Mystery Shopping Scams
How to identify fake mystery shopping offers and protect yourself from the most common scams targeting secret shoppers.
Why Mystery Shopping Scams Exist
Mystery shopping is a legitimate industry, but its appeal — the promise of getting paid to shop and eat out — makes it an attractive lure for scammers. Fraudsters exploit the fact that many people have heard of mystery shopping but do not fully understand how it works. The result is a variety of scams that can cost victims hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Understanding how these scams work is the best way to protect yourself. The good news is that most mystery shopping scams follow predictable patterns, and once you know what to look for, they are easy to spot.
The Fake Check Scam
This is the most common and most dangerous mystery shopping scam. It works like this: you receive an unsolicited letter or email offering you a mystery shopping assignment. Included is a check — often for $2,000 to $5,000 — and instructions to deposit it, keep a portion as your fee, and wire the rest to a third party or purchase gift cards and send the codes.
The check is fake. Your bank may initially make the funds available, but when the check bounces days or weeks later, you are responsible for the full amount. Meanwhile, the money you wired or the gift cards you purchased are gone and unrecoverable. This scam costs victims an average of $1,000 to $3,000.
How to spot it: Legitimate mystery shopping companies never send checks before an assignment is completed. You should never be asked to wire money, purchase gift cards, or send cryptocurrency as part of any mystery shopping assignment.
Pay-to-Join Schemes
Some scam operations charge a fee to become a mystery shopper — typically between $20 and $100. They may call it a registration fee, certification fee, directory access fee, or training materials charge. In exchange, you receive a list of mystery shopping companies (often publicly available information) or access to a website listing assignments that may not even be real.
How to spot it: Legitimate mystery shopping companies never charge shoppers to sign up. Registration is always free. The MSPA provides a free directory of member companies. Any company requiring upfront payment is either a scam or an unnecessary middleman.
Unsolicited Job Offers
If you receive an email, text message, or social media message offering you a mystery shopping job out of the blue, treat it with extreme skepticism. Legitimate mystery shopping companies recruit shoppers through their own websites and do not typically send unsolicited job offers to random individuals. These messages are often the opening move in a fake check scam or an attempt to collect personal information for identity theft.
How to spot it: Did you apply for this opportunity, or did it find you? If you did not seek it out, it is almost certainly a scam. Check the sender's email address — scam emails often come from free email accounts (Gmail, Yahoo) rather than company domains.
Gift Card Purchase Requests
A variation of the fake check scam involves being asked to purchase gift cards as part of your assignment — supposedly to evaluate the purchase process or the store's gift card display. You buy the cards, share the codes or photographs of the cards, and are told you will be reimbursed. The reimbursement never comes, and the gift card balances are drained immediately.
How to spot it: While some legitimate mystery shops involve purchasing small items, legitimate companies do not ask you to buy large quantities of gift cards or share gift card numbers before being reimbursed. Any assignment revolving around gift card purchases is a scam.
How to Protect Yourself
- Never pay to become a mystery shopper — registration is always free with legitimate companies
- Never deposit a check from someone you do not know and send money back
- Never wire money or purchase gift cards as part of any mystery shopping assignment
- Be suspicious of unsolicited mystery shopping offers via email, text, or social media
- Research any mystery shopping company before signing up — check for MSPA membership and online reviews
- If it sounds too good to be true, it is — legitimate mystery shops pay modest amounts, not thousands of dollars for simple tasks
- Report suspected scams to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and your state attorney general's office
Legitimate Mystery Shopping Companies
The best way to avoid scams is to work only with established, reputable mystery shopping companies. Browse our directory of mystery shopping companies to find legitimate providers that are actively hiring evaluators. All companies listed in our directory are established businesses with verifiable track records in the industry.