Tips to avoid mystery shopping scams

Mystery shopping is a fabulous way to formulate some extra cash. But, becoming a mystery shopper has its own confronts. One of the hardest elements of mystery shopping is staying away from mystery shopping scams and discovering legitimate mystery shopping companies to work for. Here are some guidelines to help a person to make money as a mystery shopper, while avoiding mystery shopping scams.

Tips to avoid mystery shopping scams

Getting compensated prior to doing the actual mystery shopping assignment

One of the most common and greatest scam is being paid by a secret shopping company even before starting the assignment. Here the firm sends a cheque to the secret shopper and asks to deposit in some wire transfer fund and ask them to keep the rest of the money as an advance, which is a loss because when an individual approaches for the clearance of the cheque it will be a fake one. Remember, a legitimate mystery shopping company will never send a check before one’s shopping is completed. A person shops with their own money, after reporting their shop, they get reimbursed for what they spend, and then will be paid their reward.

Charging a fee for registration

A real and legitimate mystery shopping company never charges a fee for registration, not even a cent. If anyone comes across a company/website claiming to be a real mystery shopping company, asking for a fee in order to assign a mystery shopping jobs, turn around and don't look back!

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is

In many instances if it appears to be too good it will be a good one. If a company is promising a person that they may be reimbursed with a diamond ring or some other costly gift, then it is advisable for a person to stay away from that kind of companies, because those companies will not make that much money to compensate a secret shopper. These are scams from which an individual should stay away with.