Even if they say the money is really for certification, training, or a guaranteed job, don't do it. No real work, including mystery shopping, involves paying to get the job. You'll find that certification is worthless and that there's probably no work. A consumer receives in the mail a letter, often addressed personally to the consumer, from a company or individual who claims to be in the business of evaluating customer service.
The letter may be unsolicited or may be the result of a consumer's response to an online or newspaper advertisement. Either way, the letter is intended to be an offer of employment as a “secret buyer”, customer service evaluator or some similar position. The position requires the consumer to secretly evaluate the various services offered at retail stores by making specific purchases in those locations. To make purchases easier, the consumer also receives a check for several thousand dollars, which is instructed to the person to deposit into their bank account.
The consumer is invariably instructed to use the funds to purchase a bank transfer, usually for several thousand dollars, in Western Union, MoneyGram, or a similar wire transfer service. The consumer is then instructed to send the bank transfer to a third party, who usually resides in a foreign country. As compensation, the consumer is told to keep part of the funds. What is a mystery shopper job? Do you know? Learn about this type of work and the flexible work options that come with a career as a mystery shopper.
Imagine walking down the aisles of your favorite store. You see an item you like and discuss it with the seller. You have a mystery shopper job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does a great job of explaining what a mystery shopper is in its article, “Are You a What? Mystery Shopper.
A mystery buyer will go to several businesses posing as a real buyer, but in reality he is employed by the company or an external organization to check the business.
Mystery shoppers
are used to bringing information about everything from the quality of customer service to even the cleanliness of the establishment. Using FlexJobs to find a mystery buyer job will lead you to legitimate companies that hire mystery buyers. We scrutinize and research every company and job we list on our job board, saving you time and energy searching for mystery buyer positions.Here's a look at everything you need to know about mystery shoppers, including payment, benefits, expectations, and what to keep in mind. While being a secret shopper seems like an easy job and a quick way to make money, it's a time-consuming task. On their site, you can learn a little more about secret shoppers, search for fraudulent sites, and search for purchasing assignments from member companies. Companies use observations made by mystery shoppers to determine areas where they could improve.
When you become a secret shopper, you always remain anonymous, you don't tell the employee who you are. As a secret buyer, you might be asked to behave a certain way or to purchase a particular item and then report on how the situation was handled. Instead, Secret Shopper Scam operators convince consumers that they will pay them to buy by sending them a check that later turns out to be a fake. Businesses typically pay buyers by assignment, rather than by the hour, and payment often depends on the difficulty of the assignment.
The FTC also suggests that applicants do not respond to companies that try to recruit mystery shoppers via email or through classified ads and that they never send money as part of a Mystery Shopping task. Whether you're working as a mystery shopper for extra money or as a full-time job, there are some tips you can use to find legitimate jobs and succeed in your tasks. Other times, businesses don't pay buyers, but instead reimburse them for their expenses or allow them to keep the item they purchased. Some companies offer training to mystery shoppers they hire and will hire them based on passing a skills test.
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