MIAMI, Fla. – It's becoming one of the most popular scams in the nation and it could cost you big time.
"You just don't expect this to happen to you," said Sheila Kaplan. "You hear of other people getting scammed."
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Kaplan is talking about the mystery shopper job she found online. After being unemployed for a year, she thought she would give it a try.
"All of a sudden I got a Priority letter in the mail, and inside this envelope was a letter with instructions on what I had to do and there were two money orders. They were each $900.00," Kaplan explained.
She was told to cash the money orders, take her $200 salary and return the rest of the money via Western Union. But, Kaplan's new job was over before it got started. When she went to the bank with the money orders the teller told her something she wasn't expecting.
"{The teller said} I don't think these are real. I said what do you mean? I mean they are fake, they are really good, but they are fake," explained Kaplan.
She emailed a very direct message to the con-man she was dealing with.
"Forget this. This is a scam and I am not doing it. My bank has the money orders. Of course, I never heard from him again," said Kaplan.
Postal inspectors say though there are legitimate mystery shopper companies, be skeptical.
"Unfortunately, there are many more companies run by scammers that are trying to use the concept of mystery shopper to victimize people and take their money," said U.S. Postal Inspector Blanca Alvarez.
Officials add, this type of scam is on the rise.
"You have people who really want to work an honest job - whether its part time or full time and they need to work from home or flexible hours and you have theses scammers hiding behind computer screens trying to steal their money," warned Alvarez.
Inspectors recommend consumers always research any company they plan to do business with, and most importantly, proceed with caution.
To find a legitimate mystery shopper job, the Federal Trade Commission recommends you use the website mysteryshop.org. The site allows you to search a database of mystery shopper assignments and learn how to apply for them.
To learn more from the FTC on how to spot the scams and find legitimate mystery shopper jobs, click here.