Mystery Shopper scam?

A few weeks ago I received an email stating that Opinion Outpost Research Inc was looking for people evaluate customer service in retail and I vaguely remembered signing up to be a mystery shopping years ago. The email it was from was steps377@stanford.edu so I felt it could’ve been legit though I couldn’t find much about it online. I sent an email back with my name and address to apply. Fast forward and I received a priority mail envelope in the mail with a check/cash order for $1000 and a paper that was apparently from Bestmark Service Inc. the cash order was blank and there were instructions to fill it out. I was to keep $200 and use the $800 to buy several gift cards from a store which I was to evaluate. I know this should’ve been a red flag but at my bank counter, they said they didn’t take those cash orders and I assumed it meant the amount was too high. I deposited the check into my bank account and i got $200 and the rest is put on hold until July 1. Thinking now, i should’ve done more research and I feel like this is a scam and I’m not sure what to do now. Can I cancel the check deposit? Will they be able to receive my bank information now? If I just leave it alone and don’t take any money out, will the check bounce back and I can move on?

TLDR: deposited a check for $1000 for “mystery shopping” and I think it may have been a scam.

submitted by /u/mrhenrypeacock
[link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/beermoney/comments/c6fna4/mystery_shopper_scam/