Mystery Shopping Scams

An official with the state’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection says if you’re going to respond to an unsolicited ad or email about being a “Mystery Shopper” you might get scammed. Frank Frassetto says Mystery Shopping is a legitimate tool that marketing firms use to evaluate the customer shopping experience, but if you have to spend your own money it’s likely a scam. He says the shopping certification offered in the ads and unsolicited emails are almost always worthless. He says the other thing about the “Mystery Shopper” scams is that they can be fronts for fake check scams.