Scam threatens victims with arrest

Calls from a real debt collector are scary enough; these calls are from abusive thugs armed with enough personal data to make them seem legit. Don't be fooled.

Con artists armed with Social Security numbers, bank account information and other sensitive personal data are threatening consumers with arrest, the Better Business Bureau warns.

The callers claim to be lawyers with the "Financial Accountability Association" or the "Federal Legislation of Unsecured Loans," trying to collect on defaulted payday loans, the BBB says. The callers demand immediate payments of as much as $1,000, by wire or by credit or debit cards, to head off lawsuits before they go to court. In some cases, victims have received dozens of calls in an afternoon.

"Because the scammers have so much information about potential victims, BBB is concerned that this may be the result of a data breach," says Steve Cox, a BBB spokesman. "Thousands of people may have had their personal information compromised, and, given the scammers' tactics, it appears that those who have previously used payday loan services could be particularly at risk."

Many of the intended victims had visited online payday loan sites. The scammers often have a victim's Social Security number, old bank account numbers or driver's license numbers, as well as home addresses, employer information and even the names of friends and professional references, the BBB says.

A poster on 800notes.com describes the experience:

"Got a message on my cell phone asking to speak to my husband stating not to disregard this message and (may) God help us if he did not call back for whatever may unfold upon you. A few months back I visited a payday online site and filled it out, but decided against it because of the fees. I answer the phone the next time I see the number and tell them my husband is not home so they speak to me and tell me my husband will be charged with loan fraud, they will call his job and he will probably lose the job, etc.

"So I ask them, has a letter been sent to our address about this matter? No they say it has been e-mailed. I tell them that I will go to my bank tomorrow to research this issue and to see if any money has ever been deposited without my knowledge because I feel like this is a scam, and he tells me if you do that I will download your case right now. I said good bye. This is such a scam but what scared me is that had the last four digits of my husband's Social Security number and the name of my mother and sister-in-law due to the filling out of the application."

What to do if you're called

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, among other things, prohibits collectors from making threats, harassment or misleading statements, or contacting third parties such as family members.

The BBB offers the following advice to consumers if they receive suspicious telephone calls about outstanding debts:

  • Ask debt collectors to provide documentation that substantiates the debts. Every collector must send a written validation notice within five days of contacting someone, including the name of the creditor and how to proceed.
  • Do not provide or confirm any bank account, credit card or other personal information over the phone until you have confirmed the legitimacy of the call.

Will anyone mourn Pontiac?

After sacrificing the brand to try to save the company, General Motors faces the daunting task of maintaining its market share with fewer choices to offer consumers.

The Pontiac brand may be going away, but General Motors (MTLQQ, news, msgs) is hoping its customer base won't.

By the end of 2010, GM will have shut down Pontiac while hoping to retain the 83-year-old brand's domestic market share, which was 2% in the first half of this year.

Other than GM, "Nobody's going to miss Pontiac," says industry analyst James Harbour, the founder of the Harbour Report and the author of the autobiography "Factory Man." "There was nothing unique about it," Harbour says. "It competed with Saturn, Chevrolet and the low end of the Buick line, and all the cars it had were derivative off a Chevrolet base."

Adds Jesse Toprak, market analyst for Edmunds.com: "Pontiac was GM's performance-, sports-oriented brand, but it was never compelling enough, never good enough. For the most part, it was just a redundant brand. It had some exciting products that would come up and create buzz, but then they would go away.

"GM can do the math," Toprak said. "They decided they would be better off without it."

GM's plan, well-known by now, is to support four core brands -- Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC -- and 34 nameplates, down from 48 today. Slimming down narrows the cost and focus for development, manufacturing and marketing.

Most experts see that as the sort of strategy GM should have adopted years ago, on the theory that a company with 20% of the market shouldn't try to operate as it did in 1962, when it had 51% of the market. GM had become so ossified that the government had to intervene to enforce this line of thought.

For the new GM, the loss of Pontiac is a major adjustment. Pontiac sold 88,794 cars in the first half of 2009, according to Edmunds.com. GM wants to drop Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab, which combined have 3% of the market, while retaining an 18% to 19% share of the overall vehicle market.

"GM has to retain every tenth of a point of market share," says independent auto analyst Tom Libby. "They had 50%, they are now around 19%, and they are on the way to 17%. They have to stop the share decline."

As for retaining Pontiac buyers, "I would say there is no way they can retain 100%, but they can retain 40% to 70%," Libby says.

It is not clear that GM has devised a clear plan regarding Pontiac. Marketing chief Bob Lutz recently said GM would keep the powerful, Australian-made rear-wheel-drive Pontiac G8 sports sedan in its lineup by rebranding it as the Chevrolet Caprice, a former favorite of police departments the country over.

A day later, CEO Fritz Henderson said plans to discontinue the car remain in effect. In a subsequent blog post, Lutz said that "upon further review," the car will be scrapped.

Another area of concern is a recent report by Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy suggesting GM will lose more market share than it anticipates.

"We believe that GM's 18%-19% market share target is optimistic, and a more realistic range is 15%-16%," Murphy wrote. The projection was based on his comparative analysis of the percentage of new models in each automaker's sales, an area where GM ranks low.

However, GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson questions the metric's relevance. "We take a fairly dim view of that report," he says. "I don't think any legitimate statistician would look at that and reach the same conclusion."

Libby says GM is least likely to retain Pontiac customers who prefer performance vehicles like the G8 and the Solstice. Those buyers "will likely look at European products as well as Asian products with high performance," he says.

By contrast, owners of Pontiac SUVs, the G6 and the Grand Am will likely stay with GM, he says, because the purchases are not performance-oriented and buyers "are most likely connected to GM in some way."

Among GM brands, "Chevy is first in line" to gain Pontiac share, Toprak said. "Then come lesser brands, some Buick and some Cadillac. If GM is proactive in trying to keep those people and offers loyalty programs, the percentage will be high, over 50%."

In the worst-case scenario for GM, he says, Pontiac buyers will flee to Ford (F, news, msgs) because they feel "frustrated with the failure of old GM (and) they juxtapose that with the stability of Ford and its compelling lineup of cars."

The 2004 shutdown of Oldsmobile proves it can be done. "When they discontinued Oldsmobile, they were retaining most Olds owners, who were trading for another GM product," says Libby.

But Toprak says Olds shut down in an easier time, before GM's financial difficulties were so acute.

How to become a mystery shopper

The job isn't as easy as it sounds, but you can add a little adventure to your life and get some freebies and cash in the bargain.

Get paid to shop! Score free meals and clothes! Visit casinos, water parks and luxury hotels on someone else's dime!

Sound too good to be true? With mystery shopping, it is -- sort of.

You'll get "free" stuff. You'll work for it, though. You'll have to make one or more site visits. The evaluation forms can run to multiple pages. Generally, you pay upfront and wait weeks to be reimbursed. If you don't follow directions, you won't get paid or reimbursed.

That said, an organized and motivated shopper can consistently earn $100 a month or more. Or you can look at it this way: Mystery shopping gets you the small luxuries you can't otherwise afford, such as fancy coffee or dinners out. It can also help shore up your budget by paying for things like vision exams, oil changes or veterinary care.

You might score pet food, vitamins, doughnuts or bone-density testing. You can get paid to go bowling, test-drive a luxury car, drink a microbrew, eat at a fancy steakhouse, ride a roller coaster, rent a car or visit a nursing home. You can mystery-shop a supermarket and get reimbursed for up to $10 worth of groceries.

So how do you get a piece of that? By asking for it. Here's how.

Find the gigs for free

First, a piece of advice: Never, ever pay to become a shopper. Those Internet ads that promise the inside scoop are selling information that's available for free. Two legitimate sources of mystery shopping companies are:

Sign up with more than one company to increase your chances of getting assignments. There's plenty of competition: Approximately 1.5 million mystery shoppers have worked at least once in the past year, by the MSPA's estimate.

Registration may be as simple as filling out a form. Some companies will ask you to read an introduction and take a short quiz, or to write a make-believe account of a shopping trip (I thought of it as an audition). Once registered, you can check company sites for available assignments or read the MSPA's job board. Companies also send e-mail notifications of jobs, sometimes several per day.

'You prove yourself'

Don't expect to be sent to a high-end restaurant or a posh hotel right out of the chute. Schedulers don't hand those assignments to just anyone. You'll have to take more than a few low-key gigs (coffee shops, fast-food restaurants, retail stores) to establish yourself as competent and reliable.

"You prove yourself, and the more you prove yourself, the more exposure you get to good jobs," says Christopher Warzynski, the vice president of mystery shopping company Beyond Hello.

How do you prove yourself? By writing articulate, sharply observed reports. "Not giving us enough detail" is a common problem, says Tom Mills, the CEO and president of Service Sleuth.

For example, it's not enough to write that "the waiter was friendly." Clients want to know if the waiter made eye contact, if he introduced himself, if he mentioned the daily specials, if he checked back at frequent intervals, if he offered drink refills promptly, if he suggested dessert, if he thanked you for choosing the restaurant.

Another common mistake: not following the shop guidelines. If you're told to buy the doughnut between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m., don't roll in at 10:15 (your receipt will give you away). Make sure you're ordering the right meal combo. (Warzynski tells of a woman who didn't order the required burger at Wendy's -- she was a vegetarian, she later explained.)

Playing smart, playing dumb

Often you follow a script, which is fun; there's a certain frisson that comes from pretending to be somebody you're not. My daughter Abby, a seasoned mystery shopper, once had to pass as a Department of Transportation employee attending a conference. Impersonating a bureaucrat is not exactly James Bond territory, but she got an overnight in a very nice suite with room service and a one-month pass to a popular downtown gym. A pretty nice gig, given that her evening would otherwise have consisted of "Law & Order" reruns.

Be prepared to do a little research and/or think on your feet. Shop for pet food and an employee might ask how much your dog weighs. If you're impersonating a pet owner, you'd better know how big a 3-year-old golden retriever should be.

Fortunately, many scripts specifically ask you not to know much, in order to see how well the employees do their jobs. That means waiting to be offered information. Or beverages. Abby had to train her husband not to order drink refills, because the evaluation forms ask how long a glass remains empty.

More tips from the pros:

  • Never take notes openly. Go to the restroom or wait until you've left the building.
  • Keep track of your earnings for tax purposes. Companies send 1099 forms if you've made more than $500 from them in a year.
  • Don't accept a shop to which you cannot do justice. (See "vegetarian at Wendy's.")
  • Be prompt. Most reports are due within 24 to 48 hours.
  • Get a watch that times in minutes and seconds. Some clients want to know exactly how long you waited in line.
  • Set up a new e-mail address; you will get tons of updates.
  • Get a PayPal account; some companies require it. If a company asks for your bank account number during registration, you're being scammed. (You're also being scammed if you're sent a check to deposit and are asked to wire a portion to "another shopper," then write a report on the experience. The checks are bogus.)

Better gigs, if not fame and fortune

The more shops you do, the easier it becomes. As you improve, schedulers may e-mail or call to offer you first crack at a job.

One way to help that happen is to step in at the last minute when another shopper flakes out. The scheduler will remember you fondly. I'm not suggesting you cancel a wedding to go out for a burger. But if you planned only to balance the checkbook or do laundry that evening -- well, it's hard to beat someone wanting to cook your dinner and pay you to eat it.

As your experience grows, you'll be offered better gigs. My daughter, who's been mystery shopping for seven or eight years, has been sent to fine restaurants, amusement parks, nice hotels, cultural attractions and even casinos (which includes gambling cash).

What you won't get is rich.

Service Sleuth employs a select group that evaluates casinos, hotels and fine dining in Las Vegas. Jobs exist that pay as much as $1,200, Warzynski says, such as evaluating a mall. Naturally, these jobs are hard to get and may not even be advertised.

"(The shoppers) have been doing it long enough to where they get the choicer jobs," Warzynski says.

I've earned as much as $95 for a shop, but that project (opening and using a bank account) involved several steps -- and reports -- over a monthlong period. Most jobs pay $10 to $25. For many restaurant shops, the pay is minimal or even nonexistent; you do it for the free food.

Also, reimbursement takes a long time, so don't mystery shop if you need that cash to pay current bills or your rent. Many companies work on a 60-day reimbursement cycle, says John Swinburn, the executive director of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.

Shop for what you need at the moment

The pay may not be great -- and you'll have to decide whether the jobs are worth your time -- but don't underestimate the value of freebies. Mystery shopping can pay for things you want or need:
  • Are you without wheels? Watch for car-rental gigs and use the vehicle to shop for things that are tough to get home on the bus, such as soft drink multipacks or 35-pound bags of cat litter.
  • Ready to repay the $100 a buddy lent you? Look for a shop that pays you to purchase a money order.
  • Want to go downtown? Schedule one or two parking-garage shops and get free parking plus $10 to $20.
  • Overdue for new glasses? A vision shop gets you as much as $100 toward a new pair of specs.
  • Have a friend who was kind during your recent spell of unemployment? A bar or restaurant shop lets you treat your pal without compromising your return to financial stability.

Would you make a good mystery shopper?

The most important thing about mystery shopping is honesty. Don't soft-pedal mediocre service because the waiter was cute or because you felt sorry for the overworked young woman behind the counter. The evaluation form requires you to report whether the employee did or did not follow company policies. If he did not want to follow those policies, he should not have taken the job.

It's the same with mystery shopping. If you're not detail-oriented and organized, then give secret shopping a pass. But if you like impersonating DOT bureaucrats? This may be the job for you.

Save money today

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