Police uncover mystery shopper scam

Public Information Officer Mark Samson reported to Historic City News that the St. Augustine Police Department was contacted by a local resident who reported that he was on the receiving end of an Internet scam and he wants to forewarn others before they become victims.

A 42 year-old St. Augustine resident signed up for a “work at home” opportunity over the Internet with a company who was supposedly employing people to work as a “mystery shopper” — someone who goes into selected businesses, makes a purchase, then writes an evaluation of the store’s quality of service, price, and overall customer service.

The victim received an envelope from “Shelia Wagoner” of Broadwater, NE, containing a money order for $990.00 and instruction to deposit the money order in his bank account.

Typically in this type of fraud, the victim is instructed to use the money to make the mystery purchases; then to transfer the remainder of the money to someone else — in this case the victim was to send money to “Bernard Paisley” in Chicago.

A few days after the victim deposited the original money order into his account, Bank of America closed his account when they discovered the money order was fraudulent.

This victim discovered the fraud after he contacted his bank; and before he made any purchases or transferred any of his own money out of his own account. “He was lucky,” Samson said.

Anyone with any information concerning this crime or who may be similarly propositioned in the future is asked to contact detectives with the St. Augustine Police Department at (904) 209-3482. You can remain anonymous and possibly be eligible for a cash reward by calling CrimeStoppers of Northeast Florida at 1-(888) 277-TIPS.