Woman Falls Victim To Mystery Shopper Scam

[The Straight Story]

Woman Falls Victim To Mystery Shopper Scam

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A woman who took a job as a mystery shopper is out thousands of dollars, after the job turned out to be nothing but a scam, Consumer 10's Chuck Strickler reported on Tuesday.

Michelle Jernagan is a mother of four boys and said she is barely making ends meet. A few weeks ago, she said she received an offer to be a mystery shopper and deposited the $2,000 check she received from the company.

The company instructed her to transfer $1,500 by money order to a foreign address and shop for a $100 in items from a local store.

Her bank said the check turned out to be no good, and it required her to pay the $2,000 back.

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2011/08/09/story-columbus-shopper-scam-alert.html?sid=102

[valerief]

1. Probably a teabagger. nt

[Broderick]

2. sigh

This frustrates me when people casually post that drivel. These scams usually affect the poor who can least afford it, and they get caught up in it because they are hoping for a break.

[Lance_Boyle]

5. They get caught up in it because of greed and gullibility.

When something sounds too good to be true...

[Capitalocracy]

7. What are you talking about? Mystery shopping is very common

She should've been suspicious about the check and having to send that money, so gullible, maybe, but there's nothing "greedy" about mystery shopping.

[Lance_Boyle]

10. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Mystery Shopping exists, but does not pay what the scam promises. Same with most "work from home" opportunities. The scams thrive because people see the legit ones, then they see one that supposedly pays a whole lot more for the same work. Guess which one the greedy go for?

[SacoMaine61]

43. I think the expectation of a lot of return for minimal effort is what happened here...eom

[Broderick]

8. When desperation is there

people can be gullible. That is undeniable. That is why these scams typically affect the poorest. It isn't greed to hopefully make a dollar to feed your family. These scams don't promise millions. Far from it. They promise a possible interesting job, and a few dollars in the process. All they do is further impoverish those that can ill afford it.

[DainBramaged]

11. $2000 is greed? Jesus dude, get some empathy

another one of those all for me and nothing for thee types I see.

[Bluebear]

16. It's not in him.

[DainBramaged]

21. I've noticed

:hi:

[Puregonzo1188]

39. Greed? She's a single mother of four who can barely make ends meet.

I don't think greed is the right word for her actions.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. I agree.

I supported myself thru college, in part, by working as a mystery shopper, working for market research firms.
the stereotyping of people who make unfortunate choices and become the e victims of scams does nothing but add to the polarization of our national community.
It would be so nice to see less of this knee jerk, black or white thinking on DU.
Isn't that what we accuse the Repubs of?

[valerief]

13. So how much money were you asked to send your employer? Was there a limit as to how much you would

give your employer? I didn't even know mystery shopping involved giving your employer money. I thought it was the other way around.

[dixiegrrrrl]

37. has nothing to do with my comment nor about labling the person a teabagger.

[Bluebear]

18. Thank you

[valerief]

25. sigh

This frustrates me when people defend teabaggers.

[Broderick]

27. And you know she is one?

I would highly doubt it. And what about the poor do you hate that you think its okay that someone desperate for a job gets scammed? Be angry with the scammers and quit stereotyping everyone that makes a mistake as a "teabagger". I am not one to defend them, but obviously you rather just label people perhaps without knowing them, thus your post to me.

[valerief]

28. You defended teabaggers, not me. nt

[Broderick]

29. I did?

I scolded on the fact that we relegate someone's misfortune as probably being a teabagger. It has no business in a sad story, wherein we know nothing about the person's personal affiliation. Stereotype much?

[valerief]

32. Yep, you did, Sister Mary Elephant. nt

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[valerief]

44. Ha! I know. Has that wagging finger spun off yet?

:hi:

[Nye Bevan]

42. Wow. I can't recall any worse examples of a DUer making themselves looking ridiculous.

You have completely embarrassed yourself. You should have stopped digging while you had the opportunity.

[valerief]

45. I'm not embarrassed. nt

[Nye Bevan]

50. You're attitude (contempt for the poor, lack of empathy) actually reminds me of teabaggers

more so than the unfortunate victim.

[A Simple Game]

46. I know what you mean! Why I bet a teabagger would blame the victim, wouldn't they? n/t

[pipi_k]

4. Why? n/t

[snooper2]

17. Probably the most ignorant post that could have been made in this thread

Congrats!

You Won the ignorant post of the day award!


Your prize is this picture!

[Odin2005]

19. What a shit post.

Get some empathy and sympathy.

[valerief]

26. For teabaggers? Never. You can sympathize with them all you want. nnt

[JoeyT]

36. Where are you getting that she's a teabagger?

I read the entire article and I didn't see a single thing about her that pointed to her being a teabagger.

The only obvious teabaggers in the linked article are in the comments section underneath it who are easy to spot for their stunning lack of empathy. She sounds poor and desperate to take care of her kids. Desperate to the point it made her less cautious than she should have been. I think we can easily see how that could happen to a person.

[pipi_k]

48. OK I think I figured it out...

She's a teabagger because she lives in Ohio.

And we all know that every single person who lives in Ohio is a teabagger.

You know...kind of like how everyone who lives in a trailer is trailer trash.

Or everyone who unrecs topics is a troll.

:eyes:

[Odin2005]

49. How the fuck do you know she's a teabagger?

[Ineeda]

3. I got that spam message last week.

I can see how someone who was desperate could fall for it because the original message didn't mention using the recipient's money in any way. There were fairly detailed instructions on how you'd earn your salary, and that IIRC, this was the 'biggest, most reliable shopper company', etc. People must remember the old adage of 'if it sounds too good to be true, it always is.'

[thecrow]

6. My brother gets this stuff all the time

I'm afraid he may one day fall for something.

[ngant17]

12. deal only with a local business

since you will be shopping locally.

There are always those criminal fly-by-night operations which spring up like mushrooms after a good rain. Fraudulent checks are not hard to produce, almost anyone can send them to you in the mail.

Don't draw on any "mystery" check until it has been completely cleared by the bank, which could take several months if it comes from a foreign account.

Please feel free to send me a check for a million dollars, but don't expect me to do anything with it until it has been carefully scrutinized by the banks for a long time.

[slackmaster]

14. A naive mistake that most US high school graduates might make

Basic personal finance should be taught in public schools.

If I received a check like that, I'd endorse it with the restriction "without recourse", deposit it in a savings account, and keep the money.

(That will NOT prevent the check from bouncing, but it will fuck with the drawer when their bank's item processing department sees it.)

[Mz Pip]

15. I'm beginning to think that

INternet scams should be taught in high school. First it was the Nigerian Prince who wants some random person to be his best friend and now this. There are so many of them out there that it's hard to keep up.

[slackmaster]

20. The scams keep changing, but the underlying characteristics remain the same

Rule #1: If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

24. I got a call just yesterday ...

I supposedly qualified for $7000 in government grant money. The guy with a heavy accent said all I need to do was donate $299 to an Indian charity via Western Union.

Yep, that's all I have to do. Really. :eyes:

[Mz Pip]

34. I guess enough people fall for that

to make it worth doing. If I got a phone call like that I'd report the number to some branch of law enforcement.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

38. I did (as I have every time I get one) ...

I looked up the scam on Google, and sure enough, there were many complaints about this particular heist.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

30. Yes, it should be taught.

Along with investing, if it's not already included.

[blueamy66]

22. I just deposited a bonus check into my account and they placed

a hold on it until the funds cleared.

How come her check cleared if it wasn't any good?

[Broderick]

23. Depends on the amount

I believe. Maybe they know that amount wherein to hold. Maybe your check was larger than 2000?

[blueamy66]

31. No, a bit less and I didn't have the funds to cover it.

Anyway, I can wait a day.

Just seems strange that her $ was available asap, when, according to what I read, she is broke.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

33. My bank automatically credits me up to 5k on deposited checks.

[blueamy66]

47. Mine used to credit me at least $2500...

maybe their changed their rules

[Whiskeytide]

40. Good grief, people...

She's obviously NOT a teabagger. She's a victim of a pretty nifty little scam that has been around for years. The bank will allow you to draw on the provisional credit you get when you deposit a check into your account. It takes 3 to 5 days for the check to actually clear or bounce. That's the window for the crook. If they can get you to send them real $ (money order, Western Union, etc...) before the check bounces, your stiffed, and under your agreement with the bank, you have to make good on the bounced funds.

I have seen this scam in various forms many times for clients. One victim was a 14 year old boy who was trying to buy a radio controlled car and just didn't know any better. Cleaned $2k out of his mother's account.

[Monk06]

41. The bank should eat the loss for allowing her access to the money before the check cleared.