Direct Opinions marketing and surveys... A complete scam

I received a cashiers check drawn on SIGNATURE BANK of New York today in the amount of $3,492.00, with a detailed list of what to do with the money once I cashed the checked and withdrew the funds from my bank. I don't have a bank account now because one year ago I signed up with Secret Shopper when they ran an ad in the newspaper. I applied and received a check with simular directions to shop at a local Walmart store and send a percent of the money to someone in Atlanta, Georgia. Two months later I'm told be my bank that the check was fake and I owe them almost $4,000.00. They took the money I had in my account and closed my account. It was turned over to the Postal athorities and I'm not being charged with the check, but it was sent to Check Systems and I am unable to open a bank account in my name. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT IF YOU RECEIVE A CHECK IN THE MAIL AND HAVEN'T WORKED FOR IT OR DON'T RECOGNIZE THE BANK, DO NOT CASH IT!!!

Sorry-

But in reading some of the posts here I can see why these scammers are making a little money.

Who in the hell would deposit a check from someone you have NEVER heard of and then WIRE money to someone you have never heard of???

THINK people.

For the record,  Western Union is used by almost every scammer on the planet - why?  Simple, it is UNTRACEABLE.  Once you put money into their system a scammer can be anywhere in the world and pick that money up.  He could be standing in the same store as you or totally across the planet.  

Worse, once you put that money into the Western Union system - it's GONE.  There is no stop payment or return that can be used to get your money back - it's GONE forever.

Some of these guys are really good at making fake cashiers and bank checks.  They CAN and WILL fool some tellers and branch officials, but beware - if you deposit it and it is bad - YOU my friend will be the one responsible.  

I love the foreign scammers, like the poster above who says they sent a portion of the funds to "someone" in Atlanta, Georgia -  the scammers were probably Nigerians and picked up the funds in Lagos, Nigeria.   Laughing at this person all the way to their bank.    To them, getting a couple hundred bucks is our equivalent of hitting the Powerball lottery.   They can live a year on that paltry sum - especially in a country where the average farmer earns less that $75 US dollars a year.

I received a check for today 1-5-11 for $1,271.02 from Direct Opinions Marketing and Surveys, the check was drawn on Signature Bank 71 Broadway New York, NY 10006. The envelope I received from this scam company came with a Canada stamp on it. The head office is listed as 23064 Poway Rd Poway CA 92064, 760-693-1056. Project Director being Kevin Wilson. The letter listed as a 2 part job to send money through Western Union and to "mystery shop" at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Macy's, JC Pennys, Sears or Kmart. The response time is 7 days.

Please do not deposit the check as it is a scam, though your shredder might have fun with it. I did research with BBB, and thank you to those who have posted on here it definatly helps in the research.

Pls gist me about how u take respond to that, no we are friend

Do not respond.  Tear up the check and throw it in the trash.

i was thinkin about opening a seprate acct n my name and depositing it and waiting about 2 wks to see wat happens but if its a fraud check will i still get in trouble for it even if i dont spend the money? someone also told me about a check n go check cashn place how would they trace it back there?

Your "deposit and wait" plan will backfire.  When the check bounces the bank will charge you a bounced check fee.  You'll loose more than the value of the check.  The check may take a month or more to bounce.  You'll need to keep that account open for at least 6 months.  

I don't know how the check n go places work, but they are bound to have some sort of fraud protection plan in place.  Passing a check you know or suspect is fake is a crime.  I wouldn't take that sort of risk.

These scammers sent me a check for almost $4,000. $300 was my "pay", $100 was to secret shop at a store from a list they gave me, and the rest was to be used to "rate" Western Union"....  Well, I wanted to give it a go because my husband and I were a little short on cash because the air force messed up two of his paychecks so we took the check to the bank but told them to watch it.  The next morning the bank informed us that the check fraudulent and froze our account and gave us the balance to open a new one.  The bank said there was nothing they could do to the people that sent it which made me and my husband upset.  My husband is a MP in the air force and told his flight chief what happened, and he also got angry.  So now my husbands flight is investigating and taking do this organization and since these people run this scam across the whole country it is going to go up higher in the chain of command.  These people are gonna go down.. HARD.  They picked the wrong chick to mess with!......They figured out how the scam works... It all has to do with western union, the money is untraceable and can be retrieved for any location.  The people running this scam are from Africa.  The average African makes about $75 a year so getting about $2,500 makes them rich there and the $400 to you just makes you more willing to do it.  Me and my family know a few people that do secret shop for real companies so they are out there but this is not one of them.

Another one to me for 1271.02- wow, what a coincidence!

So what recourse does anyone have if they fell for the scam???

I actually called the number and got ahold of my supposed coordinator David, cause I got scammed too and now my husband's account is negative 830 dollars. I spoke with him and let him know that I wasn't very happy and told him that I have lawyers and FBI and I'll bring so much heat down on him....He was so scared I think he almost crapped his pants. We have 5 young children and live in a 2 bedroom apartment, so he knows that I mean business, I also told him that he had better send me that money legit and he assured that he will be taking care of it tomorrow, so I'll update you all tomorrow and let you know what happens, cause trust me this is one mom that he doesn't want to tango with!!!!!

I was told that you used to just write FOR DEPOSIT ONLY on the back and the bank it came from couldn't stop payment on it and had to honor it if the funds were there, don't know for sure if this even still true, I would open a new account and wait, but it would be nice if it worked, they might have to hold up their end of the deal if the person they sent it to was holding up theirs. If it is a bunch out of Nigera, I doubt if there is much of anything is even remotely legit.

none.  there is no recours

Yes, the folks who sent you the check commited a crime.  You can have them arrested, you can file a civil suit, or both.  But first you have to find them, and they could be anywhere.  They are probably in Nigeria or some other country that doesn't take this crime seriously and does not cooperate with US law enforcement.

"I was told that you used to just write FOR DEPOSIT ONLY on the back and the bank it came from couldn't stop payment on it and had to honor it if the funds were there"

Ys, if the bank account exists and has enough money in it the bank has to give you the money.  But for most of these checks the account number is fake.  The account does not exist.

That's not true, they are actually just outside of San Diego, CA more than likely or at least that's what I believe, just because they are Nigerian or what not doesn't mean that they have to be out of the state.