Pacific Research Group, Inc.

This company claims to offer an employment opportunity as a mystery shopper. Interested participants are told they will be assigned to evaluate a variety their customer experiences with selected businesses, generating vital information necessary to quickly and effectively spot areas of superior performance and areas in need of special consideration by retail and service establishments.

We advise against sending money to companies making these kind of offers. Most advertise on the Internet, via email, or in the help wanted sections of newspapers and other publications. The companies placing the ads are not hiring anyone. Their actual business is deceptive advertising designed to entice the public to send fees to get started. Addresses given are usually mail drops, advertised phone numbers reach recordings and calls are not returned, and no local phone numbers are listed. Most work-at-home companies advertise in states other than where they are located so as to avoid prosecution.

Complaints about other companies engaging in similar types of businesses generally allege that once money is sent, respondents fail to receive the promised employment. Some complain that the company does nothing more than advise them to place the same kind of ad in their own local papers. In other cases, customers receive nothing from the company. Most of these offers are made in conjunction with a money-back guarantee, but our experience is that few customers are able to obtain refunds despite the guarantee.