Scam Alert

There are disreputable companies and individuals scamming shoppers. Be assured that these practices have nothing to do with our company. Some charge a fee for information on becoming a shopper. Secret Shopper does not and has never charged a shopper to affiliate with us. If you have paid someone for information or to sign up, your first step might be to check your statement for whatever account was charged. The correct name of the company is often listed there, and your financial institution may be able to help you put a stop to the charges.

One of the more serious scams involves someone claiming to be with a legitimate company such as Secret Shopper and sending out large counterfeit cashier's checks or money orders. The shopper is told to cash it and wire the majority of the funds via MoneyGram or Western Union, then keep the rest as their 'pay' for the shop. Don't be fooled by these scams! By the time you find out that the check is not legitimate, you are out the money you sent and will be held accountable for the bounced check by your financial institution.

Another scam involves someone texting mobile phones claiming to be with a legitimate company such as Secret Shopper and asking for either money or personal information. Secret Shopper does not send unsolicited text messages to individuals. Contact your local law enforcement agency if you receive one of these texts.

Unfortunately, these fraudulent companies use various names or web addresses of reputable companies like ours in their ads and emails. Some scammers even use email addresses or websites which spoof those of legitimate companies. Our website address is https://www.secretshopper.com. If you are directed to a website claiming to be Secret Shopper but with a different address, it is NOT our website. We also do not solicit people to sign up with us via email. The only way to apply to shop with us is on our website.

Suggested steps to take if you have been scammed:

- Contact your local police department to file a report.
- File a report with Action Fraud, the UK's national fraud reporting centre at Fraud Police website.
- You may also wish to visit the Mystery Shopping Provider's Association (MSPA) website at MSPA EU to search for a list of reputable mystery shopping companies.

Secret Shopper® has been in business for more than 25 years. We are a charter member of the Mystery Shopping Provider's Association and in good standing with the Better Business Bureau.

We’re all familiar with how telemarketers occasionally interrupt our lives, often at the most inopportune times. However, even more upsetting is receiving an unexpected phone call claiming that your PC has been infected with viruses and can be cleaned only for a hefty fee. What’s worse is that the caller is almost certainly a fake — a bad guy who pretends to work for Microsoft or one of our partners.

Sound familiar? This tech scam follows a well-known pattern. A phone call comes in from a blocked or international number, and the caller urgently claims to be a Microsoft-certified tech agent who has detected viruses or malware on your Windows PC that must be fixed right away. These callers use scare tactics such as telling you to check your Event Viewer to reveal a bunch of “errors” or even ask to take over your PC remotely to reveal more so-called problems. And, inevitably, they demand payment via credit card or online payment system, usually to the tune of several hundred dollars, to clean your PC. If you resist, they often get angry or even threaten to destroy data on your computer.

What’s really alarming is that this type of scam shows no signs of slowing down. Increasingly, we hear via our front-line support team, and even from friends and family, that these scammers are getting bolder, targeting not only individuals but also businesses. It is appalling that they’re taking advantage of your trust in Microsoft in an attempt to steal your money. It’s immoral, it’s disrespectful and it’s certainly illegal.

What can you do to protect yourself? To start, check out our Web article on how to avoid tech support phone scams. (My personal favorite is simple: Just hang up the phone.) Second, report it. Tell the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the anti-fraud organization for your country. We’ve got a few links below to get you started:

- The Microsoft Safety & Security Center is a hub of information and resources dedicated to helping keep your PC safe from threats, including viruses, malware and phishing attempts.
- Help Microsoft stop cybercriminals by reporting information about your phone scam.
- The FTC Phone Scam webpage has a phone scam reporting hotline and useful advice on what to look out for when receiving unsolicited phone calls.
- In Canada, the Anti-Fraud Centre can provide support.
- In the U.K., you can report fraud as well as cold calls.

Whenever you receive a call or a pop-up on your PC and feel uncertain whether it is from someone at Microsoft, don’t take the risk. Reach out directly to one of our tech support experts dedicated to helping you at the Microsoft Answer Desk, or simply call us at 1-800-426-9400 or one of our customer service phone numbers for people located around the world. We know how disconcerting it feels to be targeted by scammers, and we want to help.

How I came to write my seventh novel, The LOCAL RAG.

Plus book launch advice - what doesn't work

The LOCAL RAG was my first go at fiction - a long, long time ago.

At the time I was full of hubris and upon completion quickly sent it to a local publisher. I don't even remember revising it.

It just so happened it landed on the desk of an editor who recognized my name as the publisher and editor of five community newspapers and an aspiring politico. Rather than shred it she took the time to line edit the first chapter. Suffice to say there was so much "blue pencil" it obscured the original manuscript.

I quickly hid this embarrassment in the back of my filing cabinet and would have forgot about it except for her comment that "there's a good story in here somewhere". I thought so too, all I needed to do was learn how to write it.

With the demise of so many reputable media outlets and the rise of just as many disreputable ones I had been thinking about writing a novel with a media theme. I wanted to investigate "citizen journalism", the influence of social media, and digital technology on my profession. Why not have a protagonist, a publisher and a journalist, who is struggling to keep his professional integrity while confronted with technological and financial challenges.

Hey, that's what The LOCAL RAG is about, and maybe I now know enough about the craft that I can write it.

I dug it out, sucked it up, and read it.

Wow, was it bad. But, as the editor had said, there indeed was a story in there and it was the one I wanted to tell.

It's quite interesting that as you become a better writer you write simpler. New writers and bad writers use way too many words. I cut about forty percent of the novel and then set about layering in characterization, motivation and honing the plot line. I also needed to bring it up to date technologically and to do that researched successful online newspaper models.

It was fun, it was exciting and a side benefit was that I learned how to put the last of the community newspapers I still publish online.

Here's the gist of it:

Do you believe everything you read in the newspapers?

Jim Mitchell doesn't.

He's a journalist and the publisher and editor of a community newspaper, The Sentinel.

He gave up a career with big media because he couldn't justify their choice of what to cover, couldn't tolerate the way they edited his stories and would not be implicit in misleading the public to benefit some hidden corporate agenda.

When he bought The Sentinel he thought all that would end. Being owner of "the local rag" he could select the stories, edit the copy and make sure the interests of the community were served.

He would print the truth - no slant, no bias, no spin, and he'd make a living doing it.

He was wrong.

Right from the beginning Jim's brand of reportage rankles some powerful people, people who pay his bills. Then there's the new competitor, a multinational media conglomerate that's expanding its generic community newspaper format into The Sentinel's market area.

Soon it's a struggle for The Sentinel to make a profit and for Jim to keep true to his uncompromising ethic.

When his best friend, Anthony Bravaro decides to run for mayor Jim's hopeful he'll be an honest politician.

Hope turns to dismay as Jim watches the quest for power turn a good man bad. Tony's campaign tests Jim's professional objectivity and personal integrity.

When Jim confronts his friend with damaging information that could end his run for public office he finds out how far Tony's prepared to go to win the mayor's seat - farther than he could ever have imagined.

This being my seventh novel I tried everything the so-called experts insist makes for a successful book launch.

Beginning in October, The LOCAL RAG was available for pre-order and entered in KindleScout, where readers could nominate it. I did a direct mail campaign with a free e-book advanced reading copy attached to over two hundred people who had expressed interest in my work. I ran giveaways on Goodreads, BookLikes and LibraryThing and enrolled in Amazon's KindleSelect so I could take advantage of their five days where The LOCAL RAG is available free.

I promoted all this on Twitter and Facebook and sent two follow-up messages to my email list.

So far I've given away about four hundred e-book editions and the net result has been one sale - I think ( I find Amazon's royalty reports are challenging to understand) and four reviews - all flattering mind you, but disappointing just the same.

I'm here to tell you despite what the book marketing, book launch scammers tell you none of their sure-fire techniques and gimmicks has worked (yet) - at least for me. The only up side, if you can call it that, is I've been able to do all this marketing on my own so it hasn't cost me anything.

I have two more Amazon free days left and am currently in the process of sending out e-books and two paperbacks to winners of my giveaways so there still could be a review or two trickle in from that - not like it will make a difference.

Even for a guy who loves to write this is getting a bit (?) frustrating.

Stay calm, be brave, watch for the signs

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Reviews for The LOCAL RAG can be read at

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003DS6LEU