TRICARE beneficiaries being targeted by fraudulent secret shopper offer

  • Published
  • Defense Health Agency
FALLS CHURCH, Va. --  The Defense Health Agency, Office of Program Integrity (DHA-PI) has received a significant number of return envelopes from mailings by a bogus organization. In the letter they identify themselves as TRICARE SURVEY INC., to TRICARE beneficiaries across the country and are attempting to solicit beneficiary to be "Secret Shoppers" for TRICARE.  Please know that TRICARE does not employ "Secret Shoppers". 

Enclosed in the mailing is a form letter claiming to be a solicitation for a position as a Trainee Independent Private Evaluator, a counterfeit TRICARE WPS check for $3,775.00, and an instruction/survey form on how the beneficiary gets the check authorized through the company's agent via phone.  Beneficiaries are directed to cash the check at their local bank, retain a percentage of the money and utilize the remaining amount to purchase six "Vanilla Reload" cards at $500.00 apiece at various stores across the country. The "Secret Shopper" is instructed to provide the company agent with the card numbers once they are bought, complete the survey and mail it, and wait for the next assignment. Once money has been loaded onto the card however, they are immediately available for transfer and the bogus company zeros out the monies on the cards. 

DHA PI strongly advises you NOT to participate in this alleged "Secret Shopper" effort. TRICARE will identify the checks as counterfeit through a positive check controls process and return them to the bank in which they were drawn from as non-cashable. Potential exists for the beneficiary to be personally liable for the entire $3,775.00 in restitution to the bank.

Should you receive a letter DHA PI again, strongly advises you not to contact the company or attempt to cash the counterfeit check. Also, please immediately submit a Fraudline report to DHA PI. To access our Fraud Reporting tools, go to the Program Integrity page and click on the "Report Health Care Fraud" button.