Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The FTC Investigates Mystery Shopping Complaints
The FTC Investigates Mystery Shopping Complaints
Posted on Apr 2, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A while back I blogged about mystery shopping and all the scams that go along with it. It looks like the FTC is also leery of the scams associated with the industry. According to this FTC announcement, the FTC is charging multiple companies with misrepresenting available jobs and potential income.
The FTC alleged that in exchange for the $99.95 fee for one year of service, consumers thought they would be trained and certified as mystery shoppers, and would gain access to job postings available through the company, with enough paid assignments available to ensure a steady part-time or full-time income. Instead, consumers received a worthless certification and access to re-postings of other mystery shopping assignments posted by other companies, who were unrelated to the defendants. Consumers still had to apply for these jobs, most of them low-paying, and had no advantage over anyone else who found the postings elsewhere for free.
Beware of any company that asks for money upfront or one that offers to train and certify you as a mystery shopper. Believe me, you don’t need a certification to do it, anyone can do it.
Posted on Apr 2, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
A while back I blogged about mystery shopping and all the scams that go along with it. It looks like the FTC is also leery of the scams associated with the industry. According to this FTC announcement, the FTC is charging multiple companies with misrepresenting available jobs and potential income.
The FTC alleged that in exchange for the $99.95 fee for one year of service, consumers thought they would be trained and certified as mystery shoppers, and would gain access to job postings available through the company, with enough paid assignments available to ensure a steady part-time or full-time income. Instead, consumers received a worthless certification and access to re-postings of other mystery shopping assignments posted by other companies, who were unrelated to the defendants. Consumers still had to apply for these jobs, most of them low-paying, and had no advantage over anyone else who found the postings elsewhere for free.
Beware of any company that asks for money upfront or one that offers to train and certify you as a mystery shopper. Believe me, you don’t need a certification to do it, anyone can do it.
# posted by raveneye @ 8:45 PM 
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Companies that ask for money in return for access to mystery shopping opportunities are asking money for something that is free. The FTC also suggests that a good resource for mystery shopping opportunities is the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), which does have a certification program, too. But MSPA's certification program, unlike bogus programs, is used to help its member companies identify people who have been trained to at least minimum levels of understanding of the role of mystery shopping. Its Gold level certification is obtained by attending a one-day training program. MSPA says you don't need certification to get shopping assignments because there are more assignments than certified shoppers. But many MSPA member companies will select an MSPA-certified shopper over a non-certified shopper, all other things being equal.
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# posted by 
: 8:47 AM
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