Police are warning people not to be fooled by fake job scams offering employment as a secret shopper.

The Bermuda Police Service said they had received a number of reports of such fraudulent activity recently.

A BPS spokesman said: “These advertisements are normally placed on Facebook, but have also been received via personal e-mail, WhatsApp, text message and eMoo.

“Persons are invited to sign up for employment, usually as a secret shopper, by fake research companies and enticed by the opportunity of earning money for evaluating local shops.

“In one current iteration of the scam, the alleged company is ‘Cellmark Investments’ and applicants are instructed to make contact by e-mailing kingsleykel1234@gmail.com.

“In another current version, the employment advertisement is placed on Facebook by someone fraudulently using the name of a local hotelier.

“Persons who respond to these advertisements are then sent an application form asking for contact numbers and banking information.

“They then receive deposits of varying amounts into their personal bank account, in one case the person received more than $6,000, and are informed that they are allowed to keep a portion usually between $200 and $300 as payment for their mystery shopper services.

“The recipient is then instructed to use the remainder of the funds to purchase iTunes and other gift cards, scratch the cards to reveal the numbers, take a picture of the card numbers and send it back to the advertiser, who is never heard from again.”

The BPS said that monies placed into an individual account form part of a money-laundering scam.

The spokesman said: “Individuals deceived by this scam are unknowingly being used to launder criminal proceeds.

“Please be aware that the money deposited into your account is often stolen or, criminally obtained.

“Within the past two days, the Bermuda Police Service have received a number of reports of persons either being scammed or being used to facilitate the above mentioned scam.

“In another scam, unsuspecting customers received an e-mail purporting to be from Butterfield Bank. The e-mail address used, notifications@bnt.butterfield.com, is not a bona fide Butterfield address.

“After following the instructions given in the email, a check of their respective accounts revealed that large sums of cash were transferred to persons locally

“Once the fraudulent activity is detected, your account will be frozen pending the outcome of investigations and the money deposited by the scammers will be taken from your account to reimburse the person whose money was transferred to it.

“The public should be suspicious of any messages received from survey and research companies, particularly ‘Cellmark Investments’, although, the name of the company may vary.”

The spokesman added: “Should you be approached to do these things, be aware, it is a scam. We urge that should you receive such an offer, do not respond.

“Local banks are already vigilant for this suspicious activity and are likely to freeze the assets of any account found to be involved in the secret shopper scam.”