Scam Alert, Don't Be the Next Victim

Sitting down at the table and opening a letter hand written, addressed to myself, from a company called 'Secret Shopper Shopping Insite Inc'. A cashiers check was made out to me for the amount of $4,880.00 with a letter attached.

They got my attention and now I was curious and wanted to read more. I had been chosen to represent their company and they were going to pay me to shop. Reading farther it sounded so good and I was truly exited.

"Surely this cannot be real." I thought to myself, looking over the cashiers check and seeing the watermark on the rear of the check. "Wow! Could this be for real? Did I actually find something to do from home that I could make good money at?"

The paper instructed me to call and get further information. The lady I spoke with was pretty nice and just told me to make 3 copies of the secrete shopper form and then deposit the check into my account. And she then told me to call her back when the check cleared.

This lady made it clear that I would be getting $600.00 for the training session that they would provide for me. I expressed my concern to her about this sounding too good to be true. She said she understood and that was the reason they wait to give further instructions until after the check clears, so that people would realize that this is a legitimate company and not a scam.

"What should I do now, should I cash the check? It is so tempting. I mean $600.00 is a lot of money." I thought to myself.

Still having doubts, I decided to look into this company a little further. This company was supposed to be out of Canada. After looking for about 30 minutes online I decided to do more invasive research, and e-mailed the Canadian government and the FBI. After responses from both, I was able to feel comfortable that this was a true scam. The FBI responded via e-mail and instructed me to call the actual bank that the check was from. But they made it clear that the number on the check was probably associated with the scammers and to get the real number from the 'FDIC'.

I did as instructed, and spoke with someone from the bank, and she confirmed that this specific check was in fact a counterfeit check.

What happens if you cash these checks? You ask. Well, turns out that your bank would probably cash the check thinking that these checks are in fact "real". Then you would, as instructed by the company, Send $2,700 via Western union to the company, and send the rest via money order, minus your $600 for your training. Afterwards you would fill out a Secret Shopper form to evaluated the companies you used to forward this money.

Then, when you have completed your task, your bank would finally catch on. And guess whom is knocking on your door? You guessed it, the bank wants their money back and you are facing charges for cashing a counterfeit check. You are now the victim and the thief. And to make it worse, the scammers have gotten their money and ran.

My advise: If you get something in the mail or via e-mail and it sounds too good to be true. You guessed it, it probably is. Please be wise and don't let these criminals win. Lets beat them at their own game.