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Beware the Mystery Shopping Company Cashier's Check

Dave, I got a cashier's check in the mail from a mystery shopping company. They say that I am to cash the check, wire $2000 to someone in Canada, and evaluate the service at the wire company. I get to keep $300 out of the check for a couple of hours' work. This sounds sweet, but a friend of mine said it sounds too good to be true. Hey, it's a cashier's check, so what could go wrong?

Dave's Answer:

My friend Cathy Stucker is the author of The Mystery Shopper's Manual. She knows about mystery shopping, so I asked Cathy if this sounds like a legitimate mystery shopping opportunity. She says this is a scam, and it turns out she wrote about this a while back in her blog mysteryShoppersManual.com.

Here is what Cathy has to say about this...

Mystery shopping is a legitimate way to make money, but this is not a real mystery shopping assignment. It is a scam. You may have gotten this "offer" because they found your resume online. Others have been targeted because they responded to classified ads or online job postings. Whatever you do, do not cash the check and wire money to anyone.

The first red flag that comes up here is the amount of the pay. Some mystery shops pay pretty well, but not $300 for something as simple as wiring funds and answering a couple of questions. A more typical fee for a simple shop might be in the range of $10 to $30.

The amount you are asked to wire is also a red flag. If all you are doing is evaluating the service at the wire company, you could do it by sending $100 or less. And why would they send a valid cashier's check to someone without knowing that they are willing to do the assignment and having them under contract? If the check were valid, the recipient could simply pocket the cash and not bother wiring money to anyone.

Forged cashier's checks are part of a common scam. What is fairly new is presenting this as a mystery shopping exercise. The scammers are good at making everything look good -- even using the names and logos of well-known and respected companies -- and lots of people have fallen victim, some losing thousands of dollars.

Here is how it works: You get a letter that says it is from a mystery shopping company. Often, the letter appears to be on the letterhead of a legitimate mystery shopping company, and may include their logo and web site URL. One letter I saw even had the logos of major companies such as Starbucks, MoneyGram International, WalMart, Hilton Hotels and others, implying that they are somehow affiliated with them.

The letter says that you have been selected as a customer service evaluator or mystery shopper, and your first assignment is to evaluate the service of MoneyGram by sending a payment to someone in Canada. The cashier's check is for a few hundred dollars more than they are asking you to wire, to cover expenses and your "pay"?

The offer is generous -- who wouldn't want to make $300 for what amounts to, at most, working for a couple of hours? The bad news comes days or weeks after you wire the money. Your bank informs you that the check has bounced, and you are responsible for the full amount. Instead of earning $300, you have been scammed out of the amount of the check -- often $2000 or more.

Many people assume that cashier's checks are more secure than personal checks, or that if the bank cashes it for you, they know that the check is good. But that is not true. Here is what the Federal Trade Commission says:

"Under federal law, banks must make funds available to you from U.S. Treasury checks, official bank checks (cashier's checks, certified checks, and teller's checks), and checks paid by government agencies at the opening of business the day after you deposit the check. For other checks, banks must similarly make the first $100 available the day after you deposit the check. Remaining funds must be made available on the second day after the deposit if payable by a local bank, and within five days if drawn on distant banks."

However, just because funds are available on a check you've deposited doesn't mean the check is good. It's best not to rely on money from any type of check (cashier, business or personal check, or money order) unless you know and trust the person you're dealing with or, better yet -- until the bank confirms that the check has cleared. Forgeries can take weeks to be discovered and untangled. The bottom line is that until the bank confirms that the funds from the check have been deposited into your account, you are responsible for any funds you withdraw against that check.

If you think you've been targeted by a counterfeit check scam, report it to the following agencies:

The Federal Trade Commission Visit ftc.gov or 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Visit USPS.gov/websites/depart/inspect or call your local post office. The number is in the Blue Pages of your local telephone directory.
Your state or local consumer protection agencies. Visit NAAG.org for a list of state Attorneys General, or check the Blue Pages of your local telephone directory for appropriate phone numbers.

If you think an offer you received is legitimate, contact the company and ask some questions. Do not contact them using the phone numbers or other information on the letter. Go online and search for the name of the company they claim is hiring you. Although many of these scams use the names of real mystery shopping companies, the contact information is usually not correct. Does the information in the letter match the company's real contact information?

Remember that anyone can put up a web site at little or no cost. Do not assume that a company that has a nice-looking web site is legitimate. Do some research to find out if the company and web site are for real. If a company belongs to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, you can find accurate information at mysteryshop.org/shoppers/membercos.php.

And remember what your mother said: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

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Categorized: Auctions and Online Shopping (Article 7546)
Tagged: cashiers checks, cons, fraud, mystery shopping, scams
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Comments

Hello,
Just a comment on your article about fraud cashiers checks. I have an online store on the internet and I've learned something that no one has mentioned about how to know if the cashiers check is legit or not. I learned from my bank that if you receive a cashiers check that has a stamped signature, this would be a phoney check. All cashiers checks are manually signed by the teller from the withdrawing bank. Also, I call the issuing bank and make sure that the cashier check and tellers signature are legit. I already have a one phoney and when someone asks me if they can send cashiers checks, I always tell them that nothing gets shipped until the check has completely cleared in about 2 wks.
Another scam is when someone says they are an agent who is buying this item for someone else and they will have their own shipper pick up the item. They send you a check for more than the amount of the product (about $3000 more), you send them the difference. This is a scam. Then you get the ones who try to make you feel guilty because you don't trust them. They push and push to get you to sell them the product sometimes without payment. They want to make sure the product is good. I have about 100 emails every month with these types of scams. So seller has to beware.
P.S. Most of them have paypal accounts too. So be very aware of who is paying for your products, they are hitting all sellers very hard from all angles.

Posted by: Jan Miles at August 26, 2007 1:00 PM

A note on "waiting for the check to clear". We deposited a check from someone who owed us money. The bank did the usual "$100 available next-day, and the rest later", as mentioned in your FTC quote above. Several days later, the rest of the funds were made available.

Unfortunately, this apparently is not the same as "the check has cleared".

About two weeks later, the check bounced because of a stop payment order on it. (Note that the check was drawn on a local bank.)

Posted by: Ken at August 27, 2007 9:31 AM

i own a computer business and i've found a supplier from china which has good prices.
but i'm not sure if the company is legit.
i don't want to loose my money.

Posted by: nollen at September 25, 2007 12:47 PM

Thank you for posting this information. I received a phoney cashier's check from some mysterious company called Primier Market Research and I was so unsure of what to do with the check. My local police would not even do anything about it. I came across this article and it helped so very much! I did in fact file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and USPS, so I will see what happens. But beware of phoney cashier's checks everyone!

Posted by: Sierra at March 15, 2008 7:35 PM

I recevieved a check yesterday from a consumer marketing group, the check is 4,590.00.I took it to my bank they said they have to hold it for 11 days, I don't know if it's fake or real I should of checked all these scam reports from others before i took it to my bank.when i get a report from the bank I'll know if it's real or not!!!!!!

Posted by: real or not the bank got it at May 20, 2008 8:22 PM

I was SO glad that I ran across this article. It was a life saver to me! I got a check today from a company called Pacific Staffing Agency for 990.00. Of course..the "red flags" went up immediately. They wanted me to "evaluate" doing a money gram and wire them back all but 100.00 that I could keep for my "work" that I did for them. The check looks completely REAL! But now I know..it's NOT! Thank you SO much!

Posted by: Jeri Nale at December 6, 2008 10:21 PM

If you are a current shopper with any mystery shopping companies, they are usually pretty good with keeping you updated with current scams. If you ever receive something in the mail that you did not sign up for, more than likely it is not legit. For most all mystery shops, you will have to accept the job before any company is going to send you anything in the mail. If you receive something suspicious in the mail from a mystery shopping company, but have never signed up for or accepted jobs from them in the past, chances are, whatever you received in the mail is not legit. Most companies will have you "prove" that you are a loyal shopper before they will send you anything in the mail to assist on an assignment. Its just too much of a liability.

Posted by: Mystery Shopper at December 8, 2008 8:41 PM

I also got the check from pacific staffing agency, for $990.00 the thing that gets me, is the info on the letters, and the check all matched up, I did not go and call the places, I just burned the whole letter, so that I am not tempted to try and cash the check and then be in trouble later. I know that I have gotten many money orders, and checks and say that I get a bit of the money for sending it to someone else. I just never had the guts to see if it will work. I don't want to believe that someone is looking for someone just as twisted as they are to do the dirty work. Thanks for posting these messages. be safe.

Posted by: marie at December 19, 2008 2:11 PM

I had received a check for 1,500 from a company name team national that wanted me to do a wire transfer through western union but i thought that this sounded to good to be true so i never took the cashiers check to the bank or anything, so if anyone get a cashiers check from team national it is definately a scam. I want to thank the other writers for posting their comments about online mystery shopping. I know that getting a cashiers check through a mystery shopping company wanting us to wiring money through western union.

Posted by: Ashley Willliams at July 5, 2009 4:23 PM

I have a lot to say, but ...

I have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but most of all I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a chai!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!