Woman Loses $13K in Mystery Shopper Scam

HOUSTON - The possibility of making some much-needed money seemed so promising.

But instead of making money, this consumer lost $13,000.

An online job application is common, so Snezana Gerkin did not hesitate to apply to be a Mystery Shopper, someone who anonymously goes into stores to buy things for companies.

"They said they had mystery shoppers all over the world, to see how banker tellers work," Gerkin said.

After a few emails with someone named "Brian", Gerkin got a package with two US Postal Service money orders, each worth $970.

Her instructions were to cash the money orders at her bank, Bank of America. Then take that cash to a local grocery store and wire it, via Western Union, to an address in the Phillipines.

She could keep $200 for herself.

That was Dec. 28, 2011. Within a week, "Brian" had sent her three more envelopes with money orders worth more than $10,000.

She followed the same procedure: cashing the money orders at her bank and wiring the money to the Phillipines.

Then she got her bank statement. It showed she was thousands of dollars overdrawn.

Her bank called her, saying her check had bounced.

“What check we talking about, I haven't deposited any checks?” she recalled saying.

The money orders were counterfeit, and she was responsible for the cash the bank had given her.

Within five days, she had lost more than $13,000 of money she never had.

“My yearly income isn't even $13,000; I don't even make that much a year,” she said, crying. “This is nightmare; I don't know what to do. I don't have money. I don't have money. I don't have any income to make any arrangements to pay anybody anything."

US Postal Inspector Tripp Brinkley said this type of scam happens all too often.

"Whenever they're asking you to wire money somewhere, bells should go off that it's likely a scam," Brinkley said.

He pointed out two clues are dead giveaways to fake money orders.

First, the water mark silhouette of Benjamin Franklin.

"If you can see it when it's sitting on a table, it's a clue it’s almost always a counterfeit," he said.

Second is the security thread.

"It's a solid band running the full length of money order, not printed on intermittently."

Unfortunately, not all bank tellers check. It's a tough lesson Gerkin learned the very hardest way possible.

"I've learned you can't trust people just like that,” she said. “You can't trust, you can't."

Bank of America mangers told FOX 26 News they regret what happened. They said they don't always know if a money order or check is fraudulent until it goes through for collection.