Bear Stone Research Center / A Division Of MysteryShopOnline.com
Bear Stone Research Center A Division Of MysteryShopOnline.com Beaware of Consumer Research Companies-Secret Shopper Firms sending large checks before you do anything for them. You could get in Trouble

Beware of anything too good to be true!

I recently received a $4, 260.00 check in the mail from a company: Bear Stone Research Center/A Division of MysteryShopOnline.com.

At first I was excited! Jubilant! Ecstatic! I am a Part-time Mystery Shopper for a legitimate company, but they do not pay very well. So, I was very happy to get this kind of offer.

Before cashing the check I decided to check the name of the company on the check out on the internet. It is a legitimate company but has nothing to do with the company that sent me the envelope.

I checked the name of the company on the letterhead, the address was different than the one on the envelope, and my search led me to consumer complaints. Where I found similar reports of various Research Companies that had sent others checks with the same instructions.

Basically the letter contains two forms to fill out. One is an employment form, of sorts, and the second is a form that you are supposed to fill out after you visit the store they ask you to go to and purchase $60.00 worth of items.

The next instructions are to mail the remaining money to two different individuals, Brooke Dean in Melfort, SK, and Warren Grub in Chester, NS, both in Canada, using Money Gram, and to fill out a form on how you were treated at Money Gram and at the store, in this case, Wal-Mart.

After competing all of the tasks there would be $400.00 left over and this is what you are supposed to keep for your time and traveling costs. Not a bad wage for so little work. Too bad the check is a forgery.

If you receive a large check in the mail my advice is to always question it and take it to your Bank and tell them that you think it may not be a valid check. In this way you are protecting yourself. If it turns out to be good then I am happy for you, but in 99.999999999. cases it will be a fraud.

So, don't get burned and start spending money that is not yours, and if it is a fraud contact the FBI at: https://www.fbi.gov/ and report it. It is an internet and postal crime, mail fraud. They get your information from the internet.