Mystery shopping scam??

lozdohe

Hi all
Just recieved this email...


The Mystery Shopper UK

"We have a mystery shopping assignment in your area and we would like you to participate"Mystery Shopper® is accepting applications for qualified individuals to become mystery shoppers. Its 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:
Mystery Shopper® is the premier mystery shopping company; serving clients across United Kingdom, America and Canada 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 Mystery Shopper® is a satisfying and rewarding experience. Secret shopping as seen on LONDON TIMES,ABC NEWS, NBC NEWS, L.A.TIMES. Stores and organizations such as The Gap, Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, and Banks. 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. Mystery Shopper® NEVER charges 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 assignment, a reimbursement for a purchase or a combinatio

Mystery Shopper® has available for immediate assignment an inspection of the customer service of a number of shops in your area.

What Will You Have To Do?

Assignments are many and varied and encompass all aspects of the retail and service industries. You may be asked to visit a certain shop and buy or return something, to attend a cinema, stay a night at a hotel, dine out at a restaurant, make an inquiry at a telephone call centre etc. Whilst carrying out this assignment you will have been given a checklist of things to observe and report back on which needs to be committed to memory before you undertake the assignment. Your status as a retail investigator must be kept secret at all times so you can't walk into the place with a clipboard and pen but must act as a real consumer would act. You need to pay close attention to detail and have a good memory to complete assignments successfully.
You are to shop secretly and invest just a token of your time. This fee will be paid up front. 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 ?200.00 pounds per duty 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, PostCode:
Cell Phone Number:
Home Phone Number:
Age:
Current Occupation: Alternate Email Address:

AVAILABILITY:
Days/Hours Available
Monday........................ .....................
Tuesday....................... ......................
Wednesday..................... .........................
Thursday...................... ........................
Friday........................ .....................
Saturday...................... .......................
Sunday........................ ......................
Hours Available: from _______ to ______

We await your urgent response.
Thank you for your help. We look forward to working with you.


Sincerely,
Ed Grafton
Hiring Manager
Mystery Shopper®


I replied with my details without thinking then got this back.....

Dear ?,

Upon review of your profile you have been accepted as one of our Mystery Shopper/Survey Agent. The expedition of your acceptance is due to the large number contracts we have on our hands at the moment with limited to deliver. As your test assignment you will be evaluating Iceland Foods and Western Union Services in your neighborhood.

Kindly check out for one Iceland food store and one Western Union agent outlet you will like to evaluate. Ensure the store and the outlet you will choose are as close to your area as possible, you will have to email the names and addresses of the two locations to us. Please note that you are to act Cool, Calm and Confident throughout the period which you will be carrying out your survey at the store, in order not to arouse any suspicion. you will be shopping at Iceland Foods and also make a transaction at the Western Union, you will write a report about the customer services, you will send your report back to us via Email, and you will have to use the following pointers to prepare your report:

1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Ambiance/Outlook of the Shop/Outlet
3) Smartness of the attendant
4) Customer service professionalism
5) Reaction of personnel under pressure
6) Information that you think would be helpful
7) Your comments and impressions.

Payments will be mailed out to you, which you will expend in carrying out all that will be required of you including your £200 Pounds per duty, compensation and transport fees. All Other Instructions will be sent out to you as soon as Evaluation commences.

Please reply this Email and give us the name and address of the Iceland and Western Union location you will be evaluating. Also send us a scanned photo of yourself so we can open a file for you in our records.



Regards
Ed Grafton
Hiring Manager


What do people think? Scam or for real??

Miss_Qwerty

This is a scam, don't do it.

Tesco_points_addict

Western union....I would have thought it has to be a scam. Sorry:(

Also you might want to edit the reply in your post as it has your name in it.

TPAx

Amber_Sunshine

200 quid for a mystery shop ... as if! Look at the number of grammatical errors in the messages, which are clearly written by a non-native speaker of English ... Nigerian scam, anyone?

bigbmxdave

lol £200 per shop. the going rate is £7-£10

wileycat

Do you wonder if the Western Union assignment is sending test money to someone!

flossiejo

If it was genuine then they would tell you which branch to go to and have a scenario you have to do.
This is def a scam - probably a long winded way to get your bank details off you.

lozdohe

Yeah i didn't realy think that one through!

Most recent email reads....


De[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ar ?, please go ahead and review the said addresses and send us a review confirmation.
Unpon our accesment and clarification we would effect payment.

Regards

E Grafton[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So maybe i won;t be wasting my time!!![/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]

[/FONT]

ChefBungle

I actually find it amazing that you're asking this question seriously.

If I were you, I would turn off your computer, lock the front door and spend the rest of your life in the safe confines of your home, as your ability to assess risk is obviously zero.

Muppet.

Mr.Mulla

With the looks of the email asking for some personal information, it's definitely a scam. Don't bother getting involved with it.