Shopping Quest - Big Western Bank I received a Check for $4998! Woo h*o! Not so much once I found out it was a scam. Meridian Idaho

On May 9th, I received a letter in the mail saying basically "Here's a check for $4998". "We need you to go shopping for us" "You're part of a PRESELECTED GROUP that pays NO REGISTRATION FEES!" "Don't you want to shop for free AND get PAID?" Yeah, I would love to do that- but unfortunately, not with them. I called the bank that it was issued off of- Big Sky Western Bank today and I talked to a very nice guy that informed me that yes, they were aware and they were looking into it. I explained to him that it's sad that there are people out there looking for legitimate work and then there are these stupid people trying to rip those good people off by having them send their own money back to them. He told me that he understood and agreed- that it is really sad that there are people like that out there taking advantage of good and honest people like us., and thank you for reporting it. Every call they get helps them find these people and shut them down.

So, I am going to go to my personal bank and the local police office to let them know about this. I am going to take them a copy of the check, the letter, everything- so they can have it in their records. I am so sorry for the people that they took for a ride. I have kids and honestly- I couldn't afford all those fees and crap that would have come out of this. Be careful out there, and if you look carefully- you can find links to get to the real survey/ mystery shopper jobs.

I have not personally followed up with trying to find anymore- cause I'd just rather go clean houses or work for McDonald's or something. That way at least I know who I'm working for and I'm guaranteed to get paid. But if you do decide to follow up with it- sure to check with the Better Business Bureau first. Oh, and also- if you can't find the company name online within the first couple of search pages, I've found that it probably isn't real or it's a scam. Always call the bank though, and let them know what's going on- because they are using new banks everyday and there are thousands, if not millions of banks for them to use. That bank might be new to it and might not know what's going on. Also, I want to state that I did not look deeper into the Shopping Quest Inc., but if you have time- definitely check it out and make sure if anything you receive in the mail is real or not!!!

Melissa m.
Bradenton, Florida
U.S.A.