MANPOWER Mystery Shopper; Check Sent For 3985.00 MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin Mystery Shopper Offer with enclosed check to cash for $3985.00 Milwaukie Wisconsin
Today I received a letter in the mail, with no return address. The first thing I noticed is that it was sent from Canada. Inside was a letter, from a business calling themselves Manpower. I noticed that the Logo looked "copied and pasted" it was fuzzy and looked "off". This letter stated that I had been selected as a mystery shopper, to go to Walmart and get a Money Gram Transaction there. Inclosed was a check ( that looked VERY real) for the amount of $3,985, to assist me with my "assignment".
I noticed Immediately two things about this check that put up red flags: 1) It was from WARNER B. P., however where a period should of been where the "P" was, there was a comma. #2)This address was in Burbank California
It said as follows: WARNER B. P, a division of WB S Enterprises Inc, 4000 Burbank California 91552.
I should also note that there was also a third piece of paper in this letter with a Survey Questionare about the little smyster shopper experience and a # to fax it to.
I hope these people get caught! I am sick and tierd of working my back end off while people like this are allowed to prey on unsuspecting individuals and profit from it!
Rachel
Milwaukie, Oregon
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
ReactorCore
Victoria,British Columbia,
Canada
This IS a SCAM
#2Consumer Suggestion
Tue, August 04, 2009
I hope you didn't participate. If you search ROR, you'll find a few of these Western Union "mystery shopper" scams are floating around. Western Union is used to avoid the USPS fraud statutes.
This is the same flavor of scam that is usually perpetuated on eBay: Someone offers to pay your "buy it now" price, but also offers to pay you MUCH more than the item is worth, asking you to send the difference back to them. For some reason, people don't think that someone who is able to send you three or four thousand dollars should be able to just as easily withdraw what money they need when they are arranging for that "cashier's check" for the purchase.
Those "checks" by the way are worthless... They are the kind that you can pick up while in the line up at a financial institution and look very legit. However, when you deposit them in your account, within 14 days they come back as being not honorable (bogus) and you're left holding the bag for the initial amount and any additional fees at your bank. this can, of course, destroy your credit.
Another place this is often employed is on sites like Cragslist when it comes to vehicle sales. Someone sends you a very bad cut and paste that inserts the name/make of your vehicle EXACTLY as you've put it in your ad. They say they want to purchase your vehicle (sight unseen, may I add), but they live far away and can't do it personally, so they'll send a couple of guys with a flatbed truck and a "cashier's check" (of the bogus variety) to give you as full payment. Sometimes they will tack on the "extra funds to send back" scam or not.
What happens, is the scammers show up, take your vehicle, hang the bad paper on you and you're out not only your vehicle, but you're also back to that point where you deposit that bad paper and are left holding the bag for the aforementioned amounts again.
Be leery of ANY offer that you haven't personally signed up for, any person running such an operation that you do not know and cannot contact, and if you have any doubts whatsoever, take the paper to the bank and hand it to them for verification.
Sometimes the scammers are bold enough to deliver bad paper in person. At this point, let them know that you will only meet them at a bona fide financial institution to have the funds taken out in the presence of a teller, or insist that they accompany you while you have their check verified by bank staff at the counter to ensure authenticity. If they don't back out, you have the added bonus of them being nailed for trying to defraud you AND the bank WITH witnesses. It will be very hard for them to get out of such a situation and you can help get them off the streets.