With the economy the way it is, most students would jump at the chance to earn some money while looking for a full-time job. That’s why many college students would jump at the chance to become a mystery shopper.   All you have to do is make a particular purchase in a store or restaurant, and then evaluate their experience. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Well, it just might be.  Recently, the Federal Trade Commission, has noticed that mystery shopping companies may be targeting undergraduate students and recent grads with bogus job opportunities.  The scam starts out sounding legitimate.  People answer an e-mail or advertisement looking for part-time work.  The scammer tells you that they need mystery shoppers.

You can shop in your own time and collect a fee.  If you’ve never been a mystery shopper, the next part won’t strike you as strange: the company is going to send you a check to use to buy the small items you need to purchase to appropriately rate a retailer.  Legitimate mystery shopping companies do not do that.   They pay only after you shop and file an evaluation form and the pay is a very modest amount.

The second red flag is that the check is going to be for a lot of money — likely $3,000 to $5,000 — which is vastly more than you need.   The con-artist’s excuse for sending so much money is that they want you to take your fee out of the check, plus the cost of whatever you’re buying. And then, they want you to wire the rest of the money in order to supposedly evaluate a bank or wire service.  They suggest you wait until the check clears to send them the money.   The check then bounces after the person wires the money, leaving the shopper liable for the fake check.  People who apply for the secret shopper or mystery shopper jobs are told by the company that they have only 48 hours to complete the assignment or they will lose the job.

Arizona’s Attorney General says, “Consumers need to know that a legitimate company will never send you a cashier’s check out of the blue or require you to send money to someone you have never met.   The scam artists use realistic looking documents, the ‘secret’ nature of the job, and the 48-hour deadline to pressure consumers into cashing the check and wiring the money quickly before the bank or the consumer can determine it was a fake check.  By then, it’s too late.”

So if a mystery shopper program asks you to pay an upfront fee to become an employee or deposit a check from someone you don’t know and then wire money back, walk away immediately.
To file a complaint or get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).