神秘购物者的工作可能会骗走你成千上万的钱
神秘购物者的工作可能会骗走你成千上万的钱
Psst, here's a secret. Some of those great opportunities to be a mystery shopper are nothing but a way to con you out of your cash.
嘘，这里有个秘密。这些成为神秘购物者的好机会，只不过是一种骗走你现金的方式。
Willie Smith, a veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1975-79, went online looking for a way to make some extra money. He saw a site offering a job opportunity as a secret shopper so he filled out some information.
威利·史密斯(Willie Smith)是一名老兵，1975年至1979年在美国陆军服役。他看到一个网站提供一个秘密购物者的工作机会，所以他填写了一些信息。
But Smith, 63, became suspicious when a priority envelope was sent to his home in Saginaw, Michigan, back in March and included a check for $2,150. He was to deposit the check into his bank account, start buying gift cards and do some secret shopping at Walmart.
今年3月，63岁的史密斯收到了一个优先级信封，里面有一张2150美元的支票。他要把支票存入银行账户，开始买礼品卡，然后在沃尔玛秘密购物。
Before he cashed that check, he did some more digging online, and among other things, he discovered that Walmart doesn't use mystery shoppers or hire anyone to perform such services for other retailers or companies.
在他兑现支票之前，他在网上做了更多的调查，他发现沃尔玛不使用神秘顾客，也不雇佣任何人为其他零售商或公司提供此类服务。
Why they send $2K before you start work?
为什么他们在你开始工作前就给你2000美元?
His advice to others: "Don't do it. Don't put that check into your account. When that check doesn't clear, you've got to pay all that money back."
他给别人的建议是:“不要这样做。不要把那张支票存入你的账户。当支票不清时，你必须把所有的钱都还回去。”
Other consumers haven't been as fortunate and they're losing hundreds or thousands of dollars to a similar sort of scam.
其他消费者就没那么幸运了，他们正因为类似的骗局损失成百上千美元。
A consumer in Ohio reported receiving a package that included a $1,500 check, according to the Better Business Bureau Scam Tracker.
据Better Business Bureau欺诈追踪机构称，俄亥俄州的一名消费者报告说，他收到了一个包裹，里面有一张1,500美元的支票。
The consumer was told to buy $1,100 in iTunes gift cards and keep $400. "If an employee at Walmart asked if I was a mystery shopper, I was instructed to say no," the consumer said.
消费者被告知购买价值1100美元的iTunes礼品卡，并保留400美元。这位消费者说:“如果沃尔玛的一名员工问我是不是神秘顾客，我被告知说不。”
The consumer then texted photos of the backside of gift cards, giving the scammers access to necessary numbers to use the money on the gift cards. The consumer discovered too late in the game that the initial $1,500 check was counterfeit.
然后，消费者将礼品卡背面的照片发短信，让骗子获得使用礼品卡上的钱的必要号码。消费者在骗局中太晚发现最初的1500美元是伪造的。
Not surprisingly, fraudsters try to impersonate names that we trust. But instead of pretending to be from the Internal Revenue Service, mystery shopping scams might drop names of big name retailers, such as Walmart, Target or Best Buy.
不出所料，骗子试图假冒我们信任的名字。但是，神秘购物骗局可能会删除一些知名零售商的名字，比如沃尔玛(Walmart)、塔吉特(Target)或百思买(Best Buy)，而不是假装来自美国国税局(Internal Revenue Service)。
A consumer in Southfield, Michigan, reported losing $2,780 in a mystery shopper scam last year involving a business called "Walmart All Star Retail Express." Again, the consumer received what turned out to be a fake check. The instructions included depositing the check, keeping $400 for the work and using the other $2,200 to buy gift cards and money orders.
密歇根州南菲尔德的一名消费者称，去年他们在一起神秘的购物骗局中损失了2780美元，该骗局涉及一家名为“沃尔玛全明星零售快递”(Walmart All Star Retail Express)的公司。消费者再次收到了一张伪造的支票。这些指示包括存入支票，保留400美元用于这项工作，另外2200美元用于购买礼品卡和汇款单。
A Troy, Michigan, consumer replied to a mystery shopper ad on Indeed.com in February, according to local police. The consumer then received an overnight envelope containing a company check for $998 and instructions on how to be a mystery shopper.
据当地警方称，今年2月，密歇根州特洛伊市的一名消费者在Indeed.com上回复了一则神秘购物广告。然后，这位消费者收到了一个隔夜的信封，里面有一张998美元的公司支票，以及如何成为一名神秘购物者的说明。
The victim placed the check into his bank account and bought $650 in gift cards for Best Buy, Apple, CVS and Walgreens, according to the Troy police report.
据特洛伊警方的报告，受害者将支票存入自己的银行账户，为百思买(Best Buy)、苹果(Apple)、CVS和沃尔格林(Walgreens)购买了650美元的礼品卡。
The victim then photographed the serial numbers of the gift cards and sent them to the business in Florida. The consumer then questioned what just happened and called the business number provided only to find out it was disconnected.
受害者随后拍下了礼品卡的序列号，并把它们寄给了佛罗里达州的商家。然后，消费者询问刚刚发生了什么，并拨打了提供的业务号码，结果却发现该号码已断开。
