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| 11/17/2006 8:31:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | 'Secret shopper' scam hits home
Jim Brazda
Reporter
The Blair Police Department has been notified of yet another unique scam targeting victims in the region.
A Blair woman informed the police department this week of a letter she received informing her she had been selected for employment as a "secret shopper."
The letter came complete with a check for $4,770 and stated she was to use the money to make purchases at several stores and rate them on their customer service. She was to keep nearly $700 of that check as payment.
The issue: two of the four companies the letter asked her to evaluate were Western Union and Money Gram; by sending a $2,600 and a $1,200 wire transfer to a location that would be revealed after calling a telephone number with an Ontario, Canada, area code.
Investigator Steve Halley with the Blair Police Department said it will take around 10 days for the bad check to bounce after being deposited by the victim. In the meantime, the grifters' goal is to get the victim to make the wire transfers, probably to a bank in a foreign country. Once the check is identified as counterfeit, the victim would be left with a hefty loss.
The letter even came with a "code of business conduct and ethics," for the "secret shoppers" to follow as terms for their "employment." One Freudian slip should give the scam away: "Disobeying the law, both in letter and in spirit, is the foundation of this Code."
The letter falsely claims to be issued from ACRA Inc., a New Jersey company that does evaluate employee performance for its customers by sending out secret shoppers.
ACRA has released a statement on its website about the scam, instructing victims to contact their local law enforcement, the U.S. Postal Inspector Service, the Federal Trade Commission or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The Better Business Bureau has issued an alert about the "secret shopping" scams. The first Nebraska victim reported to the BBB was a Neligh resident who answered an ad by a firm called Secret Shoppers. After applying to the company and receiving a check for $2,550, she deposited the check and withdrew the $300 that was supposed to be her compensation. Before following the wire transfer instructions, however, she called the BBB.
Upon advice from the Bureau, she notified her bank the check was fradulant and the remainder of the deposit was removed from her account.
"Reputable companies do not seek 'secret shoppers' this way," said Jim Hegarty, Nebraksa BBB president. "They may operate under many names, but the hook in their offers is the same -an invitation to earn money as a 'secret shopper' for major companies."
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Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, March 12, 2007
Article comment by:
ashley goode
I was scamed and left with fraud on my account with bank of america what can i do to make it go away?
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