Consumer Alerts

We received infromation today that someone using the name Kevin Bailey, posing as a representive of Confero, is asking people to wire money through Western Union. Please do not mistake the person calling himself Kevin Bailey as a Confero representative. He is not. Please do not fall for his scam.

As a reminder, Confero NEVER sends certified checks to mystery shoppers and Confero NEVER asks shoppers to wire transfer money. Read more about mystery shopping scams and

Jason Alderman, Senior Director at Visa, Inc. wrote a nice article explaining mystery shopping scams. Thanks for helping to the word out about these scams!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-alderman/mystery-shopper-scams_b_1247878.html

Confero, Inc. was recently notified about a new texting scam. The text messages, some using our trademarked name Confero, ask recipients to contact 888-408-1754 for information about making hundreds of dollars conducting mystery shops for cash back. Please do not mistake those text messages as legitimate! We called that number and our call was answered by what sounded like

Confero, Inc. was recently notified about a new email scam.  The scammers have used Confero’s reputable name and the name of our company president, Elaine Buxton.  The scammers created an email address e.buxton@aol.com and have contacted consumers and offered them mystery shops paying up to $120 a piece.  This is a scam!  Elaine Buxton’s email address is not e.buxton@aol.com.  Confero staff members will only ever contact mystery shoppers via their conferoinc.com email addresses.  Also, Confero NEVER sends certified checks to mystery shoppers and Confero NEVER asks shoppers to wire transfer money.

Confero warned consumers about a new e-mail scam on Friday, August 19^th.  Today, a consumer sent us a copy of the response he received when he responded to the scam. 

These scammers have used the name of Confero’s President and CEO, Elaine Buxton, and created a fake email address.  Remember, Confero never asks shoppers to sign up by sending personal information via email. Mystery shoppers register their interest on our secure website by visiting www.conferoinc.com and clicking on Shopper Center (upper right) to arrive at our secure website.

If you think someone is trying to scam you, please read our “How to Spot a Scam” article to find out what you should do!

Fake email from a scammer:

From: Elaine Buxton [mailto:e.buxton@aol.com]

Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2011 6:03 PM

To:

Subject: Re: Career opportunity inside

The training consists in three evaluations. You will receive a commission of $120 for each survey.

Being accepted for the training doesn't mean you're already hired, it all depends on the quality of your reports. After the training period you will receive all the needed documents to fill and sign including the tax form, and from that point you will receive assignments on regular basis. The maximum is one assignment per day, seven per week. You will have to let us know your optimal times available. During your one week training period, the first set of surveys you have to do is at a few western union locations in your area, within 10 miles from your zip code, you will receive the exact address and instructions at the right time. The task is to go there as a customer and tell them you want to use their transfer services. The funds will be received by another Mystery Shopper who is also making an evaluation. You have to be very natural but at the same time focus on small details as we need a comprehensive report from you.