Mystery shopper scam circulating

When something comes along that sounds too good to be true, you can just about bet that it is. But in down economic times, people want free money more than ever.
Allison Boykin isn’t working right now, and neither is her husband. He lost his job months ago when the building industry collapsed. So, when she received a check in the mail, she wanted hoped it was real.
“I had actually applied for a mystery shopper position to earn some part time money, a little bit of extra money to help out with Christmas and things,” said Boykin. “I hadn’t heard anything and then I received something in the mail letting me know I had been selected as a mystery shopper.” Fortunately, she knew to look a little closer.  “It was from a company, what I thought was a company, called Archway Marketing and it looked to be real and it came with a check for 3,500 dollars.“
It’s this same pattern circulating in thousands of scams. A fake company sends you a check telling you to deposit it and asked for a fee in return.  Boykin called the number for the company listed, Archway Marketing, and was told to deposit the check and they didn’t even need her bank account number.
    “I decided to get online and check out that company which turned out to be a reputable company but the street names, the phone numbers and the employees did not match.“  She contacted the real Archway Marketing Services and they’re investigating the letter.
Boykin decided to try to stop this one scam and is also contacting the FBI for further investigation. 
You can protect yourself from scams.
First, protect your personal information. Don’t give out your address unless you must. That means don’t register for giveaways and store promotions and such. Also, protect your phone number for the same reasons.
-If you receive something you did not request, be suspicious. Never just do what the letter asks. Research it.
-Call to report the scam to the Better Business Bureau and the local authorities. That way there will be a record in case anyone else calls. This will alert them it’s a scam.
-Shred it and throw it away.