Please note that this company (listed below), which sells faxed information about mystery shopping, has no connection with the company Shadow Organisation Pty Ltd that owns the websites www.getpaidtoshop.com.au, or www.shadowshopper.com.au. Shadow Organisation Pty Ltd employs persons to conduct purchase assignments for retailers and do not circulate information by facsimile.

NSW company Consumer First Pty Ltd sends out faxes under the heading “Get Paid To Shop”.

It states that you can:

• Get free cosmetics
• Get paid to drink beer and wine
• Try new Hi-Fi’s and TV’s
• Get paid to eat in restaurants
• Get cash to buy petrol
• Get paid to go to the cinema or watch TV
• Get paid to take short breaks at exclusive resort and hotels.

To find out how, just dial the number provided from any fax machine, press the start button and the guide will be printed out.

But be aware the call costs are $5.50 per minute and it can take 6 to 9 minutes to receive the 12-page guide.

Similar offers in the past have been found to be of little value and can land those who call the premium fax numbers with huge telephone bills.

In the past, 190 premium faxes have touted mystery shoppers, lemonade diets, sex drive, real estate, weight loss, government disposals, stolen property sales; and polls on the Iraq war and the SARS virus.

In this recent fax, it advises that consumers can have their name removed from the list by calling a 1300 local call cost number.

WA ScamNet encourages anyone receiving these faxes to fight back by calling Consumer First Pty Ltd on 1300 555 249 and selecting the option to remove their details from Consumer First’s data base. If after this, people continue to receive unsolicited faxes, they should lodge a complaint with Consumer Protection.

Consumer Protection is working closely with our counterparts in NSW where this operator is based, to impede the flow of worthless fax offers that carry premium price tags, and to ensure people who want to get off these lists can.