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Web Has Mystery Shopping Sites, but Some Are Bogus, Expert Says

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Reading Eagle, Pa.

Jan. 17--Legitimate mystery-shopping companies and associations warn would-be mystery shoppers to beware of scams.

They're all over the Web.

"You should never pay for anything related to mystery shopping," said Peter Thorwarth, owner of BMA Mystery Shopping of Spring City, Chester County.

"There are scammers out there who know that getting paid for going shopping sounds like a great job so they figure, 'Let's rip these people (shoppers) off,' " Thorwarth said.

A Web search reveals a list of links for legitimate sites. But it also offered links to paid advertiser sites offering a list of guaranteed mysteryshopping jobs.

"They usually say that for between $25 to $90 they will sell you a list of companies that hire mystery shoppers," Thorwarth said. "All of that information is available free on the Web."

Recently, local radio stations started running advertisements offering mystery shopper training for a fee when the information is available for free from mystery shopping companies, he said.

Detective Sgt. James L. Derr, head of District Attorney Mark C. Baldwin's major case squad, said that though charging people from information that is available for free may be unethical, it probably isn't illegal.

Because of that, Derr said, the Internet Crime Complaint Center operated by the National White Collar Crime Association has not filed any criminal complaints for mystery shopper scams.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Reading Eagle, Pa.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Reading Eagle

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