There was a third  fake mystery shop offer that we learned of today, for a gig paying $300 for Marriott International assignment.  The offer was delivered via LinkedIn messaging. These fake positions are advertised through LinkedIn and possibly other sites as well. The scammer, who goes by the name of Toby Phillips, falsely claims to works for Confero.  The email listed is Tobyphillips.10@aol.com.

WE DO NOT HAVE AN EMPLOYEE OR WORK WITH A CONTRACTOR NAMED Toby Phillips!

Please do not contact this person on LinkedIn or elsewhere as "Toby Phillips” as this person is trying to scam people.  These scams almost always result in consumers becoming duped into a fake check scam. In fake check scams, shoppers are sent checks to deposit, then told to wire most of the funds elsewhere and keep the difference. Ultimately, the check the scammer sent the shopper turns out to be worthless and the shopper is on the hook to cover the entire check with the bank. Some of the checks look quite real – so real in fact that bank tellers see them all the time. BE CAREFUL! 

And, just so you know:

1.       Confero NEVER issues checks to shoppers for any reason. Our payments to shoppers are sent via PayPal or Direct Deposit. 

2.       A typical mystery shopping gig does not pay $300!  

We thank the person who brought this to our attention, so that we were able to warn others of this scam.  If you would like to read more about scams, please visit our website: https://www.conferoinc.com/shoppers-center/consumer-alerts/