Has anyone ever received an offer to become a mystery shopper and gotten a check for $4,000???

Question

I received an offer to become a mystery shopper after filling out a survey and checking the box that I was interested. Inside with all the paperwork was a check for $4,200 for paid training that is $540, going to 1 store and spending $100 and using the rest of the money to transfer Western Union. I have to rate the store and the Western Union. The check is real and someone else I knew cashed it before but then never completed the assignment (I would not do that I don't want to get in trouble) I was just wondering how legit it was since the check is real??? has anyone else ever done this??

Answer 1

It's a scam. If something is too good to be true, it usually is.

Answer 2

sounds weird.

Answer 3

Do not cash the check. You will get into trouble. It happened to my mom cuz she wouldn't listen and cash the check and the bank called her attempting to call her fraud. I have to explain everything for her and get her out of trouble.

Answer 4

Its a scam.  They are not real checks.  Bring those checks to your bank and ask them if they will cash them. I'll bet they say no, because they are not real checks.

Answer 5

NO NO NO  Do not do this - it is a scam and is trying to take your money.  They give  you a check or whatever and you are to keep so much and send them the rest.  But the check  you receive is no good and you may not find out for weeks.  Do Not do this.

I was a mystery shopper for Bob Evans Restaurants and I would go and buy a meal that they specified - pie or whatever, and then I'd send the receipt and they would reimburse the money.  I've checked into others and they often try to get identity information from  you and try to use you to get referrals for companies where they get a fee but you end up getting nothing.  

But the one  you speak of is worse as it is trying to steal money from you.  If you received anything in the mail, take it to your local postmaster.  You can take the "offer" to the police to check it out so  you know that is truly a scam, but I can tell  you 99.9% sure that it is a scam that will rip you off.  

Remember the rule -- IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT ISN'T TRUE.

This one isn't true.  BEWARE.  It is called the Nigerian Scam as that was where many of them came from.  They also tell you at times that they have all this money and need someone in the US to help them get it out of their country and they will give  you a big commission to do that.  So they send you a check and you are to forward on the money someplace but the check was bad.  Have nothing to do with this one.  Check will not be real and you will be in a real mess.

Answer 6

You NEVER get a check first as a mystery shopper, all of it is you pay, then get reimbursed along with your payment.  I have done this as well as multiple people I know, it always works that way.

Answer 7

It's a SCAM.

The check is NOT real. Throw it away, and STOP opening and paying attention to mail or e-mail from people you don't know who claim to want to help you make money. THEY'RE ALL SCAMS.

What will happen is, you will take the check to your bank and deposit it, then you will send most of the money off to the scammers via Western Union, and *then* your bank will discover that the check is no good and will make you pay them back all the money. You'll have lost every penny you send to the scammers.

Answer 8

warning!!!!! you have been scammed. The " mystery shopper" scam has been iaround for about a year. They get you to cash the cheque and send them the " change" . Later you find that the cheque was fraudulent and you are on the hook for the money that the bank  is out because of the fraud. This can lead to YOU being charged with fraud. DON"T CASH THE CHEQUE,  take it and the letter to your local police department and they may be able to catch the fraudsters.

Answer 9

Scam!  Scam!  Scam!

Take the letter to your local post office and ask to file a fraud report so that they can investigate the people who sent it to you.  DO NOT send the money, whatever you do---the check will bounce, and the money you 'transfer' will be lost from your own funds.

Answer 10

go to the bank its probably fake, i got one im 16 i dont know how they got my name and all that stuff it was some other thing not mystery shopper but it said i won $100,000 and needed to pay $500 to cover the transfer fees i got a check for $3500 and it looked very real and i had seen a dateline special on fraud and i told my dad and we went to the bank and the banker thought it was real until we showed him the letter that it came with and then he said no way it is fake, and he said its not real if you didnt do anything for it (the money) and he copied it, and investigated and called the company i think it was Citi and they said it was fake that they never made that check.  

http://www.fakechecks.org/

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Answer 11

Never did it before but I am very leary about those survey things, I' m always afraid that they will sucker me into something.  I hope you get a better answer than this one and I will be sure to follow up to find out if it's real or not.  Good luck.

Answer 12

HAHAHAHA... you're gonna get stuck for the check.  IT'S NOT REAL, don't be stupid.

Answer 13

Dateline or Nightline or something did a special on secret shoppers; that many ads are for real.  That its a great part-time job that can make bank.  

Of course, you have to have a good memory, good communication skills, and good taste, most importantly.

Answer 14

The whole Western Union thing screams of Nigerian scam.

Sure, you cash the check, send part of the money to western union, and 30 days later it bounces and you owe the bank all that money plus a ton of fees!

A real business will pay you in the usual way.

Answer 15

That's a scam anything that is Western Union etc is a scam a real secret shopping does not pay that much by far and the check is probably either fake or your sending money somewhere illegally I'm sorry but if I got a check for 4,000 I would cash it first and see if it was real before spending any money at some store I've done secret shopping pay is usually not much over $100

Answer 16

A lot of conartists use Western Union to do their dirty work. If it asks you to cash it and then send them back some of the money, then once you cash it and it bounces, you will be left with bouncing check fees, maybe fraud charges and $540 in the hole from where you were before. Don't cash it.

For example, postal money orders are safer, since using them for fraud is a felony against the government (wire fraud). No such protection with Western Union money orders.

Answer 17

Do NOT cah that check!! It is a Nigerian scam, they tell you to keep some of the money and wire back the rest. The check is a fake, the bank allows you to deposit it, you wire the money, by the time the bank figures out it's bad, you're in the hole for the amount wired.