Secret Shopper Scam

I received an 'invitation' to be a secret shopper in the mail today from North American Marketing Research but the postage is obviously Canadian. They claimed that North American Van Lines had hired them to do some research. My 'job' was to go to gas stations to check prices (what!) and send $3000 via moneygram to a person of my choice to ensure I wasn't overcharged during the transaction. They gave me 48 hours to complete the first assignment and a week to complete the second one from the time I received the mail. I also had to call them to arrange the specifics of the assignments. The contact names are Ms Mary Parker and Mr. George Frank and their phone number is 1-438-887-5000 (a Canadian number). The business address for North American Marketing Research is 4500 Dartmouth Drive, Fort Wayne Indiana 46864 The check is from North American Van Lines, Inc. P.O. Box 12668 Fort Wayne Indiana 46864.

What I thought was really funny is they spelled my name wrong and added 2 extra y's in random spots, so there was no way the bank would even take the fake check. Other than that the check is pretty impressive. I think they got my information from doing surveys for places like cashcrate and mysurvey for a little extra money.

Is there anybody I should contact or should I turn this letter in anywhere? I tried to call North American Van Lines but I just got sent through a bunch of recordings.

Hi Carly, welcome to Scamwarners,

Thank you for posting about your experience, the Mystery shopper scam is one that we are beggining to see more and more of, I am sure they would have suggested the person to send the $3,000 to and it would have been them, once the cheque is found to be fake you will be the one liable for any money drawn on the cheque.

As to what to do with it, you could take the cheque complete with the envelope and any letter attached to your local police station where they may (and I do stress may) investigate.

You could destroy it or you can keep it as a reminder of your experience, remember if you decide to keep it you should write "FAKE" accross the cheque clearly as it is an offence to have a fake cheque in your possesion without it being marked as such.

Whichever of the above you decide the scammers will more than likely contact you demanding you send the money, they will most likely make some threats and may contact you as the police (using a yahoo addy is very common for this), whatever threats they make, dont be too concerned, just ignore them and they will go away eventually

I am sure they would have suggested the person to send the $3,000 to and it would have been them

Not necessarily. Moneygram payments can be withdrawn anywhere in the world with fake ID. I expect the scammers will ask for a scanned copy of the MG receipt.

send $3000 via moneygram to a person of my choice

I am sure they would have suggested the person to send the $3,000 to and it would have been them

Not necessarily. Moneygram payments can be withdrawn anywhere in the world with fake ID. I expect the scammers will ask for a scanned copy of the MG receipt.

^^Of course you are absolutely right Mr Tamberine, although I suspect the scammers would prefer the money sent to a particular name, certainly using a fake ID to pick up the money either way

Swings and roundabouts. $3,000 is far more than is needed for a test of the Moneygram service. The belief it was being sent to a trusted friend would reassure many victims.
Rental scammers are using this technique lately. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7648092.stm