This is a warning about a risky email that I think everyone should be on guard for, especially those with teenage or young adult kids looking for jobs. This kind of scam has been around for a while, but is making a comeback with variations that can cost people a lot of money due to very well-done counterfeit cheques that take a long time to be discovered.

I've received several emails with different subject lines, that all have essentially the same message, which would be very compelling for anyone looking for an easy job. The jobs are for "Mystery Shoppers", or people who do anonymous quality assurance on customer service staff. This is usually a front for scammers trying to make money off victims who are looking for easy work.

I'm thinking any students looking for summer jobs are going to be at risk of falling for these messages.

There's a very good write-up on the "Secret Shopper" or "Mystery Shopper" scam at snopes.com: <http://www.snopes.com/fraud/employment/shopper.asp>

I did a lookup to see who owns the Internet domain "peopleandjobs.net" and found it to be a company located in Korea. That's a little far away for a high school or college student to check up on.

Here's the text of the messages I'm getting. Let me know if you've seen these, or any variation on them...

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Our company(Shopping Surveys) is pround to announce you that we now have positions available(part time).

A candidate for the MysteryShopper Position must meet the following requirements:
* Is 21 years of age or older
* Loves to go shopping
* Is fair and objective
* Is ON TIME
* Is very observant and able to focus on details
* Is fairly intelligent
* Has patience
* Is detail oriented
* Is practical
* Types well
* Is trustworthy
* Explains well in writing
* Is discreet
* Loves to learn
* Handles deadlines
* Has full internet access (at home or at work)

If you are interested in becoming a mysery shopper for our company you can request more information at Garry@people-and-job.net
Thank you,
Shopping Surveys

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Don't fall for it, or let anyone you know follow up on these emails.

- Scott