So I got this text the other day:
Text from unknown number(spoofed anyway no need to put from number it is false – also I modified the link so others will not be able to go to it:
WALMART is starting an exceptionally huge research project in your area. This project happens each week, so we have to select Shoppers to function as a store evaluator. You will get $450 on every task. Every task requires 20-30 minutes of time at the store in addition to time to review your post-visit reports. CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO PROCESS YOUR APPLICATION:
https://forms.zohopublicdotcom/mellisahooper12/form/JOBEVALUATION/formperma/tgu4IHbOIe5TjWwzy4SvABjkbaLPODI-H7oRespects Manager – Global Operations Keith Morrison.
========================================================================
So if you get a text like this what should you do?
So if one is not interested in this kind of work, then delete and forget it.
But let’ say you do these kinds of things (mystery shopping or other testing ) Or you would like to try it to make the money?
Now what? Do not click or call back the number!!
First do some research.
I put the following text in my favorite search engine (startpage.com)
“exceptionally huge research project in your area. This project happens each week, so we have to select Shoppers to function as a store evaluator. You will get $450 on every task. ”
guess what came as #1: https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2020/03/fake-offers-secret-shopper-jobs (Reprinting the ftc.gov
Fake offers for secret shopper jobs
Did you get an offer to be a secret shopper for a well-known company? It might come as text, email, or letter inviting you to work on a ‘research project starting soon in your area.’ Several people who got offers to be secret shoppers for grocery stores, like Whole Foods, thought they were scams, and wrote to the FTC to warn others. They were right — the offers are scams — and now we’re extending the warning.
People spotted signs of a fake check scam in the bogus Whole Foods secret shopper offer (which was from a scammer, not really Whole Foods). That’s when someone sends you a check and convinces you to deposit it and quickly send them money. In this scam, the recruiter would send shoppers a check for more than $2,000 and they would:
- Cash or deposit the check immediately
- Buy gift cards with most of the money
- Keep about $450 as their pay
- Scratch the coating off the gift cards to show the PIN codes
- Send pictures of the cards’ front and back (with the codes) to the recruiter
If anyone ever tells you to deposit a check, withdraw money, and send it to someone, that’s a scam. When the check later turns out to be fake, the bank will want the money back. And if anyone tells you to go buy gift cards and share the PIN numbers, that’s a scam, too. Once the scammer has the PIN, they also have all the money from the cards.
the reason i am writing this post is to place this particular scam on the Internet so that others searching in the future will know it is a scam.