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Scam alert

Mystery Shopper Job Sent You a Check? Do Not Buy the Gift Cards

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United States · wbbjtv.com · Arrives by a job offer and a check

The short answer

A mystery shopping job that sends you a check, tells you to deposit it, keep some as your pay, and use the rest to buy gift cards or send money is a scam. The check is fake. The FTC says it can take weeks for a bank to figure that out, and by then you are stuck repaying the bank. Some mystery shopping work is real, but no real job pays you first and then asks for money back. Do not deposit the check.

What is happening

On October 26, 2026, WBBJ in Jackson, Tennessee, reported that BBB Mid-South says people are being "inundated" with fake mystery shopper offers, which tend to come back every fall as people look for seasonal income, and that the scam seems to start earlier each year. The offer comes with a check for several thousand dollars for a "shopping assignment," and you are told to deposit it, keep some as pay, and spend the rest on gift cards. The Federal Trade Commission describes the same setup: once you share the numbers on the back of the cards, the scammer has the money, and the bank wants you to repay whatever you spent.

How to recognize it

  • A mystery shopping job sends you a check and tells you to deposit it, keep part as your pay, and spend the rest.
  • Your first "assignment" is to buy gift cards and send the numbers on the back, or to wire some of the money to someone else.
  • The offer came out of the blue and promises easy money for flexible work.
  • The check is for more than you are owed, sometimes several thousand dollars.
  • Money from the check shows up in your account quickly, which makes it look real.

What to do instead

  1. Do not deposit a check from a job you cannot confirm, and do not spend money from one.
  2. Never buy gift cards, wire money, or send cryptocurrency from a check's money because a job told you to.
  3. Look up the company yourself, adding words like "review," "complaint," or "scam" to the name.
  4. Report the offer at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or BBB Scam Tracker.
  5. If you want to tell someone, the rule is: a job that sends you a check and wants money back is a scam.

If it already happened

Responding to one of these is common and understandable. These steps are what people usually take next.

  1. If you deposited the check, call your bank before you spend any of the money and tell them it may be fake.
  2. If you bought gift cards and shared the numbers, tell the company that issued the cards right away that they were used in a scam, and ask whether it can refund your money. Also tell the store where you bought them.
  3. If you wired money, call the wire transfer company right away, report the fraud, and ask for the transfer to be reversed.
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Common questions

Are all mystery shopping jobs fake?
No. The FTC says companies do hire mystery shoppers to try products or services and share what happened, and that some of these jobs are real. The FTC says mystery shopping is usually part-time or occasional work, and that anyone who tells you to deposit a check, buy gift cards, and send the numbers back is a scammer.
The money showed up in my account. Doesn't that mean the check cleared?
No. The FTC says banks have to make deposited money available quickly, so seeing it in your account does not mean the check is good. A fake check can take weeks to be discovered, and by then the scammer has the money you sent and you are stuck paying the bank back.

Practice this safely

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Mystery Shopper Job Sent You a Check? Do Not Buy the Gift Cards

A mystery shopping job that sends you a check, tells you to deposit it, keep some as your pay, and use the rest to buy gift cards or send money is a scam. The check is fake. The FTC says it can take weeks for a bank to figure that out, and by then you are stuck repaying the bank. Some mystery shopping work is real, but no real job pays you first and then asks for money back. Do not deposit the check.

Read the full alert: https://endscamsproject.com/latest-scams/mystery-shopper-fake-check-scam

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