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Beware Of 'Mystery Shopper' Scams

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Janice Fleming holds a copy of a fake check she received from a company. Fleming lost $4,800 in a secret shopper scam. She wants to let others know so it won't happen to them.

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By CLOE CABRERA

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 27, 2008

How would you like to get paid to go shopping at some of your favorite clothing stores?

Sounds like my dream job.

Janice Fleming thought it sounded pretty great, too. And when a Canadian company recruited her to be a "mystery shopper," she said yes.

It sounded like an ideal opportunity for Fleming, who is a teacher. She's off for the summer and could use the extra money.

"Who doesn't like to shop?" Fleming says about the convincing offer that arrived in her mailbox.

Turns out, it was all a scam. And she isn't the only one being duped.

"This scam has been around about two years," says Cpl. Kevin Bodie of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Economic Crimes Section. "We're seeing more and more reports of it."

The scam works like this: The victim receives a letter with a check, usually for several thousand dollars. The letter instructs the recipient to cash the check immediately, keep a few hundred dollars and go shopping at a popular retailer, such as the Gap, Old Navy or Wal-Mart. The last step is to wire the remaining money to an address provided (usually overseas) and submit a report on the shopping experience. (How were you treated? Did everything go smoothly?)

You can guess the rest. The check is bogus. And by the time the bank finds out, it's too late. In Fleming's case, she was taken for $4,800, which she now must repay to her credit union.

You're probably thinking this could never happen to you. Fleming thought the same thing.

She called her credit union to make sure the check she deposited was legitimate and was told the company's check had cleared.

The routing number on the fake check belongs to Marco Community Bank in Marco Island, a real bank. It had a bar code and it was watermarked. She also called the telephone number listed on the check to ask questions. Of course, it checked out. The telephone number is part of the ruse.

If she had looked up Marco Community Bank's number and called, she would have found out that thousands of similar checks have turned up across the country, and many people were taken just like she was.

"I had a bad feeling in my gut about this from the beginning, but I still went ahead with it," Fleming says. "Everything checked out. I called and did what I could do and I was still taken. I feel so helpless."

Bodie says Fleming's instincts were on target. Easy money for little work is an irresistible and dangerous lure.

"It's really all about greed," he says. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. These scams work because they play on a person's greed. At least 95 percent of people I've spoken with say it sounded too good to be true and they went ahead with it anyway. They thought they were going to get something for nothing."

There's little law enforcement can do to recoup a victim's losses.

"The money has been wired out of the country," he says. "I've never seen or heard of a victim getting their money back."

Bodie tells anyone who's been victimized to spread the word.

"Tell everyone what took place and how it happened," he says. "Word of mouth is the best method of advertising. If you tell someone it happened to you, it will lessen the possibility of having the same thing happen to them."

Fleming knows her money is long gone. "I want people to know about this," she says. "I'm an intelligent woman. I'm not gullible. If this can happen to me, it can happen to anybody. Be very careful."

The Better Business Bureau offers advice about ways to protect yourself from scams like "mystery shopper" and how to spot the real firms from the fakes. Go to www.betterbusinessbureau.org.

Have you spotted a fashion or beauty trend worth hot pursuit? Call Cloe Cabrera at (813) 259-7656 or email ccabrera@tampatrib.com.

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