| Contact: Jon Sorensen (518) 473-9472 | For Immediate Release: April 27, 2007 |
|
|
|
CPB warns that bogus checks are going to New Yorkers looking for part-time jobs as 'secret' shoppers |
| The New York State Consumer Protection Board ("CPB") is warning job seekers to ignore letters claiming to offer a job – and a check – from a "mystery shopper" company in Canada called Service Intelligence or Service Access. Scam artists are using the name and logo of a legitimate Canadian firm – Service Intelligence, Inc. – to mail phony job offers to be a mystery shopper. The letters contain bogus checks and the victims are instructed to deposit the checks; keep $300 as pay and return the rest to an address in Canada. One man in New York lost nearly $2,400 after he received three separate checks from the scam artists. Another New Yorker lost close to $6,700 when she sent three moneygrams to Canada. Some victims of this scam were targeted after they posted their resumes and addresses on various Internet job sites. Service Intelligence, Inc. is one of many marketing firms that hire people to work part-time as "mystery" or "secret shoppers." Companies will hire Service Intelligence to send mystery shoppers to their stores to evaluate the quality of customer service. "No legitimate employer requires its employees to send money. When you're hired to do a job – you get the money; not the employer," said Mindy Bockstein, Chairperson and Executive Director of the CPB. On its website, the legitimate company located in Canada, Service Intelligence Inc. urges anyone who receives these letters to contact them at 866-261-5002 Ext. 240 or file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service. Consumers may also file a report with the CPB at 1-800-697-1220 or via the Internet at Consumer Protection Board. "This is not the only scam that uses phony checks to rip-off consumers," said Chairperson Bockstein. "Whether it's a phony job offer or a sweepstakes scam, the pattern is the same. A consumer receives a check in the mail and they are instructed to deposit the check and to send back a smaller amount. Too often, the victim sends the money back before the bank can advise them that the check is bogus." "If you get a job or you win a prize, they pay you – you never pay them," said Chairperson Bockstein. |