Continental Evaluation Service Mystery Shopper - Customer Service Evaluator Hamilton, Ontario

I answered an ad in the December 15th/09 Toronto Star looking for Secret/Mystery Shoppers.  To be considered the ad directed me to their web site where registration took place. (Name, address, phone and email address). Upon completion of the registration process, a screen came up notifying me that I would be contacted within a couple of days.

Today, December 21st, I received an envelope that lacks a return address, bears a Canadian stamp and shows a postal mark of 091218 8:26  M4L 3T0 049.

Inside the envelope is a Canadian money order (#2216509 dated December 16/09) issued by the Credit Union Central Alberta Limited, 8500 MacLeod Trail S.E., Calgary, Alberta  T2H 2N1 in the amount of $1,500.00.  In addition, three pages of information were included. 

The first page bears the corporate logos of Pepsi, Blockbuster, Harvey's, The Bay, GAP, AVIS, Western Union, McDonald's, Pizza Pizza and Starbucks Coffee.

The first page states "... there is one probationer training assignment that I was required to complete within 48 hours. This training assignment takes about 30 mins to complete and is a PAID training.  Training pay rate remains $150 per day.  The aim of this training assignment is for you to familiarize yourself with the practical feel of what investigative shopping entails."  

The assignment was to go to any Canada Postal Outlet and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a payment system called "MoneyGram" which is available at any Canada Post Store or Outlet.

I was to cash the money order at my own financial institution and take the cash to the Canada Post Outlet and then have issued a money order in a supposed relative's name in Trafford Park, Manchester UK.    Once completed, instructions were to call the phone number provided (1-905-598-1704) and email their office (info@cont-inter.com) to provide the MoneyGram Reference Code immediately.

The two additional pages included a weekly time schedule request sheet so that they would know my availability for the upcoming week, and the Customer Satisfaction Evaluation Tool (CSET) which was to be completed and faxed in once the evaluation was completed.

Red flags for me:  no return address on the envelope; the letterhead shows Hamilton as the head office, yet the postal mark is Toronto and the money order is issued from a Credit Union based in Alberta; no prior communication to determine if I would be a suitable candidate; no legitimate company "tests" prospective employees using cash; no legitimate company requires that the work be done within 48 hrs without having a previous working relationship in place; the assignment to send the money order in the name of a supposed relative based in England creates a disconnect; and the use of "hrs" and "mins" in a business letter is unorthodox.