I received an email recently that said: "Dear Applicant,
It’s great hearing from you from,reviewing your resume we got for
the job of Mystery Shopper Position as posted on Craigslist.
Mercantile Systems,Inc. is a company that conducts surveys and stealth
evaluation of companies and organizations. Our mystery shoppers pose
as normal customers to perform specific tasks such as purchasing a
product, asking questions,registering complaints or behaving in a
certain way and then providing detailed reports or feedback about
their experiences.)
It included a place to put all of my information on the email then hit reply!
They did a great job making it look like they were responding to my email. It stated everything but the time I sent the email. The date matched something in craigslist I did reply to. But knowing I would not respond to a secret shopper ad unless by mistake I was fairly certain I did not reply to it. Sure enough, on the 8th I replied to one ad on craigslist. It was a customer service ad that said nothing about a secret shopper. The persons (?) name matched the one on the email I received. So I fired back at them that they were crooks and how I figured that out. I keep careful track of what I do online. I didn't tell them how I do that. Why help them get better at what they do!
This kind of scam goes like this: They give you an assignment and tell you you will receive $$$$$$$$+. When you are done with it and submit the results they send you money via paypal or Western Union. They then file a dispute with paypal and get their money back, or you end up finding out the money from Western Union was never good in the first place.
Pay pal has no proof the work was done. They have no choice but to refund the buyer. The Western Union check IS NOT Western Union!
You may get the "money" before you go to your assignment.
On a final note-Never give any information on any email directly and hit reply. These people are also spammers and worse yet, the primary sources for information for identity theft!
These people are getting tricky and are very creative in how to disguise themselves as legitimate employers!
I answered a customer service ad and they hit me up to do mystery shopping. Not my cup of tea-and I got suspicious. I googled the company name and all sorts of scam info came up. It pays to do your homework kids.
ReplyDeleteI posted an add on craigslist seeking employment.. I'm a Veteran and they responded to my post with this message..
ReplyDeleteI felt it was awkward they would request as much information as they did in the email.
Full Name:
full Mailing Address (not P..O.Box please):
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Cell Phone:
Home Phone:
Gender:
Marital Status:
Best Time To Call:
Present Job Status/Position:
Email:
I believe this is a scam as well.
I'd also like to ad that many of these scammers are using LEGITIMATE company names to further their ability to scam people. Mercantile Systems In. is a REAL company and we never send checks out to people unless we're paying them for a job completed (we do not ask them to cash the check and send a specific amount back to them). When involved in a scam like this, please consider researching whether the company is a real company and then alert them of what's going on so we can take measures to stop the scam from damaging our business. Also, please remember that most legitimate businesses will email you from a domain-specific email address (like @mercsystems.com) not from hotmail, yahoo, gmail or other free providers.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
Jamie Giles
Scheduling & Social Media Coordinator
Mercantile Systems, Inc.
Thanks for the heads up Jamie! Information is key to keeping our hands free of scams! Not only are they steeling our money, they steel our time! Which is more expensive? I say lost time, including thinking about it, following their directions on how to waste our money and beating ourselves up over falling for it! Learning to avoid them is way cheeper
DeleteWow, cool post. I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real hard work to make a great article… but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though. Craigslist personals alternatives
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing with us.
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