I received a letter from ZyBAN Consumer Research Inc asking for me to be a mystery shopper and a check for $3540 in my name asking for me to call in and activate this check and then spend $50 at two stores, Walmart and the Gap, to keep $300 as payment and then to wire $2990 via Western Union or Money Gram with $150 used as transfer fees. I was hesitant but decided to check it out, the offer to work from home seemed too good to be true, so I called the number.
I was greeted warmly by someone with a rather thick accent and was told it was completely understandable for me to be skeptical about this companies intentions, she immediately asked for my email address in order to send me information to verify their legitimacy, this was another red flag as I would think they retailers listed would be associated with this company if they are paying people to mystery shop at these particular stores. I ask the representative who exactly they worked for and she replied the stores listed in the letter, those stores and services are The Home Depot, The Gap, JC Penney, Sears, Walmart, KMart, Western Union and Money Gram, she stated that these stores hired their firm to assign mystery shoppers and that the only way I could work for them was to cash the enclosed check and then follow through with the reports. I hang up with her not giving her any of my information and contact the research and development division of each company in the letter, none of the companies new of this consumer research company and a couple of the stores do not use mystery shoppers, of course the bells are ringing loud and clear but I didn't stop there.
I then looked up the address on the check which was different than the address of the company, the address of this company is in Calgary AB and the address and name on the check was located in Texas, the name and address is APM & Associates 1000 N. Central Expressway Dallas Texas 75201, I did a google search for this name and what came up was an actual company that does mainly commercial construction, the only difference is the address was 100 N. Central Expressway and not 1000, so I found this information and called their number and the woman who answered immediately said "let me guess, you got a check in the mail? " she then asked me if it was from Publishers Clearing House and I explained the company profile it was from, she informed me that that was a new one trying to use their name to scam people and they have a report in with the fraud unit, because this was a name she had never heard them using before I decided to post the information here.
I also checked with Sterling Bank to see if this account even existed, it doesn't. I contacted my State's fraud division and they explained to me how this works. You receive the check, you contact them to "activate it" but in reality they say they do but they don't, they give you their fax numbers and an account number for Western Union, they instruct you to cash or deposit the check, withdraw the funds, do your designated shopping, copy receipts, fill out the consumer report, fax those, then to Western Union $2990 to the account they give you detailing that you are sending the money to a relative in Canada, you then get to keep any of the merchandise you purchased as instructed plus $300, all of this has to be done in a short period of time prior to the check bouncing, once the check bounces, they disappear and leave you stuck will the insufficient funds totaling $3540 plus all related fees, they usually use the same phone number and address for several different scams and under several different names, the APM & Associates is a legitimate company located in Dallas Texas and have no affiliation with these people in Canada.
I in turn called this ZyBAN back and asked to speak to a supervisor, I asked her some very pointed questions such as her name (which she stuttered on when responding) and informed her that I did some checking and that they might as well pack up business and move to another location because they've been reported, I hate to sound like I'm racially profiling but every person I spoke with at this company sounded like they were middle eastern, so I also contacted Home Land Security, there is no telling how any terrorist group could be obtaining their funds?
Do NOT fall for this, believe me it seems legit, they come across as being on the up and up, and I do know there ARE companies that do hire mystery shoppers but THIS IS NOT ONE OF THEM!
The old adage rings true with this scam, if it's too good to be true, it probably IS!
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