secret shoppers?

[fkaB18C5MK1]

anyone do this or know anyone that does?

i filled out a thing online to be a "secret shopper" just messing around one day - you know those ad's that are like, "work from home, make such and such amount per month, work your own hours, get paid to shop"... yeah, so i filled out a form to be one.

so saturday, i get a envelope in the mail with a check for $2750.00 and a couple forms in it telling me to go to walmart spend $100 from that check, fill out the attached form rating my experience and send them the receipts back with the form.

then it gets kind of sketchy... it also says, go to a financial institution - either western union or moneygram and wire another $100 to a specific account (i have to call my 'account manager / supervisor' to obtain the account information.) then do the same, fill out the form on how my experience was @ the financial institution, send them back the form and any receipts. [this part kind of sounds like money laundering to me, but it may be legit?]

the other part that's kind of sketchy is, the envelope is from canada, the bank the check's written off of is National City Bank of Michigan/Illinois, and the forms i send go to NY. why are there three different places? i suppose the headquarters could be NYC, and possibly they could outsource the customer relations department in Canada, i dont know why the bank is in michigan though.. but basically, my take home every month would be roughly $2500? almost sounds to good to be true...

any takes on what i should do? should i just cash the check and roll with it? anyone know anyone that is a 'secret shopper'?

[dirtdiggler666]

i heard its a scam dont do it

[stiizy]

Secret shoppers only get like 150 bucks...

You know how this might be a scam..

you deposited the check in your account correct??

Now when they get the returned voided check it has your Acct number on it..

This is the same way things go with the 419 scam..

You deposit the check then take out all the money yada yada then they have you acct number to drain all your other funds and when you report it the y think you had something to do with it so your assed out in the end..


but as for this i would be real careful with it..

Although a lot of secret shopper things are based in NY but the 3 locations thing i would call a Manager or supervisor to be fully aware of whats going on..

[fkaB18C5MK1]

i'd never deposit it. i think there's a 10 day hold on cashing checks over $2500.
i'm going to go on snopes and see if i can find anything... then i'll go on bbb to see if there's anything on the company there.

thanks for the advice stiiz. def sounds sketchy.

[BustedS13]

a friend of mine got screwed by some fake sweepstakes operating out of Canada

Canada brings nothing to the table

[fkaB18C5MK1]

scam confirmed. dont get swindled fellow zilvians.

snopes.com: Secret Shopper Scams (http://www.snopes.com/fraud/employment/shopper.asp)



dang i got my hopes up too. i owe this year on my tax returns & i have a wedding to pay for... any extra funds are much needed. ah well.

[stiizy]

i'd never deposit it. i think there's a 10 day hold on cashing checks over $2500.
i'm going to go on snopes and see if i can find anything... then i'll go on bbb to see if there's anything on the company there.

thanks for the advice stiiz. def sounds sketchy.

Best thing to do even if it's a scam or not..

Is it a Cashiers check or bank check??

If so then take it to a check cashing place and have them cash it..

Whatever you do..

Do Not Deposit In your Account


Anything to help.....

[fkaB18C5MK1]

Best thing to do even if it's a scam or not..

Is it a Cashiers check or bank check??

If so then take it to a check cashing place and have them cash it..

Whatever you do..

Do Not Deposit In your Account


Anything to help.....


it's a bank check. drawn from National City Bank of Michigan / Illinois from a branch in Kalamazoo, MI. I suppose i could call the bank to see if the check is good, then if so, cash it @ a check cashing place...?

[kyoru]

Scam for sure, if it seems to good to be true...it is

[stiizy]

it's a bank check. drawn from National City Bank of Michigan / Illinois from a branch in Kalamazoo, MI. I suppose i could call the bank to see if the check is good, then if so, cash it @ a check cashing place...?

Cash it at a check cashing place...

If they don't oh well throw it away

If they do you 2700 bucks richer and hey you never knew it was a scam your just a guy looking for work right!!!???

[fkaB18C5MK1]

Cash it at a check cashing place...

If they don't oh well throw it away

If they do you 2700 bucks richer and hey you never knew it was a scam your just a guy looking for work right!!!???

i have a good job. i honestly dont know why i applied to be a 'secret shopper'. probably bored on the net. ha.

ah well. yeah cash it for sure. suppose i've got nothing to lose.

[ayuaddict]

my friend works at wells fargo and she told me about how people got their accounts frozen and sometimes lose all the money in them because of bad checks. its a risk and i actually think its illegal, even being a victim of a scam you can be held responsible and legal actions can be taken against you.

be careful mannnnn

[DUFFM4N]

take it to a check cashing place so they cant get your account information lol

[stiizy]

take it to a check cashing place so they cant get your account information lol

ditto like i said and if they don't cash it then fuck it...

[180sExy]

Cash it at a check cashing place...

If they don't oh well throw it away

If they do you 2700 bucks richer and hey you never knew it was a scam your just a guy looking for work right!!!???
lol scam the scammers nice! What are they gonna do go to the authorities an say you scammed them before they scammed you. lolz

[stiizy]

lol scam the scammers nice! What are they gonna do go to the authorities an say you scammed them before they scammed you. lolz

Exactly....................

[DUFFM4N]

yeah, then send me and stiizy $100 each....if it works

[fkaB18C5MK1]

yeah, then send me and stiizy $100 each....if it works

if it works, i'll send you the company info so you can apply to be a 'secret shopper'... then you can get $2700. haha.

[simmode1]

Just a heads up... Not sure if your state does the same, but Check Cashing places in TX require your I.D. And if the check turns out to be bad, they put your name on a blacklist so you can't cash checks at that place or any other in it's network anymore. Plus, they'll call the cops on ya next time you come in... Happened to a friend of my girlfriend...

Man, I'd shred that check. Karma is a bitch...

[stiizy]

yeah, then send me and stiizy $100 each....if it works

if it works, i'll send you the company info so you can apply to be a 'secret shopper'... then you can get $2700. haha.

We Want our Cuts Meng

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare/scarface/r1_5.jpg

[ANVIL]

yeah try cashing it at a place you wont have to give any account info. i wouldnt go spending it right away though. if something came up and they had your name or something else they might try to get the money back and maybe report it to a creditor or something

[aa87]

This thread is full of bad ideas.

There's gonna be no where that will accept a check without an id, especially cashing one out.

[stiizy]

This thread is full of bad ideas.

There's gonna be no where that will accept a check without an id, especially cashing one out.

We all know this but thanks for trying to shit on our fun in the thread

[fkaB18C5MK1]

We all know this but thanks for trying to shit on our fun in the thread

hahah. seriously.

but what if i call their bank first to see if the check is good? i shouldnt have to worry about showing some ID. i shouldnt be the one getting black-listed if it's a legit check with enough funds. i mean, technically this is my 'payroll' check. haha.

i'll read and re-read the forms, just to make sure there's no fine print.

[DUFFM4N]

^that would be a good idea as well....really, you have nothing to lose by going around asking questions and making some phone calls

[DreamN]

you could always be straight up with the cashier and tell them that you just joined this online job thingamabob and just want to know if it's too good to be true.

[ZilviaKid]

cash it with a fake ID!

[JeremyR]

cash it with a fake ID!



YES lets add identify theft and fraud to the mix as well!

[JVD]

Canada brings nothing to the table
Besides oil... and hockey. ROFL.

Guaranteed this shit is a scam.

So you're saying you signed up for some thing online and they sent you $2500 for no reason. Oh ya, seems totally legit.

[Felipe]

LMAO.... this just gets better and better....

[fkaB18C5MK1]

So you're saying you signed up for some thing online and they sent you $2500 for no reason. Oh ya, seems totally legit.

not $2500 for no reason...
$2700 to shop and wire them money to a different account, while i "rate" my wire transfer experience.

lol