Imagine a $3,500 windfall arriving in your mailbox in the form of a cheque. How timely, given that your insurance and rent is due and your car needs repair.

All you have to do to earn that money is become a mystery shopper.

Sounds great. Right?

Wrong.

According to the Better Business Bureau what you received in the mail is one of the top three cheque scams.

The cheque is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish from an bona fide one and often comes complete with a watermark and other "authentic" markings.

It's not until after the damage has been done that you discover the cheque is as phony as the offer of a job as a mystery shopper.

But by then, the damage has been done.

This is how it works.

The victim believes that they are going to earn a few hundred dollars by working for a company that provides mystery or secret shopping evaluations for businesses. The victim receives a letter in the mail along with evaluation forms, a cheque and detailed instructions. Those instructions direct the victim to deposit the cheque into their bank account and then use the money to purchase items from specified stores while evaluating the customer service. The letter also advises the mark that the rest of the money is theirs to keep for their efforts.

Included in the list of stores to evaluate is Western Union or MoneyGram and the victim is told to wire as much as a couple thousand dollars back to their employer and rate their experience with the money wiring service.

Such a letter has surfaced in Castlegar. Sent by Inter Medico Employment, Inc. of Sun City Florida, the communication includes a cheque for $3,500.

The cheque is of high quality and is undeniably believable. Perhaps the only giveaway is an error in spelling above the signature line.

Const. Dirk Finkensiep, of the Castlegar RCMP has some advice for those who might be tempted to test the waters when it comes to the scam.

"If it sounds too good to be true... Be extremely careful and vigilant and really check the background references on the company. Please don't wire them back money. Don't accept it, and don't deposit the cheque because the chances are you will lose some money," Finkensiep warned.

The scam is rampant across North America with complaints lodged on numerous Better Business Bureau websites throughout Canada and the U.S.