Consumer Research Center
Complaint 31680 Details

I received a letter containing a "Cashier's" check for $1490.00 to do a reasearch project involving 2 other nationally known companies. The check was to cover all my expenses with a flat particpation payment to me of $300.00. I thought I had hit the jackpot!!! All I had to do was to wire money through Western Union ($954 + a service charge of $86), and I was to rate their performance as to customer service, the ease of using their service, etc., etc. Then I was to shop at K-Mart, Best Buy, or Walmart, (spending $150) and rate the store appearance and general overall performance of its staff. I had now spent $1190, and was ready to send in my overall comments about their products, and/or services. Now comes the scam- I had to open an account with WellsFargo, and deposit the "cashier's" check since they wouldn't let me cash the check unless I had an account with them. Imagine my surprise when I got my mail from my "new" bank a couple of days later. Inside, it stated that the check was not accepted, and could I please make a deposit of at least $1398.55 to bring my account into the positive range? Well, of course I couldn't. When I tried to contact the Consumer Research Center by phone, I was told (by a machine) that "the party I was trying to reach was unavailable right now", and to please leave a message. When the police tried to call the number, they were directed to some kind of "MagicJack" phone device by a telephone answering machine. Obviously, I have made a report to the police of this fraud, but they are not optimistic about recovering any of the funds. They did, however, give me some good advice: "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". Also, they told me if I receive another of these scams, not to just throw it into the trash, but instead make sure it gets shredded. I am NOT going to fall for one of these scams again !!! I hope this description helps somebody.