BBB warns of scam on mystery shoppers

Letter asks you to wire money to Canada

Friday, Feb. 22, 2008

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

The Better Business Bureau Thursday warned of a company enlisting mystery shoppers and encouraging them to wire money to Canada for which they are not repaid.

The company, Bargain Shoppers Express, is sending checks to people across the country using the home address of an elderly Hickory woman and is asking them to be mystery shoppers, said Janet Hart, spokeswoman for the BBB of Southern Piedmont. The checks later bounce, she said.
Since Jan. 30, the BBB has received nearly 300 inquiries and eight complaints from people who say they have received checks, Hart said.

Company representatives reached at three different phone numbers in Ontario, Canada, answered calls from the Observer Thursday, but the calls disconnected when they were asked about the warning.

The checks, usually written for $4,770, appear to have been sent to several hundred people nationwide and arrive with instructions on how to evaluate four businesses, Hart said.

Each shopper is asked to spend a small amount of money at the stores and wire about $2,000 to individuals in Canada though Moneygram and Western Union, Hart said.

Within a few days of wiring the money, Hart said, the checks bounce, forcing shoppers to repay thousands of dollars.

The Hickory address, which belongs to a woman not involved in the scam, appears to have been randomly selected, Hart said.

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