Victim Location 19806
Type of a scam Employment
I was contacted via email about being a mystery shopper for $400 per visit plus transportation expenses. I was given a 5 minute seemingly phone interview and specific information was requested after that (nothing too damaging; no social security number, no bank account information; name, address, phone only). A follow up email welcomed me and indicated I was hired. My first "assignment" was to deposit a check that had been expressed mailed to me in the amount of $3850 and to withdraw $3400 in cash to wire via Wells Fargo to another account. I was to keep the remainder for my fees. I emailed the company, indicating this didn’t seem legit; why would I need to wire so much money just to verify a client’s services? Contact person (Alex Donald) called me and danced around the question in an accent that was extremely hard to understand. For some unknown reason, I was reassured and deposited the check. But, I kept feeling uncomfortable, so I decided to google mystery shopping scams. Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle! All kinds of mystery shoppers scams out there. When I read that you should never deposit a check and rewire some of it, I ran back to my bank and reversed the deposit. Bless it! If it seems too good to be true ($400 for an hour’s work), IT’S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! Thank you internet for saving me.