Finding the Perfect Mystery Shopping Job-Watch Out For Scams

Today, more and more people spend hours a week trying to find the perfect work from home job, so that they can spend more time with their families, pursue other interests, get away from their boss, etc.

Mystery shoppers often get scammed in this way. There is one scam going around where a company advises you to shop all you want, wherever you want, and they will pay you for your time, as well as reimburse you for all of the purchases that you make. Well, first of all, you should be thinking this sounds like it is too good to be true, and when in the world of online jobs, if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is a scam, so you should already be seeing a red flag. So, if you don�t see a red flag, you go out and spend a lot of money, thinking it is okay, because you will get it back, and guess what? That�s right, you never see a dime, not one red cent!

These companies make money off of these scams, because they require you to pay some sort of fee when you sign up for the offer, either for processing, information, membership, etc. They will often advertise �specials�, stating that their fee is normally X amount, but for this special offer, it is now X. They try to make it sound like a really great deal, thinking that more people will send them their money. If they get one person to fall for their scam, then they have made a profit. Some of them promise to send you information, and in some cases they do, but it is usually stuff that you could find online yourself, or information that is so out of date that you can�t benefit from it in any manner. If someone requires you to pay for a job, chances are, it is a scam!

But, if you do fall for it and give them your money, some of them will send you something in the mail, stating that your first assignment is ready for you, offering you a lot of money for the completed work. They may even include a check in the mail, for prepayment, requiring you to cash the check at your bank, and then do a �shop� on the service you receive while at the bank. When you cash or deposit this check, which was written for more than the amount of money you were promised, you are required to send the balance back to the sender, usually via wire transfer, such as Western Union. While you may think that you have found a great and easy way to make some extra cash you have unknowingly been taken, and in a major way. You will receive a call or letter from your bank shortly, notifying you that the check or money order that you deposited or cashed has been returned as a bad check, and that you now owe the bank, not only the amount of the check, but returned check fees as well. If you had written checks out of the account that had not cleared, you also have to deal with those as well. So, to protect yourself from being scammed, remember that no one is going to pay you an insane amount of money for just a few minutes of work, and that if it sounds too good, it likely is. Don�t send in money for information offered on the internet, no matter how good it is proposed to be. Don�t fall for these common scams, just because you so desire to work from home!

Retailers still flouting extended warranty rules (Computer Active)

Retailers are still failing to comply with the law governing extended warranties on electrical goods. An investigation carried out by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found that in around 45 per cent of the shops visited by mystery shoppers, retailers had not provided required relevant information about extended warranties.

In bad economy, more people fall for job-related scams (Provo Daily Herald)

With the unemployment rate on the rise and household finances under siege, more people are being duped by work-at-home and other job-related scams.

Beware of secret shopper scam (The Greenwood Commonwealth)

The Greenwood Police Department is advising residents to beware of a “secret shopper” scam involving counterfeit checks. In such a scam, people are recruited to be secret shoppers, also known as “mystery shoppers,” with a large check.

Watchdog: If it sounds too good to be true ... it is (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

DAVE LIEBER Nearly every day I get an e-mail, phone call or letter from someone asking: "Is this a scam?" In J.F.’s case, he got an e-mail from the Rev. Terry Smith in New Zealand promising "800,000.00 United State Dollars Which I Deposited for you." Yes, that’s how it was written. J.F. asked me, "Will you investigate this?" My answer: Duh, J.F. What’s to investigate? If you ask yourself, 'Is ...

Crackdown on mis-selling of PPI (BBC News)

The Financial Services Authority says it is going to step up its action over the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance.