Being a ‘secret shopper’ sounds like fun

Secret shoppers are the people who get paid to go to retail stores, restaurants, car dealerships and more, pose as customers, ask questions and rat out rude sales people if it’s deserved.

If Red Lobster wants to pay for me and a guest to eat at one of their locations and then fill out a form about my experience, the wait time, the temperature and plating appearance of the food, and the friendliness of the service (maybe 20 minutes of actual work), I’m all for it. And, yes, there are indeed valid opportunities out there.

Recently, however, most all ads for secret shoppers are — in reality — really ads for gullible dummies.

In the State of Nevada, most real opportunities are only available to licensed private investigators or to people working under the license of a private investigator. (This requirement varies by state.)

Most of the bogus initial contacts are made via the Internet and the titles are alluring. “We’ll pay you $200 to be a Secret Shopper at Walmart!”

All the gonna-be-victim has to do is provide his or her contact information and they’re on their way to the job of a lifetime.

This rapidly progresses to receiving an envelope in the mail. Inside you’ll find your instructions AND what is nothing more than an advanced fee fraud when reduced to the lowest common denominator.

What might that be? A check or money order for $500, made out to YOU, that looks real as real can be.

The instructions advise you to deposit the funds in your checking account and then go make a $100 purchase at Walmart.

Buy something you want, because you’re going to get to keep the item as half of your $200 fee!

Now take the other $100 you are owed out of the $400 remaining, fill out the enclosed Secret Shopper Form, and then send the remaining $300 to the company that processes all of the paperwork.

To save time, send it by overnight mail for $20 and make the money order for $280 instead. Simple mathematics, right?

About two weeks later, when the $500 advance bounces higher than a basketball, you’ll figure out what really just happened.

The amounts sent vary with the fraudster. The result is always the same. YOU are left holding the bag.

TANSTAAFL. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.

Drop by the Pahrump Valley Times offices, 2160 E. Calvada Blvd., for a copy of Leslie Kim’s latest book “123 Main Street … the Scamming of America.” Only $19.95 while supplies last.