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Written by Andrew Powell
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Friday, 11 December 2009 |
A local citizen is warning the community of a scam circulating this holiday season trying to lure secret shoppers from the area.
A local citizen is warning the community of a scam circulating this holiday season trying to lure secret shoppers from the area.
Ive Phillips caught on to the scam before she and her husband Chris were taken for hundreds of dollars, but others may not be so lucky.
Phillips says she received an e-mail in recent weeks asking her to become a secret shopper with Retail Security Systems of Pennsylvania.
“I though this was something legit, I have heard of companies using secret shoppers, so I was interested,” Phillips said. “Then I received the money order and thought, ‘this is too good to be true.’”
The company had sent Phillips a $966 dollar money order along with instructions for her secret shopper assignment. She was allotted a portion of the money for salary and expenses, but asked to send $670 through Western Union to “another mystery shopper.”
The instructions provided exact details regarding the assignment, process and the time limit in which Phillips was to complete the task.
“This project shouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours to execute and the time limit matters to us, with that we can also determine your efficiency and the commitment you show towards working with us,” the assignment letter to Phillip said.
But, instead of following through with the assignment, Phillips took a moment to question the legitimacy of the operation.
“I called the Better Business Bureau and it didn’t take them long to tell me it was a scam,” Phillips said. She said the company name was real, but the address used on the assignment letter false.
“So, if I just used the Internet to research the company I would have thought it was legitimate,” she added.
Phillips thinks the company obtained information through a job search site she frequented on the Internet.
“I think that is where they got my information and knowing I was job searching, they thought they had an easy target,” Phillips said.
A call to the Better Business Bureau kept Phillips out of the trap and she hopes her experience will help others avoid the pitfall as well.
“We all can get in a hard spot and then top have a check fall into your lap, you think the Lord has answered your prayers,” Phillips said. If she would have cashed the money order, however, and followed the mystery shopper instructions, she would be responsible for the money lost by her bank in the transaction.
“I can’t help but think that for everyone one person who realizes they are the subject of a scam there are ten people who have fallen for it,” Phillips added.
Phillips contacted the FBI and forwarded all information regarding the scam to them. There are investigating she says.
“If something like this is happening to you, save all the information you can; phone numbers, e-mails, and send it on to the FBI,” Phillips warned.
Lastly, she warns everyone in the community to err on the side of caution, especially when such circumstances arise.
“Like I said before, if something seems to good too be true, it probably is,” Phillips added.
To learn more about possible scams and how to avoid or report them, please contact the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office at (502) 699-5300 or www.ag.ky.gov, the Kentucky Better Business Bureau at (800) 866-6668 or www.bluegrass.bbb.org or the Consumer Protection Hotline at (888) 432-9257.
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