Two Charged over 'Secret Shopper' Swindle

Two people have been arrested in connection with the 'mystery shopping' scam that has conned hundreds of US citizens out of at least $150k to date.

Christopher Nduka and Alicia Obermuller of Brampton, Ontario have been charged with operating a counterfeit cheque scam by mailing letters to US residents instructing them to deposit enclosed cheques in their accounts, and then wire a portion of the funds back to the alleged tricksters. To make the operation appear authentic, the victims were asked to conduct an evaluation of the wiring service and in some cases they were also asked to conduct evaluations of other retailers.

However, after they had deposited the counterfeit cheques and sent the funds, the cheques bounced and victims were held liable for the entire amount of the money wired- typically between $1,000 and $5,000.

The pair were arrested after officers found shredded copies of the 'secret shopper' letters and a cheque printer and blank cheque stock in their home. It is thought the two may have been operating fraudulent schemes such as 'The Advance Fee Lottery' and 'Secret Shoppers' since January 2005.

Professional trade body, the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) - which had warned of the scam in December 2006 (www.mrweb.com/drno/news6231.htm ) - alerted the Federal Trade Commission, the US Postal Inspection Service, the Competition Bureau and Phonebusters; all of which were involved in a partnership to hunt down the scammers.

'A variant of a scam that has been in existence for many, many years was hatched to take advantage of the allure of mystery shopping,' said MSPA Executive Director John Swinburn. 'Even though it was not truly a mystery shopping scam, it threatened the image of the industry, so we were extremely anxious to put an end to it.'

Several of the MSPA's members were also caught out by the cheque-cashing scam. Their company names were falsely used, making the cheques appear to come from a legitimate source.

The MSPA requires its more than 275 member companies around the globe to follow a strict code of ethics that prohibits them from charging mystery shoppers a fee or misleading applicants on actual mystery shopping assignment opportunities. The body is online at www.mysteryshop.org.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.