How to Spot A Mystery Shopping Scam

Mystery shopping itself is not a scam, but many scam artists online pose as hiring companies in an attempt to steal money and personal identity. Mystery shopping, or secret shopping, is a part time job where a legitimate company will pay a mystery shopper to visit a business, pose as a real customer and evaluate the product or service. People use this opportunity for supplemental income and product freebies.

The first sign of a mystery shopping scam is when a company doesn’t have a screening process for new shoppers. Legitimate companies will always screen shoppers for a criminal record. Companies hire reliable and professional shoppers. Real mystery shopping companies are not going to hire a stranger without first conducting a criminal background check, or a work record check at the very least. No screening means someone is probably in a hurry to scam you.

Another sign of a potential mystery shopping scam are websites pushing sign up fees in order to get a job. This also comes in the form of a mystery shopper guide. People sell guides that include tips and supposedly leads for new shopping jobs. If you want to get paid to shop as a mystery shopper, it’s not necessary to pay for a guide. Job hunting tips and legitimate leads are available for free on the Internet.

Check the mailing address and location for a company and avoid companies with foreign mailing addresses or P.O. box numbers. Use only an established company within your own country. A legitimate mystery shopping company will always have a real phone number and a legitimate address, not a foreign address. If you are questioning the legitimacy of a company, search for the name on the Better Business Bureaus and Federal Trade Commissions website.

Steer clear of Western Union wire transfer scams for mystery shopper jobs. In this scam, the job seeker is promised a payment by check and a training guide in the mail. After receiving the check in the mail, you are told to deposit the money into your bank account and wire a portion of the payment to the company to get started, but the check is fake and never clears, potentially leaving the scammers with money directly from your personal bank account. Wire transfer scams are probably one of the most popular and most dangerous types of work from home scams.

A real mystery shopping company will never send you money without actually putting in work to earn the money. This usually falls under the wire transfer scam, but there are other types of scams where people are offered phony payments without working. To avoid these types of scams, stay away from classified ads for mystery shopper jobs. Most legitimate companies will not use Craigslist to post job ads.

Real mystery shopping jobs do not advertise unrealistic income. You are not going to make very much money shopping as a secret shopper. A real company will be up front about the income potential, how and what you can expect to be paid and job expenses that will be reimbursed. The best ways to find secret shopping jobs is to visit work at home sites and forums where real jobs are posted and talked about by those who have signed up and used the companies themselves.