Victim Location 44137
Type of a scam Fake Check/Money Order
I received an invitation from a gentleman (Ahmad) on LinkedIn to be a mystery shopper. I completed the link with my name, phone number and address. I received an email from Bowie Hartsmond who affiliated himself in doing market research for the Penny Hoarder. He sent at least three lengthy emails explaining the research and how it worked. Then he sent another email stating that I needed to confirm some information which included by position title. As I checked out the website for the Penny Hoarder, I noticed that it never mentioned anything about a market research company in New York. Feeling a bit uneasy, I looked up scams on this website and saw several similar stories and one that mentioned the same individual and company (LBS Market) I went back to Linked In and could see my response to the original message, but the profile of the individual who sent the message had been taken down. So, I never responded to any emails. I then got a text stating that the post office confirmed delivery for a package for me, but I never received anything in the mail until about three days later. Another text stated that the funds had cleared the bank. On 12/28, I received a letter from Bowie Hartmond (this time, not Bowie Hartsmond) with a cashier’ check ( purchased by Bowie Hartmond) in the amount of $29865.25 from a bank in Texas and a letter ( with the logo from the Penny Hoarder) instructing me to go to an Apple Store to purchase some iPhones and to keep the remaining $300 for my salary. I wrote void on the check and took pictures of everything (the letter with instructions and the survey) to report this scam. I have attached a copy of the cashier’s check with this report.