Secret Shopper Scams And How To Avoid Them .:. Title

Secret Shopper Scams And How To Avoid Them

Secret shopping is one of the most sought for money making sidelines that a lot of people dream to have. If you have never heard of this kind of so-called profession, then you are in for a very big surprise. In fact, once you get to know what it is, it's inevitable that you would want to be a secret shopper too! So here are the essentials that you need to know about secret shopping, its scams and safety measures to avoid them.

What Is It?

Professional shopping, which is called secret shopping is a work in which you, the secret shopper, would get paid to work whenever you want, however often you want and wherever you want. In short, it is the dream job of those who want to get paid for shopping.

Dream Vs. Reality

However, according to the FTC or the Federal Trade Commission, not all job opportunities like this are faithful in providing the dream job which they promised. It is a fact that there are legitimate companies which do hire people to secretly shop for them so that they can evaluate their business unknowingly while posing as a customer. However, it is vital on your part as a want-to-be employee that you be equipped with the right knowledge on how you could spot the real opportunities from the too good to be true ones.

How The Real Deal Works

Generally, authentic job opportunities like these will work in a way that the company will assign you a specific task for a business. After you complete your task, you would have to give your company a written evaluation, where you would discuss your general experience with the task. Usually, as a secret shopper, you would be reimbursed for whatever purchase you make in that store or business. Thus, this means you will get to keep the product that you bought at no charge at all. Additionally, you would be paid for your time. However, rates of payment would depend on your job, time spent and your company's policy.

Should You Be Certified? Not!

One of the best indicators if a company is not legitimate for this kind of trade would be through: certification. You should understand that getting this kind of job will not entail you to have any certification of some sort. No special training of certificate is needed in order for you to start. Thus, you should be wary of companies that charge fees in exchange for info related to a specialized certification program. Most likely, you could spot scams like these on newspaper advertisements along with unsolicited e-mails. However, such kind of certifications is actually considered to be worthless by the FTC.

No Guarantees

Just like with any other kind of industry, it is nearly impossible to give someone a job guarantee. This is the case with secret shopping. Beware of companies that give you promises of guaranteed job positions or even specific amounts of income. Each secret shopping job is different from one another, and this variation would include rates of payment. This difference is one of the reasons why you should become familiar with what are the legitimate and realistic advertising practices in this kind of field.

One good principle to use as a basis would be, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. If a secret shopping opportunity offered to you sounds too good and promises too much then it would be better that you get to know more of the company before you proceed on making vital decisions.

Investigating does not mean that you will have to hire the expensive services of a detective. You can conduct your own investigation by asking the help of the BBB or the Better Business Bureau. You can ask the Bureau if they have any records of complaints that are directed at that specific company. In fact, you could even ask them if the company you are eyeing even exists!

Reviews

Looking for reviews about the company you are looking for is viable. However, you should make sure that the ones giving the testimonials are independent from the company itself.

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