Mystery Shopper Scam

[Michelle]

This was send to one of our co-workers after writing to a known scammer applying for the position of a "Mystery Shopper".

At this point she was accepted for the job and was being sent a (counterfeit) cheque which she was expected to cash at her bank and then go and "Mystery Shop" to evaluate the level of customer services at Western Union.

Part of her "assignment" is to send a large proportion of the cheque's stated value onto the next Mystery Shopper.

The truth is that the cheque is fake, and the second Mystery Shopper is part of the scam. When it is discovered that the cheque is fake the bank will take steps to recover the full amount of the encashment, and may press charges against the victim for being an accessory to fraud or money laundering.

From: Richard Benard <[email protected]>
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 9:20 am
Subject: Re: mystery shoppers

Attn Mystery Shopper:
This e-mail is to notify you that we have the first assignment for you for this week. The company has issued out a payment to you for this week's assignment meaning
that your weekly payment of $400 has been issued to you with some funds which you will use in executing this Assignment.

Read and make sure you understand all that is stated below to avoid any mistakes. You should receive a check today and this is part of your assignment and it would be delivered to you today via courier service, Payment was issued to cover the project bills and also part of your weekly wages and Assignment:-

Once you receive the check, you should take the payment to your bank and cash the payment today then deduct $400 as your weekly wage. Also deduct $200 as cost allowance.



IMPORTANT: THE PAYMENT WILL BE IN FORM OF A CERTIFIED BANK'S CASHIER'S CHECK AND CAN BE CASHED INSTANTLY AT ANY BANK WITHIN THE COUNTRY.


The remaining balance should be used for the below assignment. Follow these instructions below.


1ST ASSIGNMENT: Your first assignment is to go to nearest Western union store closed to you and check out and use their western union services.

As a secret shopper, you should go there and study how to send money and memorize all you see at the outlet. We want you to report back to us with the following information:


-Name of the Store/Outlet
-Procedure of attendance:
-How many attendants were at the outlet:
-How many minutes it took for them to attend to you and process transfer:
-Information that you think would be helpful
-Your comments and impressions.



As a secret shopper your job is to observe any thing useful going on in the outlet. Make sure you observe everything you see in there because you may be asked some other questions when you return. So then you would go ahead and make a western union money transfer to another mystery shopper for another assignment.


We want you to deduct your weekly payment of $400 and have the remainder funds sent to the information below for proper preparation of our next Mystery Shopper.



TRANSFER THE REST OF THE FUNDS THROUGH WESTERN UNION TO THE
BELOW INFORMATION:

Name: Steven Norris
Address: 632 dayton Dr
Detroit Michigan 48210

Our Finance department has just established a new system which you might have never heard of and it is called Alert Pay. And this service is been Privately owned and
established under our management since 2004 with many competitors we have a very low rating and few customers and we want to develop and upgrade our service to the best and fullest. So we only need the report you provide so we can work on our service.

Please try as much to be discrete when doing your work as a mystery shopper, just observe all you see and report back when you get back home. Your next assignment this week would be immediately after this one, we would provide you with the details and address and your balance weekly payment.

Also to further finalize this Assignment, you have to get back to us with the below western union transfer information for the money you sent to the other mystery shopper:

1. Senders Name and Address
2. 10 Digit Money Transfer Control Number {M.T.C.N}
3. The amount transferred after deducting western union charges.

This project shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours to execute and the time limit matters to us, with that we can also determine your efficiency and the commitment you show towards working with us. Do get back to me with the Reports and Transfer information.
Looking forward to work with you on this project and remember to pretend to be a client who wants to send money so they wont detect you are a secret shopper. Should you have any other questions or need more Instructions as to your first assignment,
Kind Regards,

[Michelle]

Another Mystery shopper ... this time [email protected]

Once you say that you are interested you should receive something like this :-

Hello XXXXXXXXXX

I welcome you as our new Mystery shopper, you are receiving this confirmation that you have been accepted, and I do Kindly read the Shoppers Ethics and Conduct and reply back by sending a confirmation letter that you fully understood what your duties are and then you will be giving your first primary assignment Shopper Ethics and Conduct Agreement by submitting this application, you agree to and accept the following terms:

* I am an independent contractor with no employment relationship with Sights on Service. Any payments to me are conditional on submitting an appropriate, complete, on-time report, and complying with all of the guidelines of Mystery Shopper®.
* I agree to perform all shops to the best of my ability.
* I agree to perform all shops with honesty and integrity.
* I agree to perform all shops personally and not recruit others to fulfill my assignments.
* I agree to submit all reports on or before the deadline.
* I agree to give immediate notice if I cannot perform a shop for any reason.
* I agree to return follow up calls or e-mails in a timely manner.
* I agree to honor all confidentiality agreements.
* I agree to keep paperwork, receipts and notes for at least 90 days in case questions arise by the client.
* I will not perform a shop unless I have thoroughly read each question on the survey and the guidelines provided.
* I will not falsify or misrepresent reports.
* I will not share information with others on which clients are shopped by Mystery Shopper®.
* I will not share information with others on shopping fees and payments for specific clients.
* I am not an employee, officer or consultant for any other Mystery shopping company. (I may perform shops for other companies.)
* I will not share the results of a shop with others in order to protect the client's confidentiality.
* I will not perform any shops under the influence of illegal drugs, or prescription drugs that might impair my abilities.
* I agree not to become inebriated or drink beyond the legal limits set forth in my state or perform any other activity that my cause harm to myself or others while Mystery shopping.
* I will not contact a client directly.
* I will not disrupt the normal business flow of an operation in the process of performing a shop (do not cause a scene).
* I will not announce myself as a Mystery shopper to the business being shopped unless given specific instructions by Mystery Shopper®.
* To avoid any possibility of bias, I agree not to accept any assignment to shop a business that has employed myself, a member of my household or immediate family, or any close friends now or in the past 24 months.
* I will not list Mystery Shopper® as an "employer" on any forms (especially unemployment forms) because I am hired strictly as an independent contractor.
* I understand that a valid email address is required to be registered as a Mystery shopper. I agree that any emails sent to me about the availability of shop opportunities are part of the shop process and are not spam, and I will not report them as such.
* I understand that some companies may utilize surveillance tapes from their stores and attempt to match shopping reports with taped interactions and that my shop behavior can be challenged if not reported correctly.
* I understand that I must be 18 years of age or older to be a Mystery shopper.
* I agree that I will not fill out an application for anyone other than myself. I understand that each person must fill out their own application to become a Mystery shopper.

I.......................Sincerely understood what my duties are and will abide with the rules and regulations of the Mystery Shoppers.

Yours sincerely,
Mystery Shopper

So ...you agree with the rules and regulations and then receive something like this

Hello XXXXXXXXXX

Shopper's Guide wants you to run a survey on two prominent Companies
in your area, as i believe you must have gone through our Shoppers
Ethics and Conduct Agreement.
Please make sure you reply within the Maximum hours of 24 so that your
information will be giving to the paying agent


The 1st is a Western Union Location and The 2nd a Restaurant
There has been reports about laps in the services of their Management
and some of their staffs,
Their complains were based on reports which their customers forwarded
anonymously and Phone calls which were also made to the head office.
The Western union location was reported for evaluation for the
following reasons:


This is for the Western Union, You can Pick up ANY Western Union
closer to your Area
i) Customers have reported their money missing
ii) Slow services
iii) Unbalanced transfer charges


This is for the Restaurant, You can Pick up any restaurant closer to your Area
The 2nd company was reported to be rendering
(i) Poor services
(ii) Rudeness to customers
(iii) Excess charge
(iii) Late opening time and Closing before time.


Your Secret Evaluation would be
1) To make a transfer of fund from this Western Union location to our
Mystery shopper,And the funds would be picked up by another mystery
shopper at the exact location Which a customer reported her funds
missing.

2) You will have to record the time at which you go to the location
and how many minutes it took you to get service.

3) You would be sent a check which would cover your payment of $300
and also for the duty. As soon as you receive the check, you will get it
cashed at your bank, deduct your $300 and use the rest of the
money for the services.

4) Upon receiving the funds, the locations address would be forwarded
to you, and also the name and address of whom the Mystery shoppers
transfer would be made to. You would have to keep a comprehensive
report on every activity you carry out.

5) You would also provide me with the name of the cashier that attended to you.

Please send a reply to me,so that the check for your expense and trip
will be giving to you ASAP
Please confirm your Name and Address for more information.

Yours Sincerely
Mystery Shopper

OK ??? .... sounds pretty good so far ?!. Now just confirm your name and address and you are half way to banking your first (counterfeit) cheque and finding yourself into a whole lot of trouble.

Hello xxxxxxxx,
I want to thank you for getting back to us with your information as i feel you are the ideal Shopper we have been in search of...Well, our Paying Agents will be sending payment out to you for your evaluation,so i want you to check your mails often for details of the tracking,so you can know when to receive the payment.
As soon as you receive payment from our Paying Agent, you will have to cash them, take out your $300 for your evaluation and send the remaining balance to our other shopper, who i will be sending her information to you as soon as you have received payment.
I want to thank you once again and i look forward to working with you.
Have a lovely day
Regards

So ... Just sit back and wait and wait for trouble to drop into your mail box.