These scam artist. Don't cash the check, you will be charged back after the bank realizes thr check…read moreis bad. check out FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION Consumer Information ESPAÑOL MAIN MENU You are here Home ' Blog ' A scam story: Secret shopping and fake checks A scam story: Secret shopping and fake checks Share this page Facebook Twitter Linked-In May 16, 2018 by Emma Fletcher Division of Consumer and Business Education, FTC Scammers need a good story to get to your wallet. Once they find one that works, they use it again and again. One of their old favorites brings together fake checks and secret shopping, and we've been hearing a lot about it lately. Here's how it starts. You get a check in the mail with a job offer as a secret shopper. You deposit the check and see the funds in your account a few days later, and the bank even tells you the check has cleared. Now you're off to the store you've been asked to shopat and report back on, often a Walmart. Your first assignment is to test the in-store money transfer service, like Western Union or MoneyGram, by sending some of the money you deposited. Or you might be told to use the money to buy reloadable cards or gift cards, such as iTunes cards. You're instructed to send pictures of the cards or to give the numbers on the cards. Fast forward days or weeks to the unhappy ending. The bank finds out the check you deposited is a fake, which means you're on the hook for all that money. How does that even happen? Well, banks must make funds from deposited checks available within days, but uncovering a fake check can take weeks. By the time you try to get the money back from the money transfer service, the scammers are long gone, and they've taken all the money off the gift cards, too. (By the way, money orders and cashier's checks can be faked, too.) The moral of the story? If anyone ever asks you to deposit a check and then wire or send money in any way, you can bet it's a scam. No matter what they tell you. Want to avoid the latest rip-offs? Sign up for free scam alerts from the FTC at FTC.gov/Scams. Jobs & Making MoneyBlog Topics: Scam Tags:  Job Scams

ChiShip is a great company that is honest and their service is always on-time. I repeat ON-TIME…read more My boss asked me to find someone new and a quick Google search later I came across this company. There website was easy to navigate and very thorough. I made an appointment and paid on-line with ease. A few minutes later the company called me to thank me for placing a work order and said that all first customer get 50% off the first call. I thought "wow, I didn't see that and now I just saved 50%". We have now use them multiple times a week and can not say enough about their speed of service and professionalism. I highly recommend ChiShip.

I just called them (7/29) and barely finished one sentence and they hung the phone up on me. I…read moreneeded them to perform a delivery in West Chicago. Perhaps, that's why they don't even have a website.

We were in a last second jam, I came across APEX, Denise was very kind, responsive and got right…read moreto it without a bunch of back and forth. Will most definately keep them at the top of the list when in need of any delivery services.

got my shift out of a jam with supply chain interruption. Apollo went to distribution hub and back…read moreto my site location within quoted time frame. messager/driver was very nice and had done similar runs with our sister sites and delivered as promised. would highly recommend. dispatcher/manager was quick and professional. from service ticket to completion was less than 2 hours; very pleased with the service execution. Bryant Eng Location Manager RL0582

We use Apollo Messenger service and they always do a great job for us…read more The quality of service is excellent. They have some of the best rates and it's hard to find companies like Apollo that have all of the values that are needed to get the job done. I highly recommend Apollo Messenger. Rudy Rodriguez

We've been using quick delivery for our business for over 15 years. They always come through.read more

My husband and I had to move two giant Snap-on tool boxes pluse other items. The two men were…read morefantastic! It was one of the hottest days and we lived down an acre long gravel, tree lined driveway. They had the best attitudes and were determined to find away when issues with the gravel driveway arose.- pushing the tool boxes to the truck. They were quick, efficient and very nice gentlemen! Worth every dollar we spent! And would definitely use them again and recommend them!

Super service! I've never used a courier before. They picked up my package within 30 minutes of my…read more8am call. They promised it would be delivered by 4pm but actually delivered it before 10:30am. They exceeded my expectations by far.

Well, I attempted to hire this agency to make a delivery for my firm today; and discovered that…read morethey are not accepting new clients. Well that seems odd. In the future I shall remember not to use their services.

Bike messengers, local couriers, even a guy who will pick your stuff up @ 2pm and deliver it to the…read morefar west suburbs before 5pm! Rates are reasonable, payment is flexible (They accept cash, check, and almost every kind of credit card), and the customer service is OUTSTANDING. Use Advanced Messenger Service for same day delivery of envelopes and small to mid sized packages delivered quickly, safely, and at an affordable price.

I work in downtown Chicago and used this company to pick up a file from an office in the suburbs…read more It was easy to place my one-time order. They were nice, efficient, and the price was great. I'll use them again for my messenger needs.

They delivered white glove service for 3 chairs I had made in Sweden. Everything was inspected and…read morewrapped. They inserted non-slip tabs on the legs and put everything in place. Very amenable. so I didn't know they were calling and they waited a half an our outside my house for half an hour.. Would definitely recommend for on-total house moving and delivery.

Hello, I'm writing…read moreto share feedback regarding our recent service, which was unfortunately a very disappointing experience. We were initially told to expect a one-hour delivery window between 3-4pm, and planned our day accordingly. Shortly before 3pm, we were informed the timing would shift to a 4pm pickup and closer to a 5pm delivery. In reality, the delivery did not occur until nearly 6pm. This caused significant disruption. Our building has a strict 5pm cutoff for deliveries, and we had to scramble to accommodate the delay. I had arranged coverage at work based on the original window and ended up losing additional time and income. The sellers also had to adjust their plans and wait around for most of the day. What was especially frustrating was being told--without acknowledgment of the inconvenience--that the only remedy offered was a $10 discount. We later learned that our job had been added at the last minute, and we were not actually scheduled, which helps explain the delays but does not excuse the lack of communication. I do want to note that the delivery team themselves were excellent--this is not a reflection on them. Given the nature of our work, we frequently require reliable moving services, including for art and mid-century pieces, and had hoped to establish a dependable relationship. Unfortunately, this experience has made that difficult. At a minimum, we would appreciate a more meaningful acknowledgment of the inconvenience caused, along with consideration of a partial refund or credit toward a future service. Without that, we would not feel comfortable using or recommending your company moving forward.

My delivery person showed up on time..great, but not only did my co-workers comment but the other…read morepeople he walked by outside of my office complained he smelled like alcohol. It was at 10:30 am on a weekday. Not cool.

Messenger911 went above and beyond to make a difficult delivery to a McCormick Place exhibitor…read more Although delivery instructions were not complete and did not include check in point which is a separate address from final destination both driver and customer service worked diligently to figure out how and where to deliver packages. I will never call anyone else but Messenger911.