Secret shopper or mystery shopper scams usually arrive disguised as genuine job offers; recently, Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona has been receiving inquiries from consumers who’ve received suspicious emails and letters from alleged “employers.”

With most mystery shopper job offer scams, cashiers’ checks and letters arrive in the mail.

“Congratulations! You have been selected as a mystery shopper for your area! Deposit the enclosed money order into your personal bank account and shop at the following stores … [large, well-known retailers] … rating your experience with customer service, product availability and cleanliness; wire-transfer the remaining balance back to company headquarters.”

A variation of overpayment scams, mystery shopper schemes leave depositors on the hook for the total amount when counterfeit checks ultimately bounce.

“When someone deposits a check, he or she is responsible for that check whether or not it is known that the check is a fake,” says Kim States, BBB President.

Employ caution when considering mystery shopper job opportunities and avoid offers that:

• Require upfront payments or money-wiring
• Lack verifiable contact information
• Contain unrealistic or unsubstantiated earnings claims

Visit www.tucson.bbb.org for more information on job scams

“More than 7.3 million Americans over 65 have been financial-fraud victims, according to a 2010 survey by the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit investor-education group. And some of those con artists are their own age,” according to the September/October issue of the AARP Magazine.

How could so many people be duped by con artists? They connect with you because they share your age, background and/social sameness. They might approach you at church, in your retirement community, offering you free dinners, free golf, or something similar. AARP calls this affinity fraud.

Here are some tips from AARP to help protect yourself and your investments:

• Watch for red flags. Basically, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Promises of high returns with low risk are not reality. Be safe, find investments that have lower return but also lower risk.
• Ask and check. Contact your state securities agency to research the company and make sure the salesperson and firm are registered and have no history of problems. Also, check with the Better Business Bureau. Verify, verify, verify that you have a legitimate company.
• Buy time. Don’t let them pressure you. Make the decision after you have had time to think about (more…)

A disabled maintenance worker from Missouri said thieves tricked her into giving them $3,000 after they told her she won two multimillion-dollar sweepstakes prizes,  Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is reporting.

The woman is just among the latest victims of sweepstakes scams that have cheated consumers nationwide out of millions of dollars in recent years, BBB warns.

Kim States, BBB President, said the tragic case illustrates what can happen when people put too much trust in strangers.

“All of us dream about winning the lottery or a sweepstakes prize,” States said. “But in the vast majority of cases, these prize notifications are nothing more than attempts to steal money from unsuspecting consumers.”

In addition to losing $3,000 in the sweepstakes scams, the Missouri woman said she is struggling to pay off a $1,300 cell phone bill – most of that resulting from charges for nearly 100 phone calls from the Jamaica-based thief. During one three-day period in late June the scammer called her 66 times.

The woman, who took early disability retirement two years ago from the University City school district, said she initially ignored calls to her cell and home phones telling her that she was winner of a $7 million sweepstakes.

Eventually, she spoke to a man who convinced her that she had won the prize. Over the next several weeks, the woman sent her mentally disabled daughter to area supermarkets in order to send cash via (more…)