Scamwatch

Scamwatch

GAPbuster is a highly reputable world-leading customer experience agency. Over the last 14 years we have conducted 4.8million in store evaluations for leading global and national brands in 74 countries. As with other large companies, GAPbuster's success makes it a prime target for fraudsters looking to profit on our name.

As such, unsolicited e-mails who claim to be from GAPbuster Worldwide are actually from people looking to take your money, your identity, or both.

Similarly websites exist that seek to use GAPbuster's brand, or content to lure unsuspecting people into giving up their personal details for fraudulent purposes.  

These fraudsters and scam artists will often use legitimate GAPbuster postal addresses and other business details in order to appear credible. However, there are some things you can look out for to help identify scams:

  • GAPbuster will not send you e-mail unless you have registered to become a mystery shopper with us via www.gapbuster.com. If you have not registered to become a Mystery Shopper with GAPbuster, and you receive an e-mail from GAPbuster, it is almost certainly a scam.
  • All e-mails from GAPbuster will come from an address ending in @gapbuster.com. Many fraudsters send e-mail from @gmail.com or other domain names.
  • GAPbuster will never ask you to cash a cheque as part of a Mystery Shopping assignment. Further to this, GAPbuster does not conduct Mystery Shopping for Western Union or Moneygram.
  • GAPbuster will never recruit through Craigslist, or similar websites. Be wary of any 'Mystery Shopping' opportunities you find through these sites as there are many scam operators that make use of these channels to find victims.
  • If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Scams may involve cheques being sent to you for large sums of money, with scam artists generally asking you to cash the check and keep a portion for yourself. Mystery Shopping is no way to 'get rich quick', so beware of people promising big returns.
  • GAPbuster and other legitimate Mystery Shopping companies will be registered with the MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association). You can get the contact details for legitimate Mystery Shopping companies via the MSPA website, at www.mysteryshop.org
  • E-mails from fraudulent parties will generally have several spelling, grammatical and formatting inconsistencies.
  • GAPbuster Worldwide requires its shoppers to lodge all of their results via a secure online site. At no stage will we ask you to fill out and send in your results on paper.

In general, you should never respond to unsolicited email campaigns or advertisements from anyone, however, to protect yourself and your privacy, please keep in mind the following when responding to e-mail:

  • Never provide your personal banking, credit card details or driver's license over e-mail or to organisations you do not trust
  • Be careful when dealing with people or organizations who charge a joining fee to become a mystery shopper
  • Be very wary of opportunities that seem "too good to be true"
  • Play it safe and check the legitimacy of any e-mail or employer that seems suspicious before you respond. Don't assume that just because an e-mail claims to represent a company you know that it actually does. If in doubt, call/email the company and verify the e-mail. Do not use the contact details provided in the e-mail as they are generally set up by the scam artists. Use contact details from the company's official website.
  • Report any emails that might be fraudulent to GAPbuster Worldwide immediately, so we can warn others. Also contact your local Police Authority, to report that you may be the victim of fraud

The best outcome is to recognise and avoid the fraud from the outset, however if you have fallen victim to a fraud (or believe you have), please do the following:

  • Contact your local law enforcement agency to advise them that you may have been a victim of fraud
  • Contact GAPbuster Worldwide via this link and let us know that someone is using our name and image to commit fraud. Please keep a record of all correspondence.
  • Remember: The fraudsters are using GAPbuster Worldwide's name to commit fraud, they are not actual representatives of GAPbuster Worldwide.

If you have any questions or queries relating to potential fraud, please contact us immediately.