Postal Letter

nsbalian@mspa-worlwide.org scam?

I received this E-mail and I've even received a check for close to $4,000 saying to send $3500 to the address I still can't find any info on this company..But that's quite a bit of money to just Western Union someone E-mail is inclosed here: From: "Secret Shopper®" <nsbalian@mspa-worlwide.org>Add sender to Contacts To: undisclosed-recipients Message contains attachments1 File (4KB)Dear Candidate, We have a job offer available for you that will not disturb your present occupation. Currently we have available position for you to work for us. See below description. "We have a mystery shopping assignment in your area and we would like you to participate" Secret Shopper® is accepting applications for qualified individuals to become mystery shoppers. It's fun and rewarding, and you choose when and where you want to shop. You are never obligated to accept an assignment. There is no charge to become a shopper and you do not need previous experience. After you sign up, you will have access to training materials via e-mail, fax or postal mail. ABOUT US Secret Shopper® is the premier mystery shopping company, serving clients across America and Canada with over 500,000 shoppers available and ready to help businesses better serve their customers. Continual investment in the latest internet and communication technologies coupled with over 16 years of know-how means working with Secret Shopper® is a satisfying and rewarding experience. Secret shopping as seen on ABC NEWS, NBC NEWS, L.A.TIMES. Stores and organizations such as The Gap, Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, and Banks. One amongst many others pay for Secret Shoppers to shop in their establishments and report their experiences. On top of being paid for shopping you are also allowed to keep purchases for free. Secret Shopper® NEVER charge fees to the shopper. Training, tips for improvement, and shopping opportunities are provided free to registered shoppers. Mystery shoppers are either paid a pre-arranged fee for a particular shop, a reimbursement for a purchase or a combination of both. Secret Shopper® has availabl You will be required to interact with the shop clerk. You may conduct the shop alone or as a couple. The assignment will pay $200.00 or more per duty Kindly Fill Out the application form below and we will get back to you shortly with the assignment: PERSONAL INFORMATION: First Name: Last Name: Street Address (No Po Box Acceptable) : City, State, Zip Code: Cell Phone Number/Home Phone Number: Age: Current Occupation: Alternate Email Address: AVAILABILITY: Days/Hours Available Monday: Tuesday: Wednesday: Thursday: Friday: Saturday: Sunday: Hours Available: from _______ to ______ Assignment: We have had complaints on some western union and money gram location in the services they render and we want you to investigate it personally as our new Evaluator in your area By Going there to send funds. We will be sending you Payment in form of Money Orders to carry out this assignment. So please take note of these instructions below. We will send you Money Order which you will take to your Bank for Instant Cashing then you are to proceed to the location we are going to allocate to you for investigation and you are to carry out every instructions we will be sending to you via email to investigate this location. We will want for you to email us as soon as you have carried out the comprehensive investigation and let us understand what you found out about your survey. I hope you do understand what we have requested for you to do as our new Evaluator, Please confirm you do understand so we can approve your application and your new assignment will kick off immediately. This is a very exciting job and is very rewarding. So please get back to us confirming your interest and we await your response for us to go ahead and approve you. We await your urgent response. Thank you for your help. We look forward working with you. Sincerely, Neshan Balian. Recruiting Department, Secret Shopper®

Public Comments

1. Call the FBI right away and turn over everything you have from these people - including the envelope and all emails. They are trying to get you to commit money laundering which can land you in jail like this girl found out http://www.kirotv.com/money/16091642/detail.html Do not deposit this or have any contact with these people, it's fake. Secret shopping has NOTHING to do with depositing money or sending thru Western Union, these are Nigerian money laundering scams. You also do not get contacted by unsolicited email, you have to go to the actual mystery shopping agency, fill out an application before you are accepted. Also you always spend your own money for a secret shop and dont get reimbursed until 30 days after your shop. You would also never keep $500 or make $200 per assigment, $10-20 is standard so more proof this is a scam Here is the real Secret Shopper company http://www.secretshopper.com/info/CompanyInfo.asp - call them and they will confirm this is not from them, they have no Neshan Balian working there, and you have been scammed.
2. SCAM - like the post above says, keep copies of everything including the money order and call your FBI Field Office Monday morning. DO NOT deposit that money order for any reason - it's counterfeit. Also call the real Secret Shopper company to inform them so they can get their own company legal department involved. All emails from the real Secret Shopper end in @secretshopper.com so you know this is a scam Dateline did a whole show about this exact scam and how much money people have lost http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29903354 This is not how mystery shopping works. You are NEVER sent money. If there was a legitimate secret shop at Moneygram or Western Union, you would be asked to send $25 of your own money to a friend or relative, then fill out your evaluation form, submit the receipt for the $25 you sent, then get reimbursed along with your fee, generally $15-20 per assignment. That's it.
3. That is definitely a scam. Anything involving Western Union or any money transferring is a scam. Legitimate mystery shopping companies: 1. Will not send you payment of any kind before you've completed the assignment. 2. Will never ask you to send / wire transfer money. 3. Have online applications to sign up to becoming a shopper. (e.g. www.bestmark.com/become_a_shopper.htm)
4. Definitely some bad bad things going on with that.