Economy Down, Scams Up

When the economy goes down, scammers eagerly target people who hope to earn extra money. We want you to be alert to a new twist on an old scam.

It might be advertised as a "customer service evaluator" job, or a packet of materials might simply appear in your mail announcing "you've been selected." The official-looking envelope includes items like a Secret Shopper assignment, an evaluation form, a business code of ethics and a large check to deposit.

You're instructed to deposit the check, spend a portion of the funds at specific merchants, keep a portion for your efforts and wire the balance back to the company. Or you may be instructed to use a certain payment center to wire the funds from your account in order to evaluate the customer service.

The checks look legitimate. If you call the phone number to verify funds, you may reach an actual person. Unfortunately, the phone number and the person answering are as fake as the check.

Instead of earning an easy paycheck, the victim learns from his or her financial institution about a week later that the check was bogus and he is liable for the amount of the bad check – an amount that usually ranges from $1,000 to $5,000.

Any time you're asked to deposit funds and immediately wire them out of your account, STOP. This is not the way legitimate businesses work. While mystery shopping is a legitimate business, a typical assignment earns $8 to $20, according to the Mystery Shopping Providers Association. Be cautious of opportunities that offer large sums of money for simple tasks.

Visit the Education section of our website for a list of recent scams, and feel free to ask questions when you visit a branch.

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