Hello, I am new to this and I was just wondering if any one has been contacted via email about an assignment offering good pay and compensation for costs with details to be mailed via snail mail? Is this ligget?

Hi Crystale,

Without knowing who emailed you and about what exactly, I wouldn't be able to say with absolute certainty, but it does sound like a scam. iSecretShop does not use Snail mail, nor do any of the MSPs which posts shops on iSecretShop.

Here are a few pointers to help you determine of the opportunities you get emailed about are legitimate, and originating from MSPs on iSecretShop:

• The email address of the sender should always be a corporate email (like for example ivan@prismintelligence.com) - private emails like @gmail, @yahoo, @icloud, etc. should always raise suspicions (and are not authorized to be sent via iSecretShop).
• The emails themselves that are being sent through iSecretShop should always contain reference to the iSecretShop platform (whether by directing you to login to iSecretShop, or informing you that you are receiving the email because you're registered at iSecretShop, or something similar)
• The emails should, in most cases, contain the exact location/locations (and/or the specific address) that's being shopped, and you should be able to login to iSecretShop and look it up under Available Shops.
• The company which is offering the opportunity must be one of the companies listed on the iSecretShop Provider Contracts & Policies page - all MSPs which operate under the iSecretShop platform are listed there.
• All detailed information about legitimate mystery shopping opportunities on iSecretShop can be found on the iSecretShop website - the overview can be seen on the Available Shops page, and the full details on your Assigned Shops page once the shop is assigned to you - that's where the form is filled out, and that's where the instructions and guidelines are.

One of the surest ways to check if you are still in doubt is to ask the person who emailed you to give you the Shop ID number for the shop in question. If they do - you can look it up on the iSecretShop website, and find that it's a legitimate shop. If they refuse to, you should be very careful as it could be a scam.

These are just some of the tell-tell signs of a possible scam, so always be sure to check, and you can even open a support ticket for iSecretShop, to check if the person that sent you an email is registered as a scheduler for any MSP.

I hope this helps!

TThank you for your time. This helps. As a follow up I was sent the assignment and a check to cover my cost

Glad to have helped! And stay cautious :)

They sent you a check to cover the cost? Still be cautious-there is an age old scam where the scammer will send you a check for a large amount of money for you to deposit into your checking account. Then, request for you to get a few money orders in different amounts for the majority of the money but tell you to keep the remaining XXX amount. It usually comes with postal instructions on where to send it and to "evaluate" the postal service workers helping you as part of the survey. The check is usually fake and by the time you send off the money orders it has bounced in your account and now you are left holding the debt.

Crystale @ Jul 4, 2018 9:34:28 PM

TThank you for your time. This helps. As a follow up I was sent the assignment and a check to cover my cost

Crystale @ Jul 4, 2018 9:34:28 PM

Thank you for your time. This helps. As a follow up I was sent the assignment and a check to cover my cost

Was this a shop where you had to deposit the check and then buy gift cards? If so, shred the check (or report it to the police) as it's a scam. I just saw a story on the local news in NYC about a woman who was out $2500 because the check she was sent bounced and she had already sent the gift card info to the scammer.

Yes, there are a lot of scams out there. All shoppers must be cautious, and curious. Sometimes proceed with caution is very good advice. Hope all reading this find this informative and enlightening.

Indeed.

As I've mentioned on another thread, we have received similar reports from various people lately, who have received letters from "Prism Intelligence" with checks for $2,300, claiming that the project has something to do with WalMart.

These letters and checks did not come from Prim Intelligence (or other MSPs in the iSS system) - this is a scam. Please do not give these people any identifying information, and you should absolutely not cash in, deposit, or otherwise negotiate the item in any way.

Prism Intelligence is a legitimate company, and the only mystery shopping opportunities offered by it are offered via the iSecretShop platform - it does not not send out any letters and checks, nor request any advanced payments. You can find legitimate mystery shopping opportunities offered by Prism Intelligence on the iSecretShop website - other sources claiming to be Prism Intelligence opportunities should always be verified as it may be a potential scam, such as this one.

Sometimes unfortunately, an MSP's good name is being used fraudulently by scammers trying to rip off good people.Several months ago, another MSP's name was used in a nearly identical scam, and last year, yet another MSP's name. It's always good to be cautious.

Cheers!