Lately I’ve been getting a ton of emails with offers for…you guessed it: mystery shopper jobs.

Naturally, I know these are a scam, but I did open one of them (afterrunning a quick virus scan on it, just to be sure!). They are from a company called WA Surveys, allegedly based in Seattle. Run a Google search on that phrase and you’ll get all kinds of results confirming that it is indeed a scam. Better yet, Google “WA Surveys” and the word “scam.” This company has quite a colorful history.

I couldn’t help but notice the “from” line in these email messages, though; they were all apparently coming from…me. My email address was in both the “from” and “to” fields.

Odd, you might think, and you’d be correct. It’s also an excellent clue that you shouldn’t trust anything about that message. If they’re already trying to spoof the sending address, you know they’re up to something.

Of course, sometimes you’ll get messages  that appear to be from people who are in your address book. I’ve had a couple of these same messages appear to be coming from other people right here at REGIONAL. I don’t know how the senders are able to do this (is it a hack, or are they just skimming email addresses from the Internet?), but it should still raise red flags—why would your supervisor be sending you a message about mystery shopper jobs?

If you’re truly unsure, contact the person directly and ask them. However, the text of the message should give you all the clues you need. In this case, it said “mystery shopper,” promised a lot of money, asked for personal information outright, and came from WA Surveys, signed by a Michael McDowell or Michael Friedman (both are aliases used by the same person).

Then again, if it turns out your supervisor actually is suggesting a new line of work for you, it might be time to start looking for a new job on your own. Just don’t fall for one of these bogus offers.