This is from the MSPA website regarding this scam. Scammers using legimite mystery shopping company's name, offers consumers the opportunity to make ?easy money? by cashing a large sum cashier?s check and evaluating the service they receive when they wire the money to another location, typically outside the country.

Press Release from MSPA re the scam

QUOTE:
Consumers Around Country Caught By Fake Money Order Scams

DALLAS, Dec. 7, 2006 ? The Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), the largest professional trade association dedicated to improving service quality using anonymous resources, wants to make sure consumers are aware of check-cashing scams popping up across the country this holiday season.

A check-cashing scam offers consumers the opportunity to make ?easy money? by cashing a large sum cashier?s check and evaluating the service they receive when they wire the money to another location, typically outside the country. The ?reward? offered to consumers is a percentage of the original cashier?s check as payment. In these scams, the check bounces several days later and the consumer is held liable for the entire amount of money wired to the international address ? typically between $1,000 and $5,000.

?The biggest challenge for consumers with the check-cashing scam is the fact that scammers frequently use the names of legitimate mystery shopping companies in the letter they send to potential victims, and the cashier?s check contains the name of a real bank and looks real,? said MSPA Executive Director John Swinburn. ?The bottom line for consumers is this ? if the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.?

Consumers who receive a similar offer are urged to contact authorities, including the local police, the FBI, and the Federal Trade Commission. If the offer is received via mail, consumers should also contact the U.S. Postal Service.

Consumers should also be cautious of e-mails offering free food, shopping trips, dinners and other elaborate gifts for a small, one-time fee. These offers typically provide information on how to become a mystery shopper, rather than actual mystery shopping jobs. The good news for potential shoppers: information on how to become a mystery shopper is available for free on the MSPA Web site, www.mysteryshop.org.

Mystery shopping is a valuable tool used by some of the largest retailers, restaurants and banks to understand and enhance the experience they provide their customers. However, it is not a quick and easy way to make a large sum of money and receive numerous freebies. The MSPA has developed the following tips for those interested in becoming a mystery shopper:

* Prospective shoppers do not have to pay a fee to become a mystery shopper. Shoppers should be extremely wary of any mystery shopping offer that requests a fee.

* Visit the MSPA Web site (www.mysteryshop.org/shoppers) for a list of reputable mystery shopping companies and opportunities. Contact the companies directly, not the MSPA, for more information on how to become a shopper.

* Be patient. It takes time, sometimes months or even longer, to be contacted with an offer to conduct a shopping assignment.

* Be cautious of opportunities that offer large sums of money for simple tasks like cashing a check or wiring money. A typical mystery shopping evaluation will earn about $10 to $20. If an assignment sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Wow how low will scammers go this is crazy that they would do that

Unfortunately I have heard lot of people fall for this.

Thank you, I am so glad you posted this. I recently got 2 checks in the mail from supposed mystery shopping companys, and they are both post marked from Canada however the checks are from the United States. One check doesn't even have a place to endorse on the back but the other looks very real. Anyhow, they both ask you to call a number to find out who to wire the money to through Money Gram. These companies are "Money and Shopping" and "N.I. Performance Marketing Services INC." Has anyone heard of these companies? What should I do with the checks? (besides not cashing them obviously). Thanks again!

yeah i think i signed up for one of those mystery shopper companies out of Canada about a month ago, as well as a few others, and they had local "jobs" in my area but they really didnt pay enough to make it worthwhile and seemed to be very strict on their requiremnets for you to evaluate their customers....

one was for a pizza place and you had to make an exact of order of something like "one medium cheese pizza with no toppins and some special hand tossed crust"...if you did everything correctly supposedly they would reimburse you the price of the pizza and maybe $10 or so...other jobs involved taking digital photos of gas stations or min-marts...

that sounds like a lot of trouble