KAILUA-KONA — Another scam has reached the island. An official looking envelope containing a check for thousands of dollars has been received by island residents from “National Shopping Service Network.”
The check is accompanied by a letter stating “you received this priority mail in respect of the shopping evaluation assignment you applied with us online.”
The letter instructs the recipient to buys gift cards at Walmart after cashing the check at their local bank. The check is a fake and if the bank cashes it, the money will be taken back out of the payee’s account once it rectifies the error.
National Shopping Service Network is a legitimate business and is aware that someone is using their name in this scam.
Their website states:
“We have been made aware of a scam attempt using our company name. These scam messages may be asking you to purchase gift cards and/or they may ask you to evaluate Walmart or Kmart. Please do not respond to any texts or emails claiming to be from National Shopping Service Network asking for your address and/or offering to send you a check in the mail to complete an assignment. We would never conduct an actual assignment in that manner.”
The company instructs people to not respond to a letter or attempt to cash a cashier’s check.
Emails from the company come from the domain @mysteryshopper.net. Emails from any other domain, such as gmail or yahoo, are not from a representative of the company.
Should one receive the fraudulent letter, the company advises to file complaints with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov. Also people should:
* Forward the scam emails to spam@uce.gov.
* If you have received a fraudulent letter and cashiers check in the mail, please report it to the USPS as fraud. Visit their website at https://ehome.uspis.gov/fcsexternal/default.aspx.
* Report the incident to your State’s Attorney General.
* File a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
Hawaii Police said they haven’t received reports of this particular scam as of yet.
But the Department of Water Supply on Thursday reminded its customers and the public to be wary of scam attempts made via fraudulent telephone calls asking for personal information or visits from people claiming to represent DWS.
DWS does not ask for Social Security numbers.