I joined a myster shoppper company and they did not ask a fee but I got the money. Is it legitimate?

IT IS A SCAM...do not cash the check..if you do withing 30 days or so the bank will tell you the check did not clear.....and then YOU will be liable...

Hello, This is more serious than a scam. It is illegal activities.

It it a money laundry, if you are teenage talk to your school.
Call police, this is no joke!

Good luck
myTanny

NOT LIKELY - One of two things. 1) If you received a check it is probably a fraud and they are counting on you sending money before it is rejected and your are held responsible by your bank. OR 2) They are using you to launder money. I suggest contacting your local police department's fraud department. Also, use Google to see if there is anything out there about the "company" if you can get a name.

Don't give out your SS #. If they did not sign you up as an employee it is definitely illegal.

I have seen a version of this scam before.

Mystery shopping companies should NEVER ask for you to pay to join their shopper network. Most reputable companies will pay a shop fee PLUS at least a portion of the purchase and sometimes a bonus to get the job done if it is a short window - you can always ask for mileage if it is over 15 -20 miles, sometimes you win.

Some companies pay better than others and I have had the bad experience of finding some who don't pay. If they take more than 45 days to pay or tell you that unelss the client pays them you won't get paid, steer clear of them. They have financial problems.

Some companies have unreasonable expectations on the outcome and have long tedious reports. Some will tell you up front about the length of the report and how much it pays as well as who and where it is, others hide it until after you have taken an extensive test or already signed up for the shop, which is dirty. The only way you can accurately decide which companies are good and fair is to try them for a couple of shops and see what they are really about.

I have been doing this for over 6 years and there are some really good ones out there that treat you fair, pay reasonable and fairly quickly. Some send checks, do direct deposit and some use PayPal. All in all, I have never had a check bounce but have had 3 companies not pay at all. They were all in bad financial shape and went down the tubes, so I can say I was surprised with them.

There is a site (can't remember the name) where shopper rate various companies. You might do a search to see if you can find it, as that was where I actually found out about the companies that didn't pay and I had contacted them several times about the payments too.

The bigger payments generally require that you put out a lot as well so if you have the cash and can wait sometime 2 months to get paid, there are some that pay over $100 but they are not that often.

Oh, my friggin GOD.

Stay the HELL away from this. RUN as fast as you can.

This is a KNOWN scam.... FAKE Money Orders/Counterfeited Money orders...


They will send you counterfeit BOGUS Illegal money orders in YOUR name, for you to PERSONALLY go and cash them, and then send them their portion...

In a few days, YOU will be on the hook for the money, and will likely be dealing with the POLICE, about how it is exactly, that YOU are cashing counterfiet money orders in YOUR name...


OH my god.....you have actually received these things and cashed them????? Do NOT, I repeat do NOT send these people their portion of the money. You will want to notify the bank and perhaps the ploice as soon as possible that you are a victim of a huge huge scam.


I am NOT joking in any way shape or form. Don't delete the emails...the police probably want to be able to trace where they are coming from.

THANK GOD you thought of asking this !!!!!!

SCAM SCAM SCAM DO NOT DEPOSIT THAT CHEQUE

It is a money laundering scam and you are being set up as a mule which is a criminal offence. (Think drug mule same difference).

You deposit the cheque in your bank account. You wire the money as requested by Western Union (untraceable and irretrievable), (confidentially) as per instructions.

A few weeks later the cheque bounces - you are left with a debt to your bank of $2,000. You have just participated in a fraud against your bank and a money laundering scam.
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Do not respond to them - you will be put on a 'mugs list' and your details sold to other criminals.

Do not send them money - You will be helping to fund criminals and possibly terrorists.

Do not send money via Western Union to anyone you don't know personally. No real company would ask you to transfer money in this way. It's untraceable and irretrievable.

Do not give them any personal details - beware of identity theft or bank fraud. Your identity may also be used to commit further crimes against other innocent people and this could cause you serious problems in the future.

Please let as many friends and colleagues as you can know about this and ask them to pass it on. Knowledge is the only way to stop these criminals.

The moneygrams are fake. You're supposed to deposit $1700 and keep $300 and send them the rest, right? Or send them $1400 worth of merchandise?

OK, so say you do that. And then your bank comes after you and tells you that you owe them $1700, because you've cashed fraudulent moneygrams. You try to explain to them that you don't have the $1700 any more, that you sent it all away to some stranger from Craigslist.

Guess what? The bank's not going to care. YOU will be legally responsible for paying them back that $1700, and the scammer who sent you the bad checks will be long gone with the merchandise YOU sent him.

SCAM.

The check is fake. It will bounce but only after you send the money out of the country via Western Union. This leaves you on the hook for the $1400 that you sent out.

and check with BBB about whether or not a company has a bad rating.... Often, there is a reason why. I'd be leary about a company that requires money upfront. I received a lot of valuable information from
http://www.athomeideas4u.com/

Good luck! And, please share any success stories with the rest of us :)