BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The BBB is warning consumers to beware of offers for work-at-home jobs for mystery shoppers.

"We have received reports of three different work-at-home mystery shopper offers in the last 10 days, two of which involved fake checks," said Blair Looney, president and CEO of the BBB. "One recipient actually became a victim of a scam when she cashed and forwarded money from the check she received."

The work-at-home proposals offer lucrative per hour salaries and feature detailed information on what the check is for, how the amount of the check was calculated and what the mystery shopper is supposed to do to "earn" the excess money. Two of the offers, including the one that caught a victim, involved "evaluating" the employees of Western Union while wiring money through the Money In Minutes service.

The woman who fell victim to the scam told the BBB that she took the check to her credit union and was told there would be a two day hold placed on the funds. When she returned two days later, she says she was told the check had cleared and she withdrew more than $1,900 to wire though Western Union so she could complete her job assignment.

Unfortunately, the rest of the story is an old and sad tale. The check actually was returned to the bank as fraudulent; the consumer was informed she had to repay the funds to the bank and there was no work-at-home job as a mystery shopper.

If you or anyone you know receives the same or similar offer, the BBB suggests using extreme caution when responding to such an offer.

While ads claim high earnings and short hours with little or no experience, BBB files nationwide indicate no evidence of anyone making the promised money.

Complaints to the BBB generally allege non-delivery of instructions, materials, or whatever you paid for, or failure to issue refunds as promised.

In most cases, the company refuses to respond to complaints presented to it. Often the business shuts down without leaving a forwarding address. They may use more than one location, they may move from one location to another under the same name, or they may change both name and location. Thus, they are almost impossible to track down when a problem develops.

The U.S. postal inspection service regularly investigates fraudulent work at home schemes, and you risk investigation and possible prosecution by postal or other law enforcement agencies if you become involved in one of these schemes. You might also want to check out the company with your local consumer protection agency and the state attorney general.

In considering whether to go ahead with it or not, keep these suggestions in mind:

-Consider it a warning if you have to buy something to start the program.
-Beware of "no experience necessary" ads that promise attractive profits and part-time earnings, guaranteed markets and a demand for your handiwork.
-Realize that you may be perpetrating a fraud and risk investigation by postal authorities by selling the same program you bought to others.

Remember if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.