Getting paid to shop.  Sounds fun and easy! But, after hearing so many horror stories about people being scammed for hundreds of dollars. 

Is mystery shopping really legitimate? Yes, it is. Finding legitimate companies to work through is the hard part, but they are out there. 

The biggest scam running right now is the money wire mystery shop. This is where someone posing as a mystery shop coordinator, sends you a check for $1500. 

The premise behind the mystery shop is to have you go to your bank and cash the check, because you can only wire cash. 

Afterward, you go to Western Union and set up a wire transfer so someone in another state, you are given a name and address by the "coordinator". 

This is supposedly to evaluate the clerk on their effeciency at handling this process. When done, you get to keep about $300 for yourself as your payment. Here's the problem, about a week after you cashed that check at your bank, they call to tell you it was a fake. 

Now you get fined by your bank and have to pay them back. The "coordinator" disappears because all of the addresses that you have for them, don't belong to them. They're real enough addresses, they just don't belong to the "coordinator".

So then, you ask, how does one find a legitimate mystery shopper company?  While there aren't as many directory sites for mystery shopping, they do exist. You can find a very large number of companies at MySurvey123, and SurveyMoneyGuide has a decent number to try out. 

Just about all of the offices listed work for various companies or corporations nationwide, so if you sign up with one company, more than likely they'll have assignments near you. 

 A few things to look for to know that a company is legitimate, is an accreditation with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), or affiliations with the American Market Assocation (AMA) and Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MPSA). 

If you see any of these on a mystery shopping website, more than likely it's a safe bet. Each site has an FAQ about what they look for, how to mystery shop, what the pay is like, or when you get paid. 

Normal pay range is a few dollars for a telephone shop, but can be as much as $40. Average pay is usually about $15, though.

If you're seeing claims that you can be paid in the hundreds for doing mystery shops, definitely question its authenticity.

Every so often, though, a company you may be doing jobs for can have a big money assignment. If it's from a company you're familiar with, it should be okay. 

If you don't want to sign up for a lot of companies at first and just want to try one or two out for yourself, a few safe bets are; Bestmark, Intelli-Shop, Corporate Research International and Beyond Hello.

Each is affiliated with either the BBB, AMA or MSPA. Sign up with them and in no time, you'll be getting paid to do what you're already doing!