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Don’t Fall for a Mystery Shopping Job Scam

One of our regular readers, Dan K., recently responded to an ad seeking mystery shoppers. When he got their materials, he instantly knew it was a scam and wanted to share it with all of you.

He received what looked like a legitimate check as advance payment for his first shopping assignment.

Mystery shopping check

That almost $2,000 check was to cover expenses and his pay for his first assignment. He was instructed to cash or deposit the check at his local bank. The check included a $75 bonus for completing the assignment within 48 hours.

The instructions that came with the check required him to purchase a total of $1,400 of Apple gift cards at two Walmart stores of his choice. Five hundred dollars of the check was his upfront payment for doing the assignment. The gift cards, he was told, were going to be used later in a second assignment.

Besides writing an open-ended narrative about his experience at the Walmart stores, the assignment required him to do something else very important.

*MOUSE PRINT:

card numbers

And this was key to the scam. Once the crooks got the gift card numbers, they could drain the value of the cards. Then the newly-minted mystery shopper would subsequently learn that the check they sent him did in fact bounce. In essence, he just gave the crooks $1,400 in gift cards at his own expense.

There were a number of other red flags in the instructions that would signal to veteran mystery shoppers like MrConsumer that the assignment was not legitimate:

  • The company name on the check did not match the company name on the instruction sheet.

  • These companies never pay you in advance.

  • You never get paid generously — most assignments might only pay $10 or $15, or getting a free meal.

  • You never get to pick any store in the chain to review undercover.

  • You never are told to simply describe the shopping experience — there is always a long, detailed questionnaire.

    • If you are interested in becoming a mystery shopper, here are some legitimate companies where you can apply. You may have to provide a writing sample. Incidentally, never pay anyone to become a mystery shopper.

  • Market Force
  • Ipsos
  • A Closer Look
  • Coyle

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    Surprises Hidden in Credit Card Fine Print

    Fidelity Signature VisaRecently, MrConsumer benefited from a bargain he wouldn’t have known about had he not checked the benefit fine print of his credit card’s website.

    He has an upcoming trip to Washington, DC and was getting worried about all the airport horror stories of long lines and delays. He knew that TSA PreCheck is a means to get through airport security quicker but wasn’t about to pay close to $80 for a once-in-a-blue-moon plane trip.

    It turns out, however, that some credit cards offer TSA PreCheck as a free benefit. But, only a couple of credit cards with no annual fee cover that cost. One is the U.S. Bank Altitude Connect Signature Visa, and the other is the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature card.

    MrConsumer coincidentally has that Fidelity card but never uses it — until now. Double checking the fine print, sure enough that is one of the few extra benefits still offered by this card. And the benefit is available every four years. (TSA PreCheck is a five-year membership for $79.95.)

    *MOUSE PRINT:

    Fidelity PreCheck benefit

    While reading the Fidelity Guide to Benefits, however, MrConsumer found two nasty surprises.

    *MOUSE PRINT:

    Fidelity Visa lost benefits

    Purchase security, which protects goods buyers if what they bought is lost or stolen within 90 days of purchase, has been a mainstay of credit card benefits for decades. Lost luggage protection is less common, but a nice, valuable benefit to have had for years.

    This move by Fidelity follows an industry trend of dropping costly credit card benefits, as it did back in 2021 when it discontinued their very valuable “extended warranty” and “collision damage waiver” coverages (see our story back then). After receiving complaints, collision damage waiver was subsequently reinstated.

    So keep an eye on your credit card’s benefit list — there may be some valuable goodies there you didn’t know about or news of other benefits soon to disappear.

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    MyPillow Sued for Price Misrepresentation

    A California consumer filed a lawsuit earlier this year against MyPillow for deceptive price advertising. She claims that the pillow never sells for the “regular” price, so the savings promoted are illusory.

    MyPillow ad

    *MOUSE PRINT:

    But Defendant’s purported “sales” are, in reality, anything but. The substantial “discount” shown to consumers is deceptive and misleading because Defendant’s Products are never sold at the full price represented. Such findings were confirmed through online archives documenting Defendant’s pricing and sale history. Additionally, Defendant has configured its Website in such a manner that a promotional code is trivially available to all consumers, rendering its “promotional code” pricing deal illusory.

    The FTC’s Guides Against Deceptive Pricing is clear when it calls out phony regular prices:

    If the former price is the actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time, it provides a legitimate basis for the advertising of a price comparison. Where the former price is genuine, the bargain being advertised is a true one. If, on the other hand, the former price being advertised is not bona fide but fictitious—for example, where an artificial, inflated price was established for the purpose of enabling the subsequent offer of a large reduction—the “bargain” being advertised is a false one; the purchaser is not receiving the unusual value he expects.

    The consumer’s lawyer also alleges that the company adds on a surprise mandatory junk fee — a shipping protection fee — when the consumer is checking out in violation of California’s Honest Pricing Law [see 29(a)].

    junk fee added

    The lawyers are seeking money damages, penalties, and an order requiring MyPillow to correct its sale practices. MyPillow recently tried to force the consumer into arbitration, but the judge denied the request.

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