Mystery shopping is a great way to make some extra cash. But, becoming a mystery shopper has its own challenges. One of the most difficult parts of mystery shopping is staying away from mystery shopping scams and finding legitimate mystery shopping companies to work for. Here are some tips to help you avoid mystery shopping scams.

Tips to avoid mystery shopping scams

Getting paid before even performing the actual mystery shopping assignment

One of the biggest mystery shopping scams starts with a person receiving a check from a supposedly real "mystery shopping" company, being asked to deposit the check to their bank account and wire some of that money through a wire transfer company like Western Union and keep the the rest of the money as their reward for mystery shopping that they did not even start yet. Of course, after sending his own money, in about a day or so, when the check is supposed to clear, the "shopper" discovers that the check is a bad check. So, not only s(h)e didn’t make any money, but lost some! Remember, a legitimate mystery shopping company will never send you a check before your shopping is completed. You shop with your own money, after reporting your shop, you get reimbursed for what you spend, and then will be paid your reward.

Charging a fee for registration

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

Here are a couple of Mystery shopping scams who claim to be legitimate mystery shopping companies, yet they are charging people a fee to register them. Shopping Jobs ($25), Shop Until You Drop ($24.95), and Get Paid To Shop ($34.95). Stay away form these sites as they are nothing but mystery shopping scams.I did not provide a link to them, because i do not want you even enter their website, because they are so good at convincing people with flashing images of stacks of cash or big text promising you a $100 an hour job… that some people wont be able to resist paying the fee to learn the "secret".

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

In most cases if it sounds too good to be true it probably is! I mean if a company promising you that you get to keep things like a $3000 flat screen tv or a diamond ring for a 20 minuet shopping assignment, don’t you think that’s a bit too much? After all mystery shopping agencies, do what they do to make money. If they were to give out such big payouts, i don’t think they would be making any money. So, stay away from companies with such promises.