PINECONE RESEARCH SCAM

[jamrow36]

wow...I always thought Pinecone was one of the most exclusive survey groups. They almost never take applicants and usually only recruit through members

[minioncookies]

Number one this is not from pinecone research.. If you do Your research You will soon understand.. You always get the same email from pinecone.. I am a member of pinecone and never once been scammed. I have always been paid and been treated with respect. Alot of people who think this is a scam. need to realize where the real scams are.. Pinecone is a legit company you can ask anyone and everyone who has been a member. Just because you get a email like this does not mean it's a scam.. It only means it was originated from a scam impostering pinecone.. If the message does not come from scott@pineconeresearch.com this email it is a fake.. (:

[quietpal]

I just signed up for this offer a few days ago and am awaiting my first survey. All I can say is do your research and go to sites like survey police. There, you will find reviews of different survey companies. You can also go to the survey police forum and there is a topic that talks about how to tell if the email you received is from Pinecone Research or not. Just go to the search button in the top right corner and type in pinecone research scam. Like one of the above posters said, you should look for Karen Scott's email. I did my research and with all the positive reviews, I am confident that this is a reputable survey company. The email you received did not come from Pinecone Research, but probably from a spammer. Hope this helps someone.

[tholl01]

Pinecone research is "NOT" a scam i've been a member for 5 years and I have never had a problem. There one of the best survey companies out there. You just got scam mail. There actually good about letting members know about scams going on. I logged on today and there was a security notice letting me know that someone was using there name and logo and who to contact if i got one of those emails.

[lena3018]

I have to agree with the others Pinecone Research is NOT a scam I have been a member for a year and I always go paid for my surveys.  I also have gotten free products from them as well and go paid to test them. I just got a little lazy these last few months and stop doing surveys so I had to reapply  hope to get a survey soon. Not sure where that came from but Pinecone it did not.

[Administrator]

As noted, PineCone Research is a legitimate company which has been targeted by scammers pretending to be them.

Here is a message from PineCone themselves about it:

Important Security Notice:

We have been made aware that third parties may be attempting to use the names and logos of Pinecone Research for different "scams."  One example of such a scam is a "mystery shopping" assignment.

http://www.pineconeresearch.com/Important%20Security%20Notice.htm

[betlynjua]

Karen Scott USA
8:42 AM (40 minutes ago)

to mail
http://pineconeresearch.com/Images/header.jpg

Following the successful assessment of your application which took place couple of minutes ago, you have been selected as a secret shopper in your region of USA to participate
in our evaluation surveys. We strongly believe you've got what it takes to carry out various projects in your region and hope we'll not be dissapointed.

PROJECT DUTY #1

To conduct a secret survey on the nearest MoneyGram outlet/store in your region by forwarding a fixed amount of $1550.00 to a mystery consumer in another region conducting the same
survey at the recipient's end. The recipient's transfer information will be sent in subsequent email.

A check for $1840.00 has been issued and will get delivered within the next 2 business days.
Cash The Check.
Your Compensation is $150.00 for every project duty you conduct.
You are to deduct an additional $140.00 to cover for the transfer fees at the MoneyGram outlet/store.

Click Here to Visit MoneyGramŪ site on your web browser to locate the nearest MoneyGram outlet/store in your region.

How to rate the MoneyGram outlet in your region.
You are to rate the MoneyGram store services by simply observing and recording the following parameters:

Time of the day:
Appearance of agent:
Appropriateness:
Courteousness:
Time taken to complete transfer:
Number of staffs present in outlet:
Serviceability:
Future improvements you would like to see in that outlet/store:

Upon completion of the survey, you are to email your ratings of the outlet/store under the parameters above back. Thank you

Kindly Proceed Here to Reply

NAMES:
CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS:

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A SCAM. SO BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've received these scam invitations myself.  A family member of my husband fell for this and was not only scammed and embarrassed but it ended up costing more in fees just to get out of the trouble it caused.  I don't know if there is any way of reporting these scams but in the very least don't get involved with them at all.

[charmaine56]

 
The library blocks me from doing this one. now I know why. best you report this to fusion and not just talk about it without reporting it.

[lena3018]

Karen Scott USA
8:42 AM (40 minutes ago)

to mail
http://pineconeresearch.com/Images/header.jpg

Following the successful assessment of your application which took place couple of minutes ago, you have been selected as a secret shopper in your region of USA to participate
in our evaluation surveys. We strongly believe you've got what it takes to carry out various projects in your region and hope we'll not be dissapointed.

PROJECT DUTY #1

To conduct a secret survey on the nearest MoneyGram outlet/store in your region by forwarding a fixed amount of $1550.00 to a mystery consumer in another region conducting the same
survey at the recipient's end. The recipient's transfer information will be sent in subsequent email.

A check for $1840.00 has been issued and will get delivered within the next 2 business days.
Cash The Check.
Your Compensation is $150.00 for every project duty you conduct.
You are to deduct an additional $140.00 to cover for the transfer fees at the MoneyGram outlet/store.

Click Here to Visit MoneyGramŪ site on your web browser to locate the nearest MoneyGram outlet/store in your region.

How to rate the MoneyGram outlet in your region.
You are to rate the MoneyGram store services by simply observing and recording the following parameters:

Time of the day:
Appearance of agent:
Appropriateness:
Courteousness:
Time taken to complete transfer:
Number of staffs present in outlet:
Serviceability:
Future improvements you would like to see in that outlet/store:

Upon completion of the survey, you are to email your ratings of the outlet/store under the parameters above back. Thank you

Kindly Proceed Here to Reply

NAMES:
CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS:

THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A SCAM. SO BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've received these scam invitations myself.  A family member of my husband fell for this and was not only scammed and embarrassed but it ended up costing more in fees just to get out of the trouble it caused.  I don't know if there is any way of reporting these scams but in the very least don't get involved with them at all.

That sucks I have been scammed before and it is really embarrassing as well. I signed up for a credit card and had to deposit $200 they said there was a fee of $29 and I agreed. I was trying to fix my credit and they said by using it and making payments would help it.

After a few weeks with no card I tried calling and couldn't get any help. I did some research and found out it was a catalog card and didn't help my credit at all. The bank wouldn't help me and I could get my money back I reported it on BBB and other sites but didn't change anything.

I guess the only thing to do if a scam happens is to make others aware because they will never stop. The only thing that will change will only be their names and they will keep doing it to others

[bloins]

Thanks for the heads up...... Several years ago I was a victim of a scam that cost me thousands of dollars and cut of all my income for about 2 months because I was not aware that companies did that (scammed people like that).  very long story- short version.... I had entered several sweepstakes and such online and I was informed that I had won somewhere around $200,000 and I received a check in the mail for around $8 or 9,000..... supposedly this was to pay the tax on the money I had won, so I took it to my bank and cashed it then sent the money off.... right after I did this I tried to call the "customer service" number and it had been disconnected....several weeks later I started getting notices from my bank and learned that it was a counterfeit check that I cashed..... they froze both my checking and savings accounts and all my income was direct deposited at the time so it took a while to cancel my direct deposit and start receiving my paycheck and of course I was red flagged and could not open an account anywhere else...... I had to pay back the entire amount of the check which I eventually did, but I still cannot open a regular checking account


A couple years after that I received another check in the mail... completely different but still sounded too good to be true so instead of running to the bank to cash it I took it to a check cashing/payday loan place and asked them about it... Apparently they can check the origin of any check you take in there and tell you whether or not it is legit .. of course it wasn't so now I just throw anything like that in the trash

[berthabutt]

Wow, this info is good to know! I joined Pinecone a short time ago, and I know they are legit.  But didn't think about scam sites pretending to be Pine Cone!

[mjoseph1]

wow  , that was a blatant scam

[Mojoshog]

Thanks for the heads up...... Several years ago I was a victim of a scam that cost me thousands of dollars and cut of all my income for about 2 months because I was not aware that companies did that (scammed people like that).  very long story- short version.... I had entered several sweepstakes and such online and I was informed that I had won somewhere around $200,000 and I received a check in the mail for around $8 or 9,000..... supposedly this was to pay the tax on the money I had won, so I took it to my bank and cashed it then sent the money off.... right after I did this I tried to call the "customer service" number and it had been disconnected....several weeks later I started getting notices from my bank and learned that it was a counterfeit check that I cashed..... they froze both my checking and savings accounts and all my income was direct deposited at the time so it took a while to cancel my direct deposit and start receiving my paycheck and of course I was red flagged and could not open an account anywhere else...... I had to pay back the entire amount of the check which I eventually did, but I still cannot open a regular checking account


A couple years after that I received another check in the mail... completely different but still sounded too good to be true so instead of running to the bank to cash it I took it to a check cashing/payday loan place and asked them about it... Apparently they can check the origin of any check you take in there and tell you whether or not it is legit .. of course it wasn't so now I just throw anything like that in the trash

I got one of these a few years ago also. Everything looked so legit, real bank and all but I called the bank first to see if I could verify funds.