Scammers are using offers for mystery shopper jobs to try to scam you out of your own money.
Dave Murray, a businessman, was interested in becoming a mystery shopper.
"I just look for things to do to stay busy," he said.
Murray received an email about a mystery shopping job that would pay him $500 for half a day of work.
"So it's called 'Secret Shopper,'" Murray said.
The company, Secret Shopper, is a legitimate company that hires mystery shoppers, but the email Murray received was fake and sent by someone using Secret Shopper's name.
There is an alert on the real Secret Shopper website warning people someone is falsely using the company's name to send counterfeit checks and have money sent back to them.
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"A paycheck came in the mail, certified mail, for $3,955," Murray said. "I told them slow your roll — back your truck up a little bit. That's not how I work."
The fake company wanted Murray to buy gift cards at stores, and then give them the gift card numbers.
"I responded by saying, 'Well let's do this, I'm going to go ahead and cash this check, and once the money is in my account, then I'll go ahead,'" Murray said.
Murray wanted to wait until he received verification from the bank the check was real, and he never heard back from the fake company.
The real Secret Shopper company says it never reaches out to people via email, and people can only shop with them by applying online through the Secret Shopper website.
Murray said he wants to warn people from being scammed by the same fake company.
"Don't send any of your money until your bank can confirm you have that cash and there's no chance of return," Murray said.
