http://www.wdtv.com/news/59517607.html

Link to the news report showing a video with the EXACT letter I received today.

I got a letter from NATIONAL SHOPPING SERVICE, stating i'd been selected as a mystery shopper and a check for $2,995.00 was with it. The letter stated $600 was for me, for my evaluation and training pay, $100 to be used toward purchase at Sears, $100 to be used towards purchase at Walmart, and $1,995 to be wired at a Western Union to a woman name Louise Flanary in London.
Even though I knew something didn't smell right, I wanted it to be true so I used the web address and sure enough it was to NATIONAL SHOPPING SERVICE.
The address, city, state and zip code, all matched, but then I noticed the phone number was completely different.
I read there cite and was amused to find out they don't mail out check's just like that.
YOU "the shopper" have to come out of pocket on the assignment, send them the receipt, and they reimburse you, and it can take several weeks for them to do so!
I knew right away some one was trying to scam me.
The check looked legit. It had JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA  Syracuse, NY., and NOCO ENERGY CORP FUELS DIVISION  2440 SHERIDAN DR  TONAWANDA, NY 14150.
I wonder if the company named on the check is aware of this,or if they're a part of the scam.
Why is it so hard to nab the scammers, when they have names of suspects from the wire to forms?

I got an email from craigslist saying that their company overseas wanted to hire my company to do secret shopper work and that it would take a few days to send a letter with all the details. I said what the hell, why not, i would see what the letter said, see if it is legitimate. I got the letter almost a month later, just yesterday. I got a check, looks real enough, or $2995.00. At first i thought wow, then i read the letter that came with it. It had scam written all over it. I was wondering how they trust to pay me two payroll, a total stranger they know nothing about, right off the bat. Then i was to wire $2220.00 to Tom Gonzalez after contacting him to activate the check,blah blah blah. I knew that it had to be fraudulent based on the fact that they were so trusting to begin with and secondly because if they just wanted to check to see if i was capable of doing the job by wiring money, why such a large sum. $50 would have been fine to wire, right. Then i figured that it is a large sum because once you deposit the check and it clears and you wire them the money, you end up losing the amount you deposit when th check is found to be bad. I wonder if the companies thay have listed on the letter as employesr that pay tem to do the secret shopping is aware that they are being used for fraud.Companies such as walmart, bestbuy, mcdonalds, costco, ikea, western union, exxon mobile. When they firat emailed me they said they were the international branch of ikea. That was something else i ddn't understand, why would a furniture company do secret shopping for walmart and the other companies. I was under the assumption it would be for ikea only until i got the letter. Then they said not to contact anyone about it because it will have a bias opinion, they say that so that you won't blow their operation out of the water. Well i was never going to deposit this check but i think i will post some craigslist ads to warn others.

I was so happy to open a check with 1,989.70 they wanted to to go to western union and send 1,580 to someone in london ??? then go to any of there stores a buy things This company came from Philadephia,PA Bankers conseco performance assurance company  Fax number 1-877-1972   there number being 1-(289) 892-5963  my husband put the check in the account not knowing   now we are going to bank tonight to see what I can do to stop it!! Any one eles be scamed by the same company

I got this Malteurop letter today. And being only 14, I freaked out, right? So I told a couple of my friends, but told them that it might be a scam (I may be a meer teenager, but I'm pretty mature for my age and I've got street smarts... and television). Because I'm familiar with the whole scam deal. So I calmed myself down, and read the entire letter over and over again. With all of the contact information and simple directions, I thought it might actually be good enough to be true! But from the start, I was a little uneasy about that whole transfer thing. Why don't they just keep that money in the first place. With the check for $3,000 and no fees on my part, I was pretty excited. I called "Jennifer Morgan" a few times with no answer. I was still super stoked. But I decided to check it up on line. Apparantly, google isn't as good as yahoo :) So I found this site! THANK GOD!! How much is a bounce fee anyway? It stinks... I wish it was real! I felt like a secret agent!! And the check looks SO real! It looks just like the checks my sister gets from her job. Whats funny, is that when I looked up "Malteurop" on google, it was a BEER company. With the same logo and everything. ???? That was confusing. But its good they have this website. I was almost convince that I was a secret shopper. Thanks guys!!!!

I received the same letter today and found online a news report recently about the exact scam but my letter came from Survey Assurance Inc. Buffalo NY. The check is from QRC Tech LLC Madison Heights, MI bank of Check - National City Bank of Michigan/Illinois. Yes the check looks very real -- but was wondering why do they just send these out and HOPE the people actually wire the money. The news report online says that the scammers then can gain access to your checking account and drain it. I have no idea how they do it but maybe it's that YOUR bank clears the check only to have it come back afterwards as fraudulent? I have no idea -- it's not hat the money they are paying the secret shopper sounds outrageous -- really that they trust people to actually wire the money. And there is no recourse there because they want you to claim that the recipient is a relative. Still wondering how they gain access to your checking account though. Does anyone know? And yes this envelope had no return address and came postmarked from Canada. Maybe their way to avoid federal mail fraud laws.I would assume.No one called me -- just got the letter.