Women loses $2,950 to secret shopper scam

A Gardnerville woman lost nearly $3,000 to a secret shopper scam based out of Canada.

The woman told sheriff's deputies she received a letter from an organization called Premier Shopping Forum that contained a $2,950 cashier's check. The letter told her to call a telephone number to activate the check, deposit it and send a moneygram for $2,450 to Canada. The remaining money was to be used to shop at several stores, rate their service and receipts were to be sent back to the forum.

The cashier's check was deposited on Sept. 22 and the woman sent a moneygram for the difference.

On Friday, the woman received an e-mail from the company saying she needed to send a $500 moneygram to Canada or they would call and cancel the cashier's check.

The woman contacted the bank, who told her the cashier's check was fraudulent and she owed them the entire $2,950.

The victim told deputies she is returning the money to the bank. She said she understood the chances of catching the people who defrauded her were slim.