WARNING from North American Consumer Opinion

[pepper60]

There is an email notice going around about sending money
to American Consumer Opinion (ACOP)...here's the official
warning notice from the company Vice President.

WARNING!
"North American Consumer Opinion" Scam

Do not send money to North American Consumer Opinion. It’s an
illegal and fraudulent scam. It’s a criminal attempt to exploit the
good reputation of American Consumer Opinion® to steal your money.
We hope that you will join the American Consumer Opinion® online
panel; it is always free and we pay you money to complete surveys.
You never pay us.

Thanks.

Anne Parks,
Vice President of American Consumer Opinion®

Note: Whoever is perpitrating this SCAM could do it to other
Survey, Product Testing, and Research companies. BEWARE
and stay alert...I've never know one of the reputable companies
to ask a panelist for money for any reason.

[pepper60]

Looks like this was a phishing offer from scammers.

So so sorry everyone.

[HIPeGURL]

Cool - I gotta qualify for this one - I hate coffee, drink Diet Dr Pepper or coke all morning

[dmm2702]

Thanks I tried will see what happens thanks clapping clapping clapping

[pbarbee]

I sent an email too. Hope we all get in.

[gayle]

I e-mailed them. See what happens. Thanks for the post.

[Raiderchic29]

Did anyone else get a response to this?? I am not sure if I should accept or not.....i dunno

[Sugar]

I signed up when this was first posted and I have not heard back from them.

[Raiderchic29]

This is the email I received from them:

Wing Creative Inc. is an Advertising and Marketing company involved in helping Companies achieve market leadership and after 8 years of experience serving hundreds of clients, we have developed particular strengths in the following areas.
Conduct market research to determine what our client's target markets requires, Evaluate and analyze competitive products and services, Discover market opportunities.
All of this go a long way in helping our numerous clients achieve market leadership. Our company is currently conducting a research,we are surveying the U.S financial market for an existing U.K financial institute interested in expanding its operations to the U.S.
About The Survey.
You will be required to complete two survey forms we will send you.The first survey require that you actually try out the services the above companies render as a customer and give us feedback on your overall customer experience with them. We will send you funds needed to conduct this survey through mail. The second form will ask general questions regarding your use of the above companies and your interactions with them after conducting the survey.
Your pay per survey is $500 and will be included in the funds that will be mailed to you for the survey,each survey takes a maximum of 2 hours to complete.This is a serious task and we need only serious minded people to participate.
Should you be interested in participating in this survey send us a reply containing the following information.
Full Names:
Contact Address(P.O. Box not allowed):
City/State/Zip Code:
Home/Cell Phone Numbers:
Email Address:
Age:
Sex:
Present Occupation:
We shall get back to you after receiving these information to confirm your participation in the survey.
Yours faithfully,
Lim Ly
Wing Creative Inc.
2038 Caribou Drive,
Fort Collins,CO 80525
(719) 387 7845

[pbarbee]

Well it looks like someone got in. I haven't heard anything from this company.

[Kelly]

well i applied. probably too late but i applied anyways.

[pepper60]

This alert was first posted in '05, but remains a good warning
to people involved with mystery shopping.

MYSTERY SHOPPING PROVIDERS ASSOCIATION WARNS CONSUMERS: BEWARE OF ADS PROMISING QUICK RETURNS FOR CASHING A CHECK


DALLAS – December 14, 2005 – A new crop of mystery shopping scams has popped up all across the United States, offering consumers the opportunity to make “easy money” by cashing a large-sum cashier’s check and evaluating the service they receive.

The Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA), the largest professional trade association dedicated to improving service quality through the use of mystery shoppers, advises the public to disregard letters or classified ads that promise fast cash and free gifts by performing mystery shopping and service evaluations.

The most recent scam asks the consumer to cash a cashier’s check and wire the money back to a specified address, typically outside the country. The “reward” to consumers – they keep a percentage of the original cashier’s check as payment.

In these scams, the cashier’s check bounces several days later and the consumer is held liable for the entire amount of the money they wired to the international address – typically between $2,500 and $3,500.

“Mystery shopping is a valuable customer service tool that has gained widespread acceptance in the retail, financial services and restaurant industries, and proves highly valuable to companies that use it to gain customer experience metrics. However, it is not a quick and easy way to make a large sum of money and receive numerous freebies,” said John Swinburn, Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) Executive Director. “It is unfortunate there are scammers out there preying on individuals looking for legitimate mystery shopping opportunities. The bottom line – if the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

“Mystery shoppers typically are paid modest amounts and on some occasions may receive reimbursement for required purchases,” Swinburn said. “Legitimate mystery shopping companies will never promise large sums of fast cash or require consumers to pay an up-front fee to become a mystery shopper.”

Prospective shoppers looking for legitimate mystery shopping companies can simply visit the MSPA Web site at www.mysteryshop.org. There, they can find information on how to register to be a shopper with an MSPA company, what jobs are available in their region, and additional information on the mystery shopping industry.

The following tips are provided for those interested in becoming a mystery shopper:

- Respond directly to the companies that post the assignments (not to MSPA).
- Sign up with as many companies as you can. If a company asks you to pay, decline and move on to the next company.
- Be patient. It takes time, sometimes months or even longer, to be contacted with an offer to conduct a shopping assignment.
- Once assigned a shop, ensure it is completed according to the guidelines set forth by the mystery shopping client. Shoppers who do a good job have a much higher likelihood of being invited back for future assignments.
- Prospective shoppers should never need to pay a fee to become a mystery shopper. If a shopper receives an email or visits a Web site that requests a fee, simply disregard it.

About the MSPA
With more than 180 member companies worldwide, the MSPA has a diverse membership, including marketing research and merchandising companies, private investigation firms, training organizations and companies that specialize in providing mystery shopping services. Its goals are to establish professional standards and ethics for the industry, educate providers, clients and shoppers to improve quality of service, improve the image of the industry and promote the membership to other industry associations and prospective clients.

To learn more about the Federal Trade Commission's information on cashiers check scams, visit the FTC Alert on the topic (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre40.htm)).

If you think you’ve been targeted by a counterfeit check scam, report it to the following agencies:



The Federal Trade Commission: Visit www.ftc.gov (http://www.ftc.gov/) or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).



The U.S. Postal Inspection Service: Visit http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect (http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect) or call your local post office. The number is in the Blue Pages of your local telephone directory.




Your state or local consumer protection agencies: Visit www.naag.org (http://www.naag.org/) for a list of state Attorneys General, or check the Blue Pages of your local telephone directory for appropriate phone numbers.

[Kelly]

i've read this before. thanks for posting

[Raiderchic29]

i dunno This is just weird...... this is the next email I got from them

Dear Survey Applicant
We would like to use this opportunity to inform you that you have been
chosen as 1 of the 20 participants for the WESTERN UNION survey.We
have the information that you provided us and would like to tell you
it is adequate for the conduction of the survey.

We are currently working on securing funds you will use in conducting
the survey . The funds will come as checks , so you can
easily have it cashed .These funds will
be sent to you next week by which time we would have secured release
of the funds to you.Instructions on how to go about the survey will be
emailed to you .

You will be contacted via email when the funds have been sent out to
you ,so look out for our email.

We would also like to inform you that you are expected to carry out
the survey within 2 days of arrival of survey funds.

We need you to confirm receipt of this email so we can proceed.
Regards
Lim Ly
Wing Creative Inc.
2038 Caribou Drive,
Fort Collins,CO 80525
(719) 387 7845

How did we go from applying for a cola drink study to a Western Union survey??? i dunno This is making me very nervous. Does anyone know of a way to check to see if these are real or not???

[pepper60]

Raiderchic I smell a scam for both of those emails you've received.
The probably will send you checks, ask youto cash them, and then
wire funds back or send funds via Western Union. This is after you've
cashed the bogus checks they send you. By the time your bank
finds out there are no funds to support the checks, it's too late.
They've got the $ and have disappeared. Meanwhile, you are
stuck for the bad check charges.


My sincerest apologies to you and everyone else that applied for
this so-called survey which has turned out to be a phishing
expedition by scammers.

I'm going to delete the original offer but leave this thread for
a while so everyone hopefully will see this. Then I will delete
the whole thread.

[Raiderchic29]

That's ok Pepper..... I was a little leary when I first got the email but thought...hummm maybe give it a chance. Especially when your post was for a cola study for $300 and this "group" said $500 per survey and there were 2 parts and I had to complete everything in 2 days....hummm worried about being tracked are we???i dunno also....this is the email I received yesterday also:

I just want to inform you that the payment to start the survey will be delivered to you today with FedEx, get back to me once you have received it.
Thank You
Lim Ly

Is there a way for the bank to check and see if the checks are real or not?? If I do get this I wish there was a way I could track this!! I feel so bad for people that get scammed and ripped off by some idiot. You ever get one of those feelings that something is not right....that is why when I got the first email I asked if anyone else had received it and I was not sure what to do. But now I am mad.....I hate that people have to be like that.

[pepper60]

That's ok Pepper..... I was a little leary when I first got the email but thought...hummm maybe give it a chance. Especially when your post was for a cola study for $300 and this "group" said $500 per survey and there were 2 parts and I had to complete everything in 2 days....hummm worried about being tracked are we???i dunno also....this is the email I received yesterday also:

I just want to inform you that the payment to start the survey will be delivered to you today with FedEx, get back to me once you have received it.
Thank You
Lim Ly

Is there a way for the bank to check and see if the checks are real or not?? If I do get this I wish there was a way I could track this!! I feel so bad for people that get scammed and ripped off by some idiot. You ever get one of those feelings that something is not right....that is why when I got the first email I asked if anyone else had received it and I was not sure what to do. But now I am mad.....I hate that people have to be like that.


The wording/phrasing is part of what alerts me something is phishy.
I'm sure you've seen a lot of the scam emails that say you've won
a huge amout of money,,,,blah blah. And other scam ones where
the wording is very similar to what you got.

Also, the 2 day turn around requirement....that's how they get your
$ and you get shafted. It takes banks about 3 days to discover
there's no funds to cover the bad checks. If they had been asking
you to test actual software w/o using REAL money, I might have
believed they were for real. But when they said they'd send you
checks, and you send the Cash back via electronic transaction
there was no way I'd believe you'd get paid those huge amounts.

At any rate, I feel really bad because if nothing else a lot of
our members have been receiving scam mail because I posted this.

[SNOWBEAR3]

I received an e-mail from the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Office saying this scam is rampant in Pa.
Consumer Advisory: Attorney General Corbett cautions consumers about “mystery shopper” counterfeit check scam

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett today cautioned consumers to be wary of counterfeit check scams which are disguised as offers seeking “mystery shoppers” for major retail stores.

Corbett said the scam mailing typically includes an official-looking notice informing consumers that they have been selected to participate in a “secret shopper” or “mystery shopper” program, where consumers are paid to make purchases at stores and then evaluate the service they received. Consumers are told that they can earn several hundred dollars for each shopping assignment they complete, and the scam mailings imply that the secret shopper program is affiliated with retail outlets such as Wal-Mart, Kmart, Sears, Home Depot, JC Penney and other major chains.

“This scam draws consumers in with an offer of ‘easy money’ – getting paid to shop,” Corbett said. “In reality, consumers are being ‘paid’ with counterfeit checks, and are being asked to electronically transfer money to scam artists, often operating outside the country.”

Corbett said the mystery shopping scam typically asks consumers to evaluate a money transfer using a MoneyGram or Western Union wire transfer as part of their first “training assignment.” A check is normally included with the mystery shopper mailing, which consumers are instructed to deposit in their bank account to cover the cost of their first shopping assignment.

Corbett explained that consumers are often promised earnings of $500 to $800 per week for future shopping assignments, if they successfully complete their training. Consumers are also told that they must keep the nature of their work completely confidential, in order to avoid alerting businesses that they are being evaluated and to preserve the “integrity” of the mystery shopper program.

Corbett said the typical scam instructs consumers to wire-transfer $3,000 to $4,000, often to an address in Canada. Consumers are told that they are sending the money to a training supervisor or account manager, who will evaluate the consumer’s potential as a full-time mystery shopper. After completing the electronic transfer, consumers are asked to immediately send a copy of the MoneyGram or Western Union receipt to a fax number provided in the initial mailing.

Corbett noted that the scam artists are attempting to take advantage of a time-delay between when you deposit their check, and when your bank discovers that the check is actually counterfeit. In some cases, this could take several days, allowing unsuspecting consumers to transfer money long before they discover that the original check was counterfeit – and that consumers are responsible for repaying missing money to the bank.

Corbett said that modern computer and printer technology allows scam artists to generate extremely realistic checks, forms and letters. He urged consumers to look beyond the authentic appearance of any documents, or the attraction of quick money, to identify the basic framework of all these scams.

“Alarm bells should go off in your head any time someone sends you a check, along with a request that you deposit the check in your bank and wire-transfer a certain amount of that money to another person,” Corbett said. “Whether it’s a mystery shopper offer, payment for an online auction, a classified ad, or some other transaction – scam artists are hoping that you send them money quickly, without thinking about the offer, and fall for a deal that’s too good to be true.”

Corbett urged consumers with questions or concerns related to counterfeit check scams, or other consumer problems, to contact the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Hotline, toll-free, 1-800-441-2555, or tofile an online complaint using the Attorney General’s website: www.attorneygeneral.gov. (Highlight the Complaints button on the front page of the website and select “Consumer Complaints” from the menu)

Corbett said that additional information about consumer scams, fraud and other related topics is available in the “Consumers” section of the Attorney General’s website.

Please Feel Free to Tell a Friend

[pepper60]

Stay alert everyone!!

[Raiderchic29]

Thanks for the notice Pepper!!!!

[Kelly]

okay i had to undelete this thread because i wanted to know what everyone's opinion was on this email i just received from them

We apologize for the delay in getting the survey funds to you. The new date for the Western union and Money Gram survey is today, 05-14-2008.

Fed ex is going to deliver the check to cover expenses for the survey this morning on or before 10AM U.S time.

Proceed with the below instructions as soon as you receive the check today.

1. Have the check cashed at your bank.

2. Deduct your pay of $500.

3. Locate a One Western Union and One Money Gram Agents near you to conduct the survey by patronizing there services. Make transfers of $2200 each from the the two agencies to the below information for the sole purpose of this survey. Deduct the transfer charges from the total amount before wiring.

Be sure to observe the following while making the transfers and Under no circumstances should the Agencies know this survey is being carried out on them.


1) How long it took you to get services.
2) Smartness of the attendant.
3) Customer service professionalism.

Here are details needed to transfer the funds.

NAME: ALFRED CALHOUN
ADDRESS: 29 SHORE DR.
CITY: SAN FRANCISCO
STATE: CA
ZIP CODE: 94107

Email me as soon as you make the transfers with the following information for both transfers so i can forward you the survey questionnaire.

For the Money Gram Transfer: The Reference# , Amount Sent and Name and Address of sender.

For the Western Union Transfer:: The MTCN#, Amount Sent and Name and Address of sender.

Thank You and kindly have the survey completed today.


Lim Ly

[SNOWBEAR3]

I read on another forum, that this is the latest scam. Someone lost 2200.00 by thinking they were working for a legitimate survey company. Bank said "tough". You owe $2200.00. I also received an e-mail from Lim Ly that wanted me to join his research site a few weeks ago. It just looked fishey to me and I decided to pass.
Going to see if I can find the name of that company. Maybe you signed up and that is how he got your info.

[SNOWBEAR3]

Kelly,
Here is the e-mail I got on 4-28.........






Wing Creative Inc. is an Advertising and Marketing company involved in helping Companies achieve market leadership and after 8 years of experience serving hundreds of clients, we have developed particular strengths in the following areas.
Conduct market research to determine what our client's target markets requires, Evaluate and analyze competitive products and services, Discover market opportunities.

All of this go a long way in helping our numerous clients achieve market leadership. Our company is currently conducting a research,we are surveying the U.S financial market for an existing U.K financial institute interested in expanding its operations to the U.S.
About The Survey.


You will be required to complete two survey forms we will send you.The first survey require that you actually try out the services the above companies render as a customer and give us feedback on your overall customer experience with them. We will send you funds needed to conduct this survey through mail. The second form will ask general questions regarding your use of the above companies and your interactions with them after conducting the survey.


Your pay per survey is $500 and will be included in the funds that will be mailed to you for the survey,each survey takes a maximum of 2 hours to complete.This is a serious task and we need only serious minded people to participate.
Should you be interested in participating in this survey send us a reply containing the following information.

Full Names:
Contact Address(P.O. Box not allowed):
City/State/Zip Code:
Home/Cell Phone Numbers:
Email Address:
Age:
Sex:
Present Occupation:

We shall get back to you after receiving these information to confirm your participation in the survey.

Yours faithfully,
Lim Ly

Wing Creative Inc.
2038 Caribou Drive,
Fort Collins,CO 80525
(719) 387 7845

[SNOWBEAR3]

Pepper and Kelly,

Maybe I wouldn't block this entire thread. I searched MBB when I received this and found nothing. I just trusted my gut and did not comply. It needs to remain so members can become familiar with Lim Ly and his Wing Creative, Inc. Try calling his phone number just for fun. DO NOT RESPOND To WING CREATIVE AND LIM LY!!!!!

[Raiderchic29]

Girls...DO NOT do anything with them!!! These companies do not even exist. I went through a long process of trying to figure this all out. They sent me a check for $5,000!!!! I called the bank from which the check was processed because it looked like an actual check and the man at the bank told me that someone had gotten ahold of a real account from them and that was how they were sending the checks. He took my name and info because he wanted to know how far this was getting and told me to get rid of the check ASAP. He said they get you to deposit the money and then transfer and then transfer again and so on and so forth so that way it harder for someone to track them and track what is actually going on. Thank God I am always a little leary about things so they did not get me!!!! Do not trust anything from Wing Creative and Lim Ly and I can not remember who it said the check was from but it was a different company for him also!!

[Raiderchic29]

:smileyredthumbsdown Also, the email that Snowbear just received on 4/28 is the exact same one I received in Feb when signing up for the Cola Study. I kept all of the emails I received from him. My thought is that he did not get enough "suckers" the first round so everyone who signed up in Feb and he did not email he is trying them now.i dunno I would just like to smack this person!!!!!:comp26:

[Kelly]

ok cuz i just received a check for $5000 today. sounds too good to be true so i guess you all are right. i am going to hold the check to see what happens. not going to deposit it like i was earlier.

[Kelly]

i called the phone number on the email and it just kept ringing and ringing

[SNOWBEAR3]

Oh Kelly! So happy you did not deposit it and do what he requested! I would hate to see you responsible for all that money. I am looking for a fraud hotline number for you to contact! I'll will be back!


Irene

[Kelly]

ya let me know if you can find the phone number

[Krissy]

Lets keep each other updated and informed...

[Kelly]

thanks so much krissy.:smileyhugs:
that cola thread should stay undeleted incase others are in that same situation with this company or any other.
shoulda had a thread like this started a long time ago!!

[Kelly]

this is the email i just received from lim ly..........

From: "Wing Creative Inc." <survey.jobss1@gmail.com>
> What's going on?
> I emailed you that the payment to conduct the survey has been delivered to
> you and you refuse to reply to keep me posted on what's going on with the
> payment with you and the survey
> Get back to me to keep me posted
> Thank You
> Lim ly

[SNOWBEAR3]

Hey Kelly!
Tell him you turned the check over to the Feds who are investigating him for fraud and are tracing his IP address! That ought to give him something to think about!:smileyroflmao: :smileyroflmao:

[Kelly]

i did let him know that he is a scumbag and i hope he gets caught. i cant believe this idiot. i asked him to send me a money order for the 5000 dollars instead of the check. havent heard back from him. if i do i will post it.
i wish now that i didnt rip up the check. i should of contacted the bank it's drawn from and sent it to them.

[Raiderchic29]

Once he realizes that you know it is very unlikey you will hear back from him. When he sent me the email about the payments for the "western union" survey which was to be the cola survey I emailed and asked him why it said "Western Union" instead of a cola survey....never heard anything back from him again. And as for the check that is what I did, I called the number of the bank that was on the check that is how I found out it had been a stolen account from them.!!! What a skunkbag!!!!

[JennJenn]

I think you are report email scams on http://www.scambusters.org/ which goes to the FBI. :thumbsup:

[Kelly]

thanks jenn:thumbsup:

[Kelly]

Once he realizes that you know it is very unlikey you will hear back from him. When he sent me the email about the payments for the "western union" survey which was to be the cola survey I emailed and asked him why it said "Western Union" instead of a cola survey....never heard anything back from him again. And as for the check that is what I did, I called the number of the bank that was on the check that is how I found out it had been a stolen account from them.!!! What a skunkbag!!!!
well the first time i emailed him saying i thought he was a fraud he emailed me back asking "what's going on?".....(his words exactly) he said "i mailed you a check so why arent you following up with my requests?"
cant believe he had enough guts to even email me back with that response...i dunno

[pepper60]

This is an email scam!!!

If you receive this email or anything from EPPICard,
delete it. If your email provider has a way for you
to report it as a scame, do that too!



EPPICard Online Survey ID : VRFSXVMPIC

EPPICard <online@EPPICard.com>
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:21:53 AM

To:Congratulations!



Dear Customer,

You've been selected to take part in our quick and easy 9 questions survey
In return we will credit $90.00 to your account - Just for your time!

Please spare two minutes of your time and take part in our online survey
so we can improve our services.
Don't miss this chance to change something.

To access the form please copy/paste the link below in your browser (or click the link):

http://www.unipix.com.au:443/eppicard/survey/survey.php (http://www.unipix.com.au:443/eppicard/survey/survey.php)


EPPICard offers many benefits:

Replaces checks and their expensive check cashing fees
Access to millions of retailers and ATMs across the country and the world
Better security than carrying a check or cash
No longer need to wait for the check in the mail


© Copyright © 2008 EPPICard .



Note:
* If you received this message in your SPAM/BULK folder, that is because of the restrictions implemented by your ISP
* For security reasons, we will record your ip address, the date and time.
* Deliberate wrong imputs are criminally pursued and indicted.

Survey ID :

BHDUNUPHEOKTMMPOFYIQJXSMCRLWWHGXXSWNGI

[grams1952]

I've had this in my in box a couple of times...you bet I deleted

[beanie]

Me too! deleted also.... Thanks for the heads up though....

[Raiderchic29]

:mad: I haven't had that one but I have had one from them saying someone has accessed my account....hummm how is that possible when I have no idea even what it is.....cripe I hate scammers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pepper60]

:mad: I haven't had that one but I have had one from them saying someone has accessed my account....hummm how is that possible when I have no idea even what it is.....cripe I hate scammers!!!!!!!!!!!!!


First I started getting the one you did about my account being
accessed....never even hear of EPPICard until then. Next came
the survey scam email. I've reported all of them as phishing scams
and then hit the delete key.

Scammers will try anything to steal personal data.

[MagiePerdu]

:mad: I haven't had that one but I have had one from them saying someone has accessed my account....hummm how is that possible when I have no idea even what it is.....cripe I hate scammers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't bite on this one by responding or even going to a web address they may give you. Instead, forward a copy of the e-mail to the bank or financial institution with which they represent themselves to be affiliated. That institution should have a site for you to report phishing attempts using THEIR identity. Jeesh...people that do this make me sooo angry! http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/MagiePerdu/Funny%20PEOPLE/marvin-martian-angry-mc.gif

[pepper60]

This guy just won't give up. Got another email from him with a
slightly different offer to participate in something, I forget what
it was now, and I'd get a check from him in the amount of $3,000.
Usual crap about deposit it and keep $1,000 for myself and
write him a check for the balance....blah blah.

He's obviously bought email addresses from one or more places
and just keeps hammering away to see who bites on his scam.

Thanks to everyone that's posted in this thread with warnings
and information.