Looking for a job on the internet can be risky.
There are hundreds of phony employment offers online, and the most common is for secret shoppers.
Secret shopping is a legitimate job and it’s used to rate customer service at retail businesses.
You can spot a fake when you’re promised high pay for a little work.
Patricia Young answered a mystery shopping ad on Kijiji.
She was sent a cheque for $1,900 and told to cash it, spend some of the money at Walmart, wire $1,500 at two Western Union outlets and keep $300 commission.
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Young decided to wait until her bank cleared the cheque, and two weeks later it came back counterfeit.
Legitimate secret shopping companies say that’s not how they do business.
Jason Carter runs Performalogics Market Intelligence and Measurement.
He says applying by email without an interview, a phone call or screening is a red flag.
“If somebody’s hiring you and they haven’t spoken to you and you haven’t taken a training program and you’ve not filled out a proper application… it’s probably not legit,” says Carter.
The second clue to a phony, is how much money you can make.
Carter says most jobs pay between ten to twenty dollars for five or ten minutes in a store and filling an evaluation form.
The other myth is how they’re paid.
Shoppers are rarely send money in advance, and are instead reimbursed afterwards plus a flat fee for their time.
Patricia Young says the phony ad is still on Kijiji and has posted a warning.
If you want to know the right way to apply for a secret shopper job and how to spot a phony, go to www.performalogics.com
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