mary melvin says:

October 4, 2008 9:36 am

My son received a $3000. check from a secret shopper service. "Atlantic Temporary Employment" P.O.box200 Buffalo, N.Y. 14212 ph. 514-576-5152 Is this a scam?

Travis says:

October 6, 2008 9:26 am

To Mary:

Sounds like a scam. As our encyclopedia entry on secret shopper says, a good sign of a scam is any secret shopper offer that contacts you unsolicited. I assume your son is being asked to send some of that $3000 elsewhere. The check he received will most likely bounce.

Jose says:

October 16, 2008 6:03 pm

My wife recivied a check of 3,480, from ATLANTIC TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT,I been try to be a mystery shopper but I use my name not my wife name. We need to send 2,980.00 to somebody here in USA. What do you think?

Travis says:

October 17, 2008 9:51 am

To Jose:

This looks like the classic secret shopper scam that we have outlined here. Your situation involves an overpayment and a request to wire money to someone you do not know - both signs of a scam. Do not wire the money.

Our office has received a complaint about this company already. You can always search our "Know MO" database to research consumer complaints filed with our office.

You also can file a complaint.

Angel says:

November 8, 2008 12:50 am

my boyfriend had something similar happen. he won't believe me that it's a scam, even with the evidence he already has against it. he called the number, and he got a residential answering machine.

Vivian says:

November 11, 2008 9:11 pm

I received a letter from QUICK WORK TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT (Mystery shopping, market research, consulting & couseling). Address: P.O. Box 1118 Wilmington, DE 19804. Tel:1(514)569-1508 Fax: 1(888)237-1878. The letter gave me 2 assigments. The first to choose one store to go to like Staples, wal-mart, best buy, etc. to buy things with the $51 they gave me in a check. The second is to go to Western Union to send $3,420 to one of their training agents in locations: Tonia Avers, Los Angeles CA.; Ruth Black ton, Bronx, NY.,etc. I am to call back with the Western Union Money Transfer Control Number or money gram reference number after completion of 2nd assignment. They enclosed a check with the amounts that i would need plus my pay of $300. Is this LEGITIMATE? I called the number and was able to talk to a representative who told me to deposit the check and wait a few days so that the money is in my account. She was able to answer my questions. Is this legitimate? I really need some help with this. Thanks.

Travis says:

November 12, 2008 9:26 am

To Vivian:

I can't say whether a company is legtimate. I can simply point you to the signs of a scam, which you can find in our encyclopedia entry on Secret Shoppers. See the link on the word "secret shopper" above.

Nikki says:

November 13, 2008 12:53 pm

I, too just received a letter yesterday from C.S.A. SURVEY & MANAGEMENT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL INC. It is for employment as a secret shopper. I did a lot of research on the company but can find nothing. The letter basically states I am to make purchases at a couple stores and send money gram. I never caught it before I came across another blog site discussing shopping scams, but if you look at the check, the account number at the bottom starts out with the check number listed at the top. The address on the letter is from Ontario, Canada, but the address on the check is from Fort Worth Texas for the same company. There is also another address on the check for the bank which is a legit bank, but their address is Dallas TX. I could not find any complaints about this company so maybe it is a new one. I also don't believe it is a cashier's check because it does not say so. So please beware if anyone receives anything in the mail from this company. The envelope also did not have a return address, and when I tried to google the phone number I get nothing. I did get that the area code is in canada.

edith says:

November 14, 2008 1:54 am

i got a check for almost 3000 my pay is supposely 500 which i keep and the rest i have to wire through western union i received an email saying that this was my first assignment i did not cash the check but in each email its a different person and no contact information is included the check also looks like it was printed out like if many are issued everyday

Areli says:

November 17, 2008 8:11 pm

I receieved a letter fro quick temporary employment to. I don't know what to do with this offer How do I know if it is legite?

William says:

December 15, 2008 2:30 am

I recieved one of these checks last week $4,825.00 If you will notice the dot above the name Edward Jones at the end.This check does NOT have that trademark.Its sad these people prey on people in such hard times.I filed this check with the AG's office here in SC where it belongs.If one is gullable enough to deposit this FAKE check?Then be prepaired to suffer the cost.

Audrey says:

December 18, 2008 9:03 pm

What if we were gullable and deposited the check, and the bank didn't even hold it for a day without making the funds available. What should we expect?

DORIS says:

January 23, 2009 1:30 pm

I recieved a check from MYSTERY SHOPPER FOR $3750.00 and all I had to do was go to a WESTERJN UNION PLACE and wire 200.00 to a person. I SAVED ALL THEIR EMAILS AND THE CASHIER CHECK FROM BANK OF AMERICA which looked legitimate but when I emailed them I was turning it overto the attorney general office they stopped emailing and calling. I thought this was a great way to earn extra money now I don't.