What's the scam with the mystery shopper jobs?

Seems every job site or pop up ad has some sort of advertisment for "Be a mystery shopper and make a fortune working part time!"

If it's that advertised it makes me start to wonder.
Anyone know how they could use this as a scam or is it a legit business?

its a scam, ypu have to pay for the privilige of getting those "free" items and meals they advertise, and the places they want you to go don't have a store anywhere near you.

Of course there are scammers, but there's a completely legitimate side to it, too. I've shopped major restaurant chains, gas stations, movie theaters, etc. They rely on it to ensure their employees are doing what they're supposed to be doing.

I took a local class last year about mystery shopping. The woman who taught the class told us some of the ins and outs, and provided us with a list of good, reputable companies to get started with. The big thing she talked about was that you should NOT have to pay to get a list of companies.

The link below is for the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, which is like the Better Business Bureau of mystery shopping. Not only do they provide training and certification for shoppers, but they provide bulletin board forums for shoppers to compare notes on companies. If there is a problem with a company, you can find it on here. You can also find a lot of good places to work for.

The woman who taught my class does mystery shopping full-time. She said she makes about $30K per year. However, most of that is reimbursements. . .not "actual" income. (And, we live in a relatively small market.) For example. . .you might get paid $5 to do a movie mystery shop, but the company will reimburse you for two tickets ($20-ish dollars) and $8 for the concessions.

By the way, to become silver-certified by the MSPA costs $15, but if you pass the test, you will get a certification number that you can then provide to all the companies you sign up with. It basically tells them that you're serious and have a basic knowledge of the industry. That is a totally legitimate fee. Other than that, you SHOULD NOT pay for anything until you at least get your feet wet.

Mystery shopping is more a way to supplement your income, or to get things free that you're already paying for. I do it to defray costs at restaurants and see free movies.

I can't verify the links you saw but we had mystery shoppers come in where I used to work. We all hated them. Finally, we were able to pick them out because they were the only ones that asked so many questions.

you sure are full of questions

It's a business, but you have to pay them money to join to become a mystery shopper. I say, "Stay away from mystery shoppers."

It is a legit business, although I do not know how legit the pop up ads are.
I work in a bank and we get a "mystery shopper" every quarter.

It is a legit job but the catch is the amount of paperwork & whether or not the service that you go through actually provides part of the money with which you have to shop!

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