Something that the Pandemic has not slowed down is the proliferation of scam artists. Name an industry and you can be sure bad actors are attempting to scam hard working people out of their money.
Take the Mystery Shopping industry for example. Scammers will use the name and logo of a legitimate mystery shopper company such as ours and send emails or mailed materials to unsuspecting consumers offering ridiculous sums of payment if the consumer conducts a completely bogus mystery shopping assignment. Don’t fall for it!
The mailed package from the scammers will contain bogus materials including: a check, an email address, a telephone number with contact name, and assignment materials to dupe you into sending them money under the pretense of conducting a wire transfer mystery shop. The scam insists you deposit the (bogus) check immediately and then withdraw your own money before the (bogus) check clears the account. The shopper completes the assignment by wire transferring their own legitimate funds usually via Western Union then a week later gets a call from their bank saying the check they deposited for the assignment bounced. The shopper has lost their own money and there is no way to recover it.
For more information or to report that you were scammed visit: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0053-mystery-shopper-scams