And I love money. I prefer money over shopping - in theory - but in reality, I seem to live paycheck to paycheck. As a college student, this leads to a lot of debt, which leads to a lot of time spent on the Internet researching ways to make extra money.

One method that continuously pops up is mystery shopping. I've never spent a lot of time worrying about it, since I don't own a car, but suddenly I've found my interest is piqued. I found three "top" mystery shopping websites, and I'll review each one.

Website: Dollar Frog (http://www.dollarfrog.com/)

This website combines paid shopping with paid surveys, which sounds like a winning combination. They also claim that you can make at least $25 from taking surveys, and as a veteran survey taker, I don't mind telling you that amount is a bit too high to be believable.

Nonetheless, clicking on the information for mystery shopping leads you to a "JOIN NOW!" website with - what else? - a membership fee of $34.50. The pro is that it's a one-time fee. The con is that it costs money. To make money. Right.

Visiting the FAQ page sets off more alarm bells. After every answered FAQ, a "JOIN NOW!" link is displayed. Any website that pushes their product like that is generally something to avoid.

Overall, I don't trust this site one bit. Their information is vague, way too cheery, and unrealistic. The cost may be fair, but then again, they could just be cheating you. On a side note, you also have to pay to take surveys. You should never pay to take surveys. I've already written a hub about getting paid to take surveys for free, so please don't waste your time with sites that charge a membership fee.

Website: GetPaid2 (http://www.getpaid2.com/)

I'm not going to waste any time here. As soon as I looked at this site, I thought, "Wow, scam." Almost immediately the site claims that the Wall Street Journal gave them a positive review - yet there's no citation, and I can't find the article. They give a date of the supposed article, but no links or anything else that could help a potential shopper find the information.

Next come the testimonials, which use almost the same wording. Also, if you've ever visited a scam work at home or dieting site, you'll recognize this site's layout. I don't know why the scam sites tend to mirror each other, but I guess it's good for us potential consumers.

Finally, and this is a huge alarm bell, the site claims to offer this really expensive service for an incredibly cheap price, and they're even willing to throw in bonuses for FREE! Sounds great, right? WRONG. The reason why they can offer this is because A) their service isn't that great and isn't worth the money and B) they're out to steal from you. End of story. Any time you see a website offering a service where you can "save over $280!", it's a scam.
Another warning sign to look out for is a website that's offering a service at a great price but for a limited time. Go back in a week - the price will be the same. There's nothing "limited" about it; they're simply trying to rush into you buying without thinking.

One last thing before I move onto the last website (which I'm definitely having doubts about): this website is only one page. No website should ever be one page long. That's just crazy.

Website: Money & Shopping (http://www.moneyandshopping.com/)

What can I say? This is almost a carbon copyof the previous site. A special "one day" deal, short on details, long on praise, except this site loops readers in with a tear-jerker story about a mom who was afraid she wouldn't have enough money to buy her son Christmas presents. What did she turn to? Mystery shopping!

Oddly enough, this site also claims that the Wall Street Journalfeatured on article on them. They even provide a link...strangely, however, the link's address is startupjournal.com, which does lead to a WSJ site, but could be a clever fake (perhaps not, though). Either way, I can't find the article.

Although this isn't technically a "one page" website, if you try to click on any of the links, most won't work. Lovely.

In conclusion...

I'm not going to say, "Mystery shopping never works!" I believe it can work. I also believe that almost every mystery shopping website is a scam, so tread carefully. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. No legitimate business will ever offer you tons of cash in an extremely short period of time.
2. True mystery shopping jobs will be harder to find.
3. If the customer service doesn't include a working phone number, it's a fake.
4. Fabulous deals that are ending soon are fake.
5. Even if you do find a real mystery shopping job, don't expect to quit your day job.