Like many others, I'm still looking for a job. As a result, I'm still enjoying the generous sampling of job scams hitting my inbox every time I make my visits to the job boards.
This week's offering was the "Mystery Shopper" job. Like my previous e-mail containing the credit check scam, this one was submitted to CraigsList as an accounting job (and I have no doubt as every other type of job CraigsList has a category for). In response to my resumé, I received:
Subject: Re: Accounting Assistant (Raleigh)
You are PROBABLY a bit over-qualified for this position, however, if you are just looking for some extra, easy cash, then this may be perfect for you.
The position is for an Online Mystery Shopper. You will be doing online shopping, filling out offers for merchants, and receiving products in the mail. You will then be asked to rate that merchant, based on your experience.
The rest of the e-mail detailed my supposed duties for this job, the requirements, and where to sign up. Doesn't seem much like the kind of thing you'd expect an accounting assistant to do, is it? Nor was it the job described in the original CraigsList ad.
Let's face it—no legitimate company will use deceptive job postings to garner candidates. An honest mystery shopper recruiter will advertise for, you guessed it, mystery shoppers. If they have to fool you to get your response, you can bet they're up to something shady.
Identity theft is always a possibility, but in this case the goal is more in line with a pyramid scheme. Once you sign up, you're instructed to go to a number of web sites and sign up for their trial offers. You're not a mystery shopper—you're a referral, and the scammer gets paid for everyone they can trick into signing up for the trial offer.
What they're doing is not technically illegal, but it is definitely deceitful. It may not be as bad as other mystery shopper scams, but do you really want to do business with someone who started out by lying to you? If I were looking for mystery shopping jobs, I'd go talk to people who have done it, and learn from their experience which companies to work for and which ones to avoid.
However, I'm not looking for mystery shopping jobs. Not only was their little job ad dishonest, it was a waste of time for all the job hunters who responded. Small wonder it got flagged for removal from CraigsList.
