after seeing an advert on Gumtree.com, as I have worked as a mystery shopper before. It was a fairly simple advert but I sent my CV and requested more information. This was the reply:

Dear Mystery Shopper,

You are on your way to earning for yourself an additional £250 in a
week. Make money and have fun at the same time as a Mystery Shopper.
We are a relatively small Research and Development firm in the United
States involved in the Business Development Processes of organizations
just setting up branches in the United Kingdom.
We conduct research and surveys discreetly about product and services
for our numerous clients, the result of which are used in their
business development. Mystery Shopping or Mystery Consumer is a tool
used by market research companies to measure quality of retail
service.
We send Mystery Consumers to act as shoppers to interact with the
business as a normal customer and report on the experience. Shoppers
are usually paid and their purchases reimbursed. The tool is used for
the management of the quality and performances of goods and services.
Our instructions to mystery shoppers can include a script of behavior,
questions to ask, complaints to give, purchases to make, and measures
to record, such as time it takes to receive attention from an employee
or receive a service, or the responses given to questions. From
there, the Mystery Shopper will then submit the data collected to us.
The data is then reviewed and analyzed before quantitative and
qualitative statistical [analysis] reports on the data are then
returned to the client company that enables measurement against the
previously defined criteria.

Who is a Mystery Shopper?
Sometimes known as a secret shopper, a mystery shopper looks like
anyother customer but is working undercover to perform market research
or other tests on business establishments. For example, a mystery
shopper may check on the quality of service and products at a
particular fast food outlet or to evaluate the effectiveness and
efficiency of a payment system with familiar questions like:
Were the staff friendly, courteous and helpful?
Were the washrooms clean?
Was the food hot and tasty?
Did the staff attempt to up sell?
Was the order filled accurately and quickly?
Why the Need for Mystery Shoppers?

Companies are concerned about the quality of your shopping experience.
If there is a problem, they would like to know about it so that they
can take corrective action and keep you as a customer. For this
reason, businesses hire mystery shoppers to check on their
locationsand report the results.
As well, comparison shopping can reveal pricing and service
differences of the competition. Mystery shoppers sometimes uncover
safety or security concerns and other helpful information. As an
independent contractor, you will invoice us your fees for services
rendered. As well, you will be reimbursed for any direct expenses
incurred (such as the cost of store purchases). We have conducted such
assignments for multinationals and conglomerates using privately hired
individuals who act as Mystery Shoppers to carry out the assignments
given to them. The results that we generate from the assignments has
however been tremendous which has encouraged us to always use
privately hired individuals for our research and surveys and while
these individuals (Mystery Shoppers) earn more money while having fun.
Here's your chance to get paid for shopping and dinning 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.

You'll be paid to shop and dine out, you can also get free meals, free
merchandise, free services, free entertainment and more. No experience
required. If you can shop, you are qualified.

If you are chosen, you will then be notified about your assignment
within 24 hours. If you are interested working as an independent
contractor being a Mystery Shopper, we request that you fill our
shopper profile below for consideration:

* Full Name:
* Residential/Office Address:
* Phone Number:
* Sex:
* Age:
* Occupation:
* A means of Identification scanned to us.
* A passport photograph scanned to us.

We will be contacting a number of interested Mystery Shoppers and
assignments will be given on a first to show interest, first serve
basis.
Thank you and we look forward to working with you.

Market Viewpoint Research & Development Company.
1381 9th Avenue
San Francisco, CA
94122
USA
Call David on 206-600-6350

The email address this was sent from was dhdavidhoughton@googlemail.com!! This seemed strange, so I didn't feel comfortable sending that kind of information. Having looked into it, I think this is a scam!! I tried calling the number provided and found it to be a fax number, I also checked the area code and found that 206 is not the code for San Fransisco, it's washington....... ?!?!? They don't send money, they don't ask you to send your bank details, but I think this is just to make it look legit. Anyway, I'm not going to take it any further, but I just thought I'd let everyone know that it's not always obvious!

caela_2

I just got one on gumtree today and to be honest, it is the most convincing scam I have seen yet but still raised my alarm bells.

It was sent after I replied to an ad on gumtree of observational shoppers (whatever they are lol). I have copied and pasted their reply below. The email it was sent from is [EMAIL="observational03@gmail.com"]observational03@gmail.com[/EMAIL] and apparently the guys name is 'Butcher' which isn't very encouraging. I've already reported it to gumtree.

________________________________________________________

Hello
This is coming to you regarding your response. We are seeking individuals with a keen eye, those who are extremely conscientious and responsible in honoring their commitments, and those who are able to effectively write non-judgmental narrative that can be used to generate actionable data. observational Shopping is fun and exciting but also must be approached very seriously and is definitely not for everyone.Live observation Shoppers Inc. is one of the global leaders in Customer Experience Management. Our proven experience and systems use information from a variety of sources, including observation shop visits and store audits to quantify the gap between your brand promise and the reality of exactly what your customers have experienced. We offer an innovative and dynamic approach which provides an improvement focus centered on those areas which will make the most customer impact. Our philosophy is "making experiences count". We want to make it yours too.Our clients include restaurants, retail stores, casinos, shopping malls, banks and hotels to name a few. In order to continually provide a fresh perspective for our clients,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!Live observational Shoppers Inc screens observational Shopping applicants on an ongoing basis. We have an excellent renumeration package which we believe is convincingly ranked as one of the best around. We send shoppers anonymously into their locations to order a meal in a restaurant, make a purchase in a retail establishment or inquiry to a service business. The observational shopper acts like any normal customer. After the visit, the shopper sends in a report, question or comment about the events that happened during the visit. The information should be objective only and should contain only the facts about the visit.If you decide to become a Live observational shopper Representative , you would be an independent contractor. You would have the option to decline any assignment we offer you. However, if you do accept, your TASK must be completed and submitted within 24 hours. In the light of this, I will appreciate if you can respond to this email as a Confirmation of your acceptance to be a LIVE OBSERVATIONAL SHOPPER INC REPRESENTATIVE.Your job will be to evaluate and comment on customer service in a wide variety of shops, stores, restaurant and services in your area which will be communicated to you on your reply to this email.Here is all what we require you to do:

a) The observational shopper acts like any normal customer:
b) Smartness of the attendant / services:
c) The quality of customer service:
d) How long it took you to get services done / or what services were like:
e) You might be required to upset the staff, to see how they react to clients when they get tensed this results in:
. Better staff experience
. Better customer experience
. Better customer loyalty
. Better sales productivity
which all equates to increased ROI and an advantage over the competitors.
This Report would be turned over to the company. Most companies employ our assistance when people give complaints about their services, or when they feel there are needs for them to improve on customer service.
Your Identity would be kept confidential as the job states (observational Shopper) you would be paid a flat fee of £1,000 at the end of the evaluation assignment ( which is 3 TASKS ) there will be a commission for you from the 2nd TASK as the First TASK is more like a TRIAL TASK.
You would be provided with the service Location within your vicinity to start up with as soon as possible. On completion of your first TASK, A Smart Shopper Account would be created for you where all your entitlements would be paid into. TASK will be within your vicinity but if outside your vicinity, all expense will be taken care of. Please let me know if you are able to travel outside your vicinity in your response.
Have a wonderful day and we look forward to a favorable working arrangement with you.
NB: YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO ALL EMAILS WITHIN 24 HOURS OF RECEIVING THEM SEND YOUR FULL CONTACT NAME,ADDRESS,PHONE NO AND BANK NAME.
thanks
regards
butcher

________________________________________________________

This is quite a recent one (mid-June 2010), so watch out for the same if you're using gumtree. I've googled their 'company name' and it doesn't exist. There are also a lot of errors and too much attempting to convince me about their company and its legitimacy. Also, notice how they say not everyone is appropriate for this role, however just off the cuff they've accepted me with no further questions.

I did reply to the email only to try to get more details about them and further expose them, but now I'm afraid I've only verified my email address to them, so please take note of earlier advice here which was too late for me lol and don't reply at all. Just report as spam.

:mad:

jetdave

Here's another one arrived today:

Subject: Secret Shopper Employment Vacancy
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:04:51 +1000
From: Secret Shopper®Employment Vacancy <mysteryshops@shop.com>
Reply-To: <mysteryshopper1@student.com>
CC: recipient list not shown: ;


We have a mystery shopping assignment in your area and we would like you to participate

Secret Shopper® is accepting applications for qualified individuals to become mystery shoppers. It's fun and rewarding, and you choose when and where you want to shop. You are never obligated to accept an assignment. There is no charge to become a shopper and you do not need previous experience. After you sign up, you will have access to training materials via e-mail, fax or postal mail.

ABOUT US

Secret Shopper® is the premier mystery shopping company, serving clients across New Zealand and Austraila with over 500,000 shoppers available and ready to help businesses better serve their customers. Continual investment in the latest internet and communication technologies coupled with over 16 years of know-how means working with Secret Shopper® is a satisfying and rewarding experience.

Secret shopping as seen on ABC NEWS, NBC NEWS, L.A.TIMES. Stores and organizations such as The Gap, Wall mart, Pizza Hut, and Bank. One amongst many others pay for Secret Shoppers to shop in their establishments and report their experiences. On top of being paid for shopping you are also allowed to keep purchases for free. Secret Shopper® NEVER charge fees to the shopper. Training, tips for improvement, and shopping opportunities are provided free to registered shoppers. Mystery shoppers are either paid a pre-arranged fee for a particular shop, a reimbursement for a purchase or a combination of both.Secret Shopper® has available for immediate assignment aninspection of the customer service of any wall mart in your area. You are to shop secretly and invest just $10. This fee will be paid upfront. During this shop you will visit the location and make several observations as regards the customer service.

You will be required to interact with the shop clerk.

You may conduct the shop alone or as a couple.

The assignment will pay $400.00 NZD/ Assignment

Kindly Fill Out the application form below and we will get back to you shortly with the assignment:

PERSONAL INFORMATION:

First Name:
Middle Name:
Last Name:
Street Address:
City,
State,
Zip Code:
Cell Phone Number:
Home Phone Number:
Age:
Current Occupation:
Banking Institution:
Alternate Email Address:
Hours Available: from _______ to ______

We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Linda Moore
Secret Shopper®