Victim Location 10040
Type of a scam Employment
I was contacted a while back by a friend on Linkedin suggesting I sign up for a secret shopper service. Not thinking a thing of it, I did. Almost 3 months later a check for $3,450.12 arrives at my apartment with instructions to go buy 15 Wal-Mart gift cards, worth $200 each, and keep the remaining $450 for myself. Then I am supposed to answer some basic questions about my experience buying the cards: store name; address; date; time of visit; the name of clerk; if the clerk thanked me; the amount of time it took to check out; etc. I was to send my answers to the questions with the pictures of the cards WITH THE CODE SCRATCHED OFF within 24 hours of receiving the assignment to the email address provided.
Upon receiving this envelope, I also received a text and an email from the "company" confirming that I had received the package and making sure I would be able to complete the task within 24-hours. I asked for their company name and website. They couldn’t give me a straight answer. I asked them what kind of tax form I would need for this job- if I was considered an independent contractor would I have to claim all $3,450 on my taxes? They said, "The tax as been taken care off in the survey evaluation with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)." I also asked if I was supposed to go to 15 different stores or just one. The representative said I could go to just one or two to buy all fifteen. After I received these ridiculous responses, I told them I was turning them in.