Billy Gaskin Group of Chattered Accountants and Auditors
Complaint 5141 Details

I was sent an email saying I'd been "hired" to be a "Mystery Shopper". I'd responded to either an email, or text message about becoming a "Mystery Shopper", and since I was unemployed due to being laid off from a company I'd worked for since 2001, I was eager to find another job! I was told that I was now one of their U.S. "agents" and that I'd receive my first "assignment" in the mail. What I received was a money order...an "International Money Gram" for $980.00...along with a sheet of instructions. I was instructed to cash the "Money Gram" at MY bank...which I felt rather suspicious and uncomfortable about, but it looked very authentic, realistic & legitimate...even the employees of my bank thought so, as they cashed it (even after I'd ASKED them if they thought it could be counterfeit, because I was concerned about it) They both said it looked legitimate, but that counterfeit forgeries can look very authentic and it's difficult to tell...until they're returned to the bank unpaid because they're "fake"! I was then supposed to deduct 10% for my "commission" (as their "agent") and wire the balance to their "client" in the Philippines (minus the wire charge) through Western Union.

Obviously, the stupid "Money Gram" turned out to be counterfeit! So it basically "bounced" to the tune of $980.00...which I am now responsible for paying back to my bank (since I foolishly wired the $868.97 to the Philippines...as I was instructed). Because of this, my bank account is now overdrawn, I must pay back over $800.00 to my bank & I am unable to use my checking account, and/or debit card until the bank is reimbursed for the entire amount! I was hoping to earn some money...not lose it!

I feel rather foolish and stupid now...allowing myself to "fall" for something like that, but I was apprehensive and suspicious after reading the "instructions" for my first "assignment"! It didn't really make sense to me. What did cashing money orders and wiring money to another country have to do with "shopping"? I even questioned their "accountant" in charge ("Billy Gaskin"...most likely a fake name too...he sounded like he had a bit of an Asian accent when I spoke to him on the phone), but he had an answer for everything...and assured me that he was a "family man" with a lovely wife and children! That he would not want to jeopardize the future of his family, as well as his integrity for some illegal scam that could put him behind bars and/or "take away food from the table" of his family forever! He said he would not risk losing everything he's worked so hard to achieve! It sounded sincere and convincing (it was meant to). I didn't want to believe a person could just blatantly lie to me like that!

But it seems that's exactly what happened! And apparently I am not "alone"! People at my bank and the Police officers I spoke with said it's a very common "scam" known as an "Advance Pay Scam"...and that people have been "conned" out of thousands of dollars (with different variations of it) for years! A female employee from the "Customer Overdraft Assistance" dept. of my bank said one customer had cashed a counterfeit check for $49,000.00! A Police officer from the "Fraud Division" said that some people he spoke with were so convinced that it wasn't a "scam", they STILL went ahead and cashed the cashier's checks, or money orders...even after he'd TOLD them flat out that it was definitely a "scam" and NOT to go along with it!

I just can't believe these people can get away with such dishonesty! This is currently going on (through emails on the internet) and people like me, in a bad financial situation, seem to be the most vulnerable! I hope no one else will be fooled (as I was) into thinking that something like this could possibly be legitimate! I also received a Fed-Ex envelope containing my "second assignment"...FOUR MORE of these (counterfeit) International Money Orders...each for $980.00! And of course, I was again instructed to cash all four of them...AT MY BANK! But this time, I was told to divide the money into two equal parts, then wire it to two different "clients" in the Philippines!

There were people who have done this numerous times...as they urge them to "complete" their "assignment" as quickly as possible because their "client is waiting"...they even offer 12% "commission"(instead of 10%) if they can complete their assignment the same day it is received! 'Anything they can do to insure that they're able to "milk" all the funds from their bank account BEFORE they're informed (by their bank) that the money orders (and/or cashier's checks) are counterfeit...and they're responsible for all of the money! They basically "con" them into emptying out their own bank accounts and sending their money to the scam artists in the Philippines!