GfK Mystery Shopping Issues Alert to U.S. Consumers Regarding Recent Nationwide Scam

NEW YORK–August 25, 2011– GfK Mystery Shopping, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, today released a warning to consumers to beware of a recent countrywide wave of scams targeting consumers looking to earn additional income through mystery shopping.

GfK advises consumers to disregard letters or classified ads that promise fast cash and free gifts by performing mystery shopping and service evaluations.

The most recent round of scams asks interested individuals to cash a check for $2400 and wire $1800 of the consumers personal money back to a Western Union bank account. The individual is asked to shop at either Best Buy, Kmart or Wal-Mart and spend $150. The "reward” to consumers – they keep a $300 of the original cashier’s check as payment after paying the $150 Western Union fee. In these scams, the cashier’s check bounces several days later, and the consumers are out of pocket for the entire $1800 they wired to Western Union.

To perpetrate these types of frauds, unauthorized third parties use the names and logos of legitimate mystery shopping companies illegally as part of false advertisements and on bogus cashier’s checks.

GfK and the MSPA offer the following tips to consumers who may be considering a mystery shopping opportunity or have recently been the target of a shop scam:

· Prospective shoppers should never need to pay a fee to become a mystery shopper.

· If a shopper receives an email or visits a Web site that requests a fee, simply disregard it

· Legitimate companies never ask shoppers to send a check or cash advance.

· If a company promises to pay you through check cashing or money transfer, it may be a scam.

· Be patient. It takes time, sometimes months or even longer, to be contacted with an offer to conduct a shopping assignment. Respond directly to the company that posts or advertises assignments.

· Once assigned a shop, ensure it is completed according to the guidelines set forth by the mystery shopping client.

To learn more about these scams, includinghow to protect yourself and the steps to take if you've been victimized, please visit www.gfkamerica.com/mysteryshopping or www.mysteryshop.org. To report suspicious communications you may have received from someone posing as a GfK representative, please contact info@gfkamerica.com.