Possible scam alert

[Diamond Lake Charlie]

The other day I got this advertisement on my phone for people looking for secret shoppers to go to different stores to purchase things and you could 'KEEP' what you purchased. You would get paid for doing this. So what the hay, just for giggles I put in for it and I got HIRED and there was also a check for $1850 with instructions. I was to put the check in my checking account and when it cleared I was to purchase 3 ea of $500 gift cards and they would have a rep there to pick them up, every thing looked to be on the up and up. Now I may be an old fool but I saw the holes in this this almost instantly. I will let you look for the obvious holes. But here I was with a check for all this money and all I had to do was purchase 3 ea of $500 gift cards and I would be paid $350. I mean other than all the banking numbers on the bottom of the check being a little messed up, golly gee wiz, all I had to do was put the check in my checking account and when it cleared I was to make a purchase and bam I would make $350. I put this on here because my neighbors mom got caught in one of these and lost all the money for her and her husband plus his money for his VACATION. I hope this helps some body. Oh the numbers for the banks and the routing numbers were actual bank numbers, they just went to two different banks in two different states and they prey on oldish people who may need a little EXTRA money and may not catch the numbers problem as well as other stated problems

 

[jamisonace]

I had a friend that was actually a secret shopper. She would go out daily to assigned places and buy anything from fast food to small appliances then give a report on her experience. She got paid and got to keep what she bought.

 

[Diamond Lake Charlie]

I did that also and it is a good source of income, but it has been a loooong time ago that I did that. This however is not that. I did my research before I posted and I only posted this because it appears to be legit, however there were a few errors in this one. first they said you got to keep what you purchased and in the acceptance letter you turned the gift cards over to them. Second they would have somebody there to pick them up....how are they going to know where I shopped..Third the CHECK bank numbers were from two different banks and the check number on the check did not even come close to what was the check number on the bottom of the check. This came in over my phone for the application and I applied just to see what it was, what got me the job was my age. I was to put the check in my account and AFTER it cleared I was to make the purchase.. with the numbers on the check it would NEVER clear and the only money spent was my $1500 out of my account. This scam is designed for older people who may need the $350 they promised after they spent the $1500 for the gift cards. I understand what you are saying, however this is not a secret shopper per say, this is a scam to take money from older people who THINK they are going to earn the $350 but instead loose $1500 and do not get the $350.00. I called the police and notified a TV station, neither were interested because there was no money lost. These people who are doing this are pro's and they live off the money they take from older people like oh say, me or your older parents or grandparents who may miss the signs and only look at the $$$ they will gain. not saying I am perfect but a couple of the things that helped me were my courses in business law and courses in accounting when I was studying for my AA and BA., also my time at SERE school helped also.

 

[Admin]

I had a friend that was actually a secret shopper. She would go out daily to assigned places and buy anything from fast food to small appliances then give a report on her experience. She got paid and got to keep what she bought.

It reminded me "The Red-Headed League" by Arthur Conan Doyle. )

 

[jamisonace]

I did that also and it is a good source of income, but it has been a loooong time ago that I did that. This however is not that. I did my research before I posted and I only posted this because it appears to be legit, however there were a few errors in this one. first they said you got to keep what you purchased and in the acceptance letter you turned the gift cards over to them. Second they would have somebody there to pick them up....how are they going to know where I shopped..Third the CHECK bank numbers were from two different banks and the check number on the check did not even come close to what was the check number on the bottom of the check. This came in over my phone for the application and I applied just to see what it was, what got me the job was my age. I was to put the check in my account and AFTER it cleared I was to make the purchase.. with the numbers on the check it would NEVER clear and the only money spent was my $1500 out of my account. This scam is designed for older people who may need the $350 they promised after they spent the $1500 for the gift cards. I understand what you are saying, however this is not a secret shopper per say, this is a scam to take money from older people who THINK they are going to earn the $350 but instead loose $1500 and do not get the $350.00. I called the police and notified a TV station, neither were interested because there was no money lost. These people who are doing this are pro's and they live off the money they take from older people like oh say, me or your older parents or grandparents who may miss the signs and only look at the $$$ they will gain. not saying I am perfect but a couple of the things that helped me were my courses in business law and courses in accounting when I was studying for my AA and BA., also my time at SERE school helped also.

Wasn't saying they were the same. Just adding to the convo.

 

[Diamond Lake Charlie]

understood, no problem. please excuse me if it felt like I was coming down hard or harder than expected... sometimes or often I have problems with simple conversation. You can blame that on the many course's of conversation in the service and college.