BBB warns of ‘mystery shopper’ job scam

Better Business Bureau Northwest + Pacific is warning job-seekers of the company Cube Survey, which claims to be based in Hawaii. Since April 3, BBB has received four reports to BBB Scam Tracker from job-seekers alleging they were hired by the company as a Mystery Shopper. At least one person lost an estimated $7,800 to the scheme.

Here’s how the scam works:

Victims receive a message through LinkedIn, which appear to be from an acquaintance, suggesting they sign up for the mystery shopping job with Cube Survey. Once “hired,” they are sent a check to deposit in their banking account and told to deduct their commission.

They are then instructed to purchase Walmart gift cards of varying amounts, so they may “evaluate” the store’s customer service. To prove they performed the task they must send a picture of the code on the back of the gift cards to Cube Survey. This allows the scammers to drain the accounts on the gift cards. Soon, the victim discovers the check deposited in their account for payment has bounced, and they are left to cover the amount spent on the gift cards. BBB has received reports from victims in North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin.

View the sample Cube Survey Assignment attached.

BBB’s Investigation team has learned that the company is not located in Hawaii or authorized to do business in the state.

To avoid falling for this type of scam, your BBB recommends the following:

Be skeptical if you are recruited. Scammers will often disguise themselves as recruiters or by creating fake profiles pretending to be someone you know.

Don’t pay for a job. Legitimate companies don’t charge people to work for them – they pay people to work for them.

Check MSPA. Legitimate Secret Shopper companies are typically sanctioned by the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. You can look it up at mspa-global.org.

If you’ve been cheated, or if you see suspicious activity, report the scam to authorities and BBB Scam Tracker to warn others. 

ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust. In 2016, people turned to BBB more than 167 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.2 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including BBB Northwest & Pacific which serves more than 15 million consumers in Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Hawaii and Western Wyoming.