Fraud and scams have always been common in the mystery shop industry and the people responsible for these cons are getting more sophisticated and advanced with their deception tactics. We have recently been made aware of a new scam attempt using our company name and we wanted to take this opportunity to make our shoppers aware of this potential fraud and how to avoid getting caught up in these unfortunate attempts to defraud mystery shoppers.
The newest scam attempt involves sending registered shoppers packages through the mail, containing fraudulent checks and asking shoppers to cash them, and then purchase money orders. We have seen our company name, 360 Relay, used in the return address of these packages. Any legitimate mystery shop company would never send you funds ahead of time; mystery shop jobs are always paid after the job is complete. Below are other important things to be aware of regarding mystery shop scams.
*Never accept any payment for a mystery shop you have not yet completed; this includes check payments, wire transfers and gift card payments. Mystery shop companies ONLY pay you after the mission has been completed.
*Always avoid and ignore unsolicited emails and text messages, especially if they are coming from Gmail, Yahoo, etc. rather than a real company email account. Do not trust any unsolicited emails if you didn’t sign up directly with the company.
*If you are asked to pay a fee to register with a company, it’s a scam; mystery shop companies will never ask you for money upfront.
*You should never provide any personal or financial information unless it’s specifically asked for in your shopper profile. Most companies pay through Venmo or PayPal; if you are asked for your banking information, you should be 100% certain that the company you are working for is legitimate.
*Always research any company you are interested in working with; verify that the name of the company, their address and confirm they have a legitimate website.
If you do fall victim to one of these scams, you can file a police report with your local precinct, report the scam to the FBI’s Internet Crime Division, and any mail fraud can be reported to the US Postal Service.
There are many valid and legitimate mystery shop companies out there and we hope that you find the right ones to work with. As always, please reach out to us with any questions about mystery shop scams or anything else you may have questions on!