(HURON COUNTY, ON) – Huron County residents need to be aware of a creative scam that has recently surfaced. Huron OPP officers have investigated some recent attempted scams involving bogus cheques being sent to prospective Mystery Shoppers.
The scam works as follows:
You receive a fraudulent cheque and letter in the mail. The legitimate looking cheque is made payable in your name for somewhere around $4000. The letter informs you that you have been selected to act as Mystery Shopper and will be paid for completing your “assignmentsâ€.
You are requested to pose as a mystery shopper in an effort to rate the customer service at numerous retail outlets. Additionally, you are requested to rate whether Western Union is following security protocols in relation to money transfers.
Once you have completed those assignments you are instructed to keep $550 for your probationary pay and shopping expenses. The remainder of the money is to be wired to three representatives. You are instructed to immediately fax your wire transfer authorization codes to a designated fax number.
Once you have wired the money and sent the authorization codes for pick up, you have now been scammed.
At first glance it may seem like an opportunity to make some easy money for basically doing nothing. Don’t fall for it!
As with most scams the scammer requests you to be “discrete and confidentialâ€. The scam is also dependent on you responding immediately. The mystery shopper letter states, “although this is a training exercise, it should be considered a job interview. An offer of a permanent position will be based on the time it takes you to complete the assignmentâ€. Don’t get sucked in, be skeptical of any unexpected cheques you receive, especially when it involves you having to wire funds back to the sender.
To learn more about common frauds and how to report a fraud you can contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at www.antifraudcentre.ca or 1-888-495-8501