What I Know About Mystery Shopping Scams

How can I avoid being scammed?

I receive emails every day telling me how much money I can make as a mystery shopper. These emails are scams.

• Mystery shopping companies never send you money upfront to cover purchases or for any other reason. If you receive a check with instructions for you to deposit the check in your bank account and forward part of it it is a scam. The check is no good, and you will be on the hook for the amount of the check. These scammers use the names of legitimate mystery shopping companies. Even if the check you receive is from a company you have shopped for in the past it is a scam. (If it's from a company you have never even signed up with, then it's obviously a scam. No one is going to send you a check out of the blue with the assumption that you will forward most of it to them.) Most of the companies I shop for have a notice on their login page warning of these types of scams. If you have received a check and believe that you are the exception to this rule, you should at least check out the company's website before you cash the check.
• Never pay to mystery shop. Although I do not reccomend them, a possible exception is Shadow Shopper. I have seen some people report that they have received jobs because they are members of Shadow Shopper. I have also seen reports of people having a difficult time getting the service canceled and the charges stopped to their credit cards. My experience has been that the jobs listed on Shadow Shopper are also listed on Jobslinger, which is a free service. And here's a bonus tip-sign up for the free shadow shopper option. (Make sure you do not give them your credit card number.) The free service entitles you to receive emails describing jobs available without any information about how to apply for these jobs. Frequently, however, the name of the mystery shopping company is included in the email. You can usually google the name and apply for the jobs directly. I have never heard of anyone getting a free cruise as a result of being a member of Shadow Shopper.
• The phrase "participation required" is a code word for scam. If you try to apply for one of these mystery shopping jobs, you will look at page after page of offers. You will sign up for multiple offers and, even if you have don't have to pay, your inbox will be so full of spam that it will become unusable. I've never heard of one person who actually got the $500.00 prepaid Visa card to spend any way they wanted.
• Do not respond to emails asking you to send your personal information via return email. Email is not a secure way to send personal information. Mystery shopping companies will not search you out. You have to find them. They will have an application form on a secure website for you to fill out.
• Research the company before you give them your personal information. Mystery shopping forums like Mystery Shop Forum are an excellent way to determine whether a company is legitimate or not.

How do I get started?