Secret shopper scams exploit those interested in secret shopper jobs. Scammers may ask for a fee to access a database of jobs or trick victims into cashing a fake check. Avoid these scams by not cashing large checks or paying fees for job information. Legitimate secret shopper jobs are limited and often compensate with free products. Check with regulatory agencies to verify job postings.
A secret shopper scam is a scam that exploits people interested in secret shopper jobs. There are totally legitimate secret shopper jobs that are an important part of the appraisal process for many companies and public awareness of these jobs has led to increased interest in them and a resulting plethora of scams.
In the most basic secret shopper scam, someone responds to a solicitation claiming to be looking for secret shoppers and is told to shop at a range of stores. The buyer would have to send the receipts and valuation documents to the company coordinating the work, so that the refund can be provided, but never arrives.
In more complex scams, people are asked to pay a fee to access a database of secret shopper jobs. They are guaranteed employment, they said the database is extremely detailed and they assured they can make a lot of money as secret buyers. After paying the fee, the database may not exist at all, or it may contain readily available public information that could have been obtained for free. It goes without saying that there is no guarantee of employment, let alone the ability to make money as a secret shopper.
The most serious secret shopper scam involves tricking someone into cashing a fake check. The victim responds to a solicitation or is sent a solicitation out of the blue, receiving a package of appraisal documents and other materials designed to make the job legitimate, along with a cashier’s check for a large sum. The secret customer is told to cash the check, keep some of the funds for expenses, and create a money order for the rest, mailing the money order to another location.
In this scam, the victim cashes the fraudulent check and mails the funds, only to later realize that the check was bad and the funds came from the victim’s own account. In some regions, the victim may be liable for the amount of the bad check, causing legal problems as well as losing a large amount of money.
There are several ways people can avoid a secret client scam. First, people should know that secret shopping companies will never ask their employees to cash large checks and send part of the funds from the check to another location. Check scams are extremely common, and people should avoid any type of business arrangement where they are required to cash a large check, use the funds to create a money order, and send the funds to someone else. Second, people should avoid paying fees to access information about secret buying jobs and should ignore solicitations that seem too good to be true.
People should be aware that there are a limited number of secret shopper locations in the world, and most people who do secret shopping don’t do it as a full-time job. Even secret shoppers don’t make much money; often, their compensation comes in the form of permission to keep the products they buy with funds provided by the secret purchasing company. If people are unsure whether a job posting is legitimate or a secret buyer scam, they should check with the regulatory agency that oversees companies operating in their region of the world.
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