Resident Gets Wise To Mystery Shopper Scam

(MUNICIPALITY OF WEST PERTH, ON) On Tuesday October 02, 2011, a Mitchell resident contacted the Perth County OPP and reported a scam to which she almost became a victim.

The resident applied on-line, to become a “Consumer Survey Specialist”, for a Mississauga company. The company provided her with a Representative ID# and a form indicating her position, her rate of pay, and her first assignments. She was advised that this was a self training program in which she would pose as a shopper at large retail outlets and spend $100 to purchase any product of her choice. Upon the completion of the purchase she would complete a customer service evaluation form which was to be faxed back to the Mississauga Company.

As part of a second assignment she received a cheque for $3,200.00 which she was to deposit into her own bank account. She was advised to complete money transfers of $1,600.00 each at two well known money transfer companies to the same recipient.

The resident completed both assignments however upon transferring the $3,200.00 she became uneasy and immediately cancelled the order prior to the money being sent. She checked with her local bank and discovered that the Mississauga Company’s cheque had not yet been cleared. All transactions were stopped and the resident was not out any funds.

An OPP investigation was commenced, and it was discovered that there was no answer at the phone numbers the company had provided. The OPP is continuing to investigate this fraud, but in the mean time residents are urged to use common sense and think, “Is this too good to be true?”. Remember, fraud is a multi billion dollar enterprise that will continue as long as the scammers make money. There is no magic to preventing fraud; trust your instinct not the stranger that is promising something for nothing. Anyone interested in more information on fraud can contact the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or you can check online at http://www.antifraudcentre.ca.

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