Beware of Mystery Shopper Scams

“Make Money Eating Out!” “Get Paid to Shop!” “Get Rich Without Effort!” These ads pop-up and blink all over the Internet, full of fantastic claims and “true” stories. They will tell you about the woman who makes $10,000 a month—just for shopping. This man retired a millionaire after a short time as a mystery shopper. Sounds great. Then you read the fine print. Just send in $29 for the mystery shopper kit, and you, too, will be on your way to riches in this lucrative field! “Well,” you say, “$29 is such a small amount of money, it can’t be a scam.”

If you respond to such an ad, you are likely to receive outdated information and access to a poorly designed, difficult to navigate website. You will likely be redirected to other places to find out about mystery shopper jobs available. There will be no customer service and no refunds. Chances are, no one will ever even respond to your phone calls or emails. You have been the victim of a mystery shopper scam.

As in any other home business or work-at-home venture, you should beware of anyone asking for money to help you become a mystery shopper. No legitimate shopper opportunity will require you to pay a fee or buy a kit. The mystery shopper scam preys on our desire to get rich quick. It also exploits a stay-at-home mom’s need to contribute to the family’s income.

Another red flag that you might be facing a mystery shopper scam is promises of riches. No one should promise that you could get wealthy being a mystery shopper. Mystery shopping itself will not make you rich. It is a very low-paying job. It is actually better to think of it as a hobby with perks, especially in the beginning.

With careful research, it is possible to find paying jobs as a mystery shopper. While it probably will not make you rich, you just might make some extra money doing something you enjoy. What could be better?

Visit Mystery Shopping Providers Association for more information and job listings.

Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills is a popular city in the state of California. The city originally was a land grant. As years went by the city was developed to what it looks like today. Now, Beverly Hills is a must visit city for the tourists. It is a city that is occupied largely by film stars. The city offers shopping, tours, restaurants, famous hotels and so on. Many prospective tourists confuse Beverly Hills with Hollywood. People come to Hollywood expecting to see their favorite stars, experience luxurious hotels, restaurants and shopping but are disappointed instead because the city of Hollywood is far from glamorous. It is in Beverly Hills where the stars actually stay, dine and shop. Beverly Hills is just a few minutes’ drive from Hollywood.

Beverly Hills offers all the charm and wealth that one would wish for. One could go shopping on the famous Rodeo Drive. Most of the rich and famous do their shopping here. The tourists visit here hoping to spot their favorite celebrities on the street. Almost all the famous designers have a boutique on Rodeo Drive. If one is not into shopping or stargazing, one can go for peaceful walks in the gardens. The lovely paths, fountains and blooming flowers definitely make one want to take a stroll in the gardens.

Beverly Hills also offers large and expensive hotels, for which Beverly Hotel is famous worldwide. It is believed that there would be no Beverly Hills if there wasn’t a Beverly Hills Hotel. The city grew up around the Hotel.

Another noteworthy factor is Crescent Drive and the Santa Monica Boulevard, where four famous buildings intersect. The city also offers restaurants that offer food to satisfy any palate.

Another major attraction in the city is the Beverly Hills Public Library, which is considered to be a treasure trove of exquisite books and renowned paintings, sculpture, prints and photographs.

With Rodeo Drive offering world-class shopping, family activities at the Farmers’ Market, concerts at the Plaza and the lovely gardens, the city offers a range of activities that any visitor would want to experience.

Beverly Hills Tours

The city of Beverly Hills offers wonderful sights of their city in the form of organized tours or one could also tour the city by oneself.

The city has trolley tours. There are two trolley tours and the tours are an inexpensive way of touring the city. Such tours give an insight into the history of the city, little facts and the life of the celebrities who dwell in the city. One such trolley tour is the ‘Sites and Scenes Trolley Tour’, which is a 40-minute tour through the avenues of Beverly Hills. This tour is a guided tour enabling the visitors to experience the city’s posh downtown area and luxury neighborhoods. The other is the ‘Art and Architecture Trolley Tour’ that is a 50-minute tour that focuses on the city’s architecture, the creative artist’s agency, the Gagosian art gallery and the museum of television and radio.

There are many events happening at the city and visitors are given a warm welcome to participate in these events. Rodeo Drive offers world-class shopping; Farmers’ Market organizes activities for the entire family. There are also concerts and different activities for the visitors.

The Beverly Hills Civic Center Public Art Walking Tour is a walking tour of the public art works in the city. This is a 60-minute tour and is free of charge. The tour provides a close-up view of the sculptures. The tour also includes the works of art at the gardens.

For a quieter feeling of the city the Beverly Gardens Park is the ideal place. One can walk along the paths that have on its side’s fountains that have historic significance, flowers in full bloom, and lovely cactus gardens. The thoroughfare parallel to the park does not overpower; instead the garden and the thoroughfare merge well.

There a lot of grand houses that are open to the public. The Greystone Park has a Gothic mansion surrounded by large grounds. The mansion is not open to the public but one can enjoy a picnic at the grounds. One of the leading hostesses of Beverly Hills, Virginia Robinson owns Robinson Mansion and Gardens. The Beaux Art mansion with its landscape and palm tree garden is worth a visit.

The city’s Golden Triangle is where one needs to go for fun and fantasy. It is the world of the rich and famous. Rodeo drive is inside this world. This part of the city is flashy, opulent and expensive. This is what makes a visit here fun.

The weather is temperate year round. So take clothes to suit the weather and enjoy the experience at this wealthy and exuberant city.

Beverly Hills Shopping

Shopping in Beverly Hills is definitely an enriching experience. Celebrities and stars shop at Beverly Hills and one is bound to catch a glimpse of one’s favorite star while one is shopping.

The most preferred place to shop in Beverly Hills is Rodeo Drive. Rodeo Drive has a number of shops and boutiques to choose from. Rodeo Drive is three blocks long extending from Wilshire Boulevard to Sunset Boulevard and then giving way to a residential neighborhood. This block is the most famous shopping block in America and houses the most expensive shops. Almost all popular clothing designers have their boutiques on this Drive. Some of the designers are Armani, Gucci, Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren and Valentino. Rodeo Drive also houses the most expensive store in the world, Bijan. One needs to make an appointment just to shop at the store. It is said that an average customer at Bijan spends $100,000 on men’s fashions. An interesting factor about Rodeo Drive is that even numbered shops are lined on the East side of the Drive and the odd numbered ones on the west. The paths of the Drive are of cobble stones with two and three storied facades on either side which are a blend of architectural styles. Just taking a stroll along the path is enriching enough because one passes by romantic archways, classic fountains, iron lampposts and blooming flowers and trees.

The mall, Two Rodeo creates a feeling of unreality in the way the building materials are used. It almost creates a feeling of illusion. The mall houses Tiffany, Cartier and Christian Dior. The mall offers valet parking in its lavish underground garage. Two Rodeo has sparkling steps and fountains and it is next to these that visitors pose for the pictures of Rodeo Drive to take back home.

Barneys is another favorite haunt for shopping. It is five storied and one can walk up along the grand staircase to the balcony for a lovely view. Beverly Hills is famous for the boutiques on Rodeo Drive but a stretch also contains department stores and restaurants.

Take care to dress sophisticated casual while in Beverly Hills. Everyone in Beverly Hills dresses up to shop. Tourists seldom dress up and definitely feel out of place. Most of the storeowners do not let in customers who are too casually dressed.

Beverly Hills Restaurants

There are numerous restaurants in Beverly Hills offering different types of cuisine. The restaurants combine good quality food, great ambience, and excellent service – due to which they get star-studded clients.

There are restaurants that serve food that are supervised by renowned chefs. Restaurants like Spago, Crustacean and Matsuhisa fall in this category. There are also local restaurants. Some of the favorite local restaurants are Nate n’ Al’s Deli, The Farm of Beverly Hills and The Original California Pizza Kitchen. Off Rodeo on the surrounding streets are other noteworthy restaurants.

Nate n’ Al’s Deli on Beverly Drive is a small and informal deli mostly frequented by celebrities. The restaurant Rib Joint offers a massive Sunday brunch and one can definitely catch one’s favorite star at this joint. For Italian food a popular restaurant is the Il Fornaio. On Canon Drive, Mastro’s Steakhouse offers delicious steaks. A casual yet elegant coffee shop is The Café. This restaurant is located in the Wilshire Hotel and serves simple but refined meals. The Grill is to Beverly Hills what Musso and Frank is to Hollywood. The food is simple and the clients are mostly celebrities and stars.

Almost everyone enjoys dining out and so do celebrities. If one wants to spot one’s favorite star, go to the restaurants the stars frequent. Most of the stars and celebrities own quite a few restaurants, the most famous being Planet Hollywood. It opened in 1995 with a gala opening bash attended by all the famous stars. Most of the restaurants prefer their customers to not to dress too casually. They would prefer the men to be in jackets and ties and women either in dresses or pant suits.

Beverly Hills Real Estate

Real estate is related to a land and all the materials attached permanently to the land. An example of real estate is a house. Real estate business is where a broker markets property on behalf of his owners. In the United States approximately 1,800,000 people are employed as real estate brokers. The real estate agents need to be licensed.

The function of a real estate agent is to guide a client through the process of buying and selling land or property. Every step in the process matters a lot. The important things that matter are the agent’s expertise, professionalism and service. It is a known fact that people are willing to do business more with people they trust. Most of the real estate agencies in Beverley Hills claim that their agents are in track of the current trends in the industry thereby guiding their clients. The real estate agents help people make decisions thereby reducing the stress that comes with real estate transactions.

The average selling price of a single residence is around $1,000,000 and houses range from $435,000 to $70,000,000 according to an established real estate agent in Beverly Hills. The real state mostly features houses that offer ecstatic views, privacy, gardens, swimming pools, play courts. The interiors feature articulately designed spaces, which include kitchens, bedrooms and studios. A condo in Beverly Hills in its sale price varies from $435,000 to about $2,000,000.

The city of Beverly Hills is located centrally in the county of Los Angeles. Since the city is close to the coast, it often has mild weather and there a lot of people who desire to settle down in the city. There are a lot of realty developers in the city who are knowledgeable and experienced in the buying and selling of properties. The agents promise that their hard work and commitment will benefit their clients in securing worthy property.

Beverly Hills Lawyers

A lawyer is a man or a woman who represents the members of the public in court; they are licensed to do so. The lawyer is also referred to as an attorney, counselor or a solicitor. The duty of a lawyer is to make sure that all the points of law and any facts that relate to the client’s case is brought to notice in the court resulting in getting justice for the client.

To practice law a person must be trained and licensed. In order to practice law in the United States one should have a degree in law from a law school. Law school standards have been raised through the work of the American bar Association (ABA) and the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). In the past more men chose to be lawyers. The number of women lawyers is steadily increasing. The United States has approximately 630,000 lawyers.

Each state in the United States has its own lawyers who have a license to practice. Such a body of lawyers is known as the bar. The word bar refers to the railing that separates the audience from the proceedings in the court. The lawyers represent their client before the bar than from the audience area.

The majority of lawyers in Beverly Hills conduct much of their business out of court. Lawyers – especially those who specialize in the criminal area – do more trial work. There are a lot of lawyers in Beverly Hills who provide quality legal services. The lawyers provide every kind of legal service, from creating wills and other legal related papers to court cases. Some lawyers concentrate only a specific branch of law. For example, the branch could be administrative or corporate law. The large business set ups in the city of Beverly Hills hire expert lawyers in corporation law. The law is complicated and specialized and the law is also constantly developing. Every field has a set of laws and each law firm or a lawyer specializes in certain fields among the vast range of fields. Some of the areas that lawyers practice are civil litigation, real estate, business law, personal injury and employment. Since there is a demand for legal services most lawyers have more cases than they can handle. When faced with such situations the firms hire people called lawyer’s assistants. These assistants would do the routine cases thereby letting the lawyers handle the more complex legal cases.

A licensed lawyer with his experience should assure his or her clients that he or she has the adequate skills and knowledge to assess and dissolve any problem in the most effective and diligent manner.

Beverly Hills Jobs

One should always find a job that suits his or her needs the best. There is satisfaction in a job when the different characteristics of the job meet their personal characteristics.

Jobs in the United States are classified into white collar, blue collar, farm and service. White-collar jobs deal with people or ideas. Administrators, mangers, sales people and all technical and professional workers fall under this category. Jobs that include responsibilities such as product assembling, repairing and operation of machineries and construction of buildings fall under blue-collar jobs. Farm occupation involves farm labor and management. Service jobs are jobs that provide personal, protective and educational services to people.

An ideal way to locate job opportunities in Beverly Hills is through newspaper sections, the Internet and employment agencies. With thousand of options to choose from a person looking out for a job can get confused.

Businesses, governments, schools and industries produce a large amount of letters, documents and records thereby offering opportunities for people looking out for a career this field. Such business institutions look out for secretaries, clerks, cashiers, typists and personnel specialists. Accountants, auditors, computer operators, cashiers, receptionists and real estate workers are in great demand today in Beverly Hills.

There are job opportunities available in the field of communication and media. Such jobs involve transmitting and processing information. Publishing houses offer job opportunities in the field of communicating information through books, newspapers, magazines and other printed materials. Hollywood being in the near vicinity of Beverly Hills, jobs are available in the motion picture industry. The jobs in this industry range from creating to producing films. The recording industries reproduce sounds and also sell and distribute recordings. Job opportunities in the field of construction deal with building, renovating and repairing houses. Workers in this area can range from unskilled laborers to highly skilled workers. The only factor is opportunities in this field depend on the economic conditions. Literature and the arts like music, painting and sculpture enliven the lives of people. One can earn a living by conveying one’s feelings and thoughts through creative art and since Beverly Hills is a city where art is given priority there is a good scope to establish oneself. Hospitality and recreation jobs help in providing services to help people enjoy their lives. With the large hospitality and entertainment industry in the Beverly Hills job opportunities in the field are a many.

The numerous job opportunities offer people a chance to choose a career that suits every individual’s ability and goal. Hence a person can choose from the wide range of job opportunities but do require various levels of preparation.

Beverly Hills Hotels

Beverly Hills has a lot of hotels that mostly cater to celebrities, stars and heads of state. It is worth checking in at a room in one the upscale hotels and experiencing the privileged and pampered lifestyle.

The most famous hotel in the city of Beverly Hills is the Beverly Hills Hotel. It is thought that there would be no Beverly Hills if not for the Hotel. The hotel is located on Sunset Boulevard and was built in 1912 in the middle of lima bean fields. It is fondly referred to as the ‘Pink Place’. The hotel receives a lot of celebrity guests and the list is endless. Apart from accommodating people the hotel has also been the location for numerous movies. The hotel is also the venue for most high profile parties, events, and secret appointments. This hotel houses the famous ‘Polo Lounge’, which is a famous haunt for the celebrities. The hotel is modest in appearance, is three storied and is engulfed by palm trees and banana trees. The walls are pink in color, roofs are tiled and the cupola holds a flag. There are both expensive and less expensive restaurants within the hotel. The hotel was closed down in 1993 and reopened in 1995 with a better look. The hotel is owned by the Sultan of Brunei. The only thing that is discouraging is that the hotel maintains a card division dividing its guests into classes. White cards are for commoners, blue for regulars and pink for the elite.

Just before Beverly Hills Hotel closed for renovation the Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel located just a few miles away opened its doors to the public. This hotel too attracted its share of stars and celebrity scandals.

Another well-known hotel is the Beverly Hilton, which is more popular as the venue of the Annual Golden Globe Awards every year. The hotel also hosts the annual dinner for the Oscar nominees. The hotel also served as the Western White House when President Kennedy was in town.

The Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel will seem familiar even if one has not been to the city. This is the hotel that was pictured in the movie ‘Pretty Woman’. It was the Presidential suite in this hotel where the couple in the movie had stayed while in the city. This hotel has an elaborate and ornate façade.

Some of the other elegant and luxurious hotels are the Four Seasons Hotel, Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel, and the Crowne Plaza. Most or all such elegant hotels in Beverly Hills attract celebrities and stars by offering a luxurious stay – and also pampering their pooches.

Best Weight Loss Programs

The following are the various weight loss programs available today to a person interested in losing weight – low fat diets, high protein diets, fixed menus, pre-packaged meals and formula diets. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and E-diets also offer these programs online. These weight loss programs also might involve meeting with the counselors either once a week or once a month as per the schedule advised. The pros and cons of each of these are discussed below.

Low fat diets are the most effective in dealing with weight loss. They provide long-term respite from excess weight but need to be administered well for them to be effective and healthy. However, if the menus arenx92t optimized for health, they may reduce the rate of fat loss.

High protein diets cause rapid weight loss but are not effective in the long run. They maintain blood sugar levels but can increase heart risk due to encouragement of intake of saturated fats .The low carbohydrate intake involved in the same can also cause kidney damage in some people.

Fixed menus are initially successful but can’t be followed for a long time due to lack of flexibility. Pre-packaged meals cause rapid loss of 10 to15 pounds but work along the same lines as fad diets, in terms of success. They are also very expensive. Formula diets (liquid balanced meals) are initially successful, but fail in the long run. Weight is regained again if the diet is stopped. From the above-mentioned programs the low fat one is the most effective if administered properly. When choosing a diet plan, the most important thing to keep in mind is the long-term results.