International Law

Mystery Shopper Scam

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From the FTC Press Release about Mystery Shopper Scam

An operation that lured consumers with promises that they could earn big money as trained and certified "mystery shoppers " has agreed to pay $850,000 to settle charges of deceptive marketing and contempt.

Mystery shoppers are paid to shop or dine out and then provide reports about the experience.

In March 2007, the Federal Trade Commission charged eight defendants - the three companies Mystery Shop Link, LLC; Tangent Group, LLC; Harp Marketing Services, Inc.; and five individuals - with violating the FTC Act in connection with a nationwide mystery shopping employment scam.

According to the FTC, the defendants claimed that MysteryShopLink.com was hiring mystery shoppers in local areas nationwide. The company ran help wanted ads in newspapers, and on radio and TV.

Consumers who responded to the ads reached the defendants' telemarketers, who represented that MysteryShopLink.com had large numbers of available jobs and not enough shoppers to fill them.

In exchange for a $99 fee, consumers were promised enough work to earn a steady full-time or part-time income as mystery shoppers. Instead, consumers received a worthless certification and access to postings for mystery shopping jobs controlled by other companies.

Consumers had to apply for these mostly low-paying jobs, and had no advantage over anyone else who found the postings elsewhere on the Internet for free. Most consumers got no jobs and earned no money.

The FTC also charged five of the eight defendants - Mystery Shop Link, LLC, Tangent Group, LLC, and Robin Larry Murphy, Andrew Holman, and Kenneth Johnson - with contempt.

The contempt charge alleged that Murphy violated the terms of a consent judgment in a prior telemarketing fraud case involving false promises of government jobs.

The 1997 consent judgment barred Murphy from making material misrepresentations of fact while telemarketing, and required him to post a $100,000 bond.

In addition to seeking contempt sanctions against Murphy, the FTC also alleged that co-defendants Mystery Shop Link, LLC, Tangent Group, LLC, Andrew Holman, and Kenneth Johnson were in contempt of the previous order because they all participated in running MysteryShopLink.com despite knowing about the prior consent judgment against Murphy.

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on December 05, 2008 (boomark / email).