Common sense will go a long way in protecting you from scammers masquerading as mystery shopping companies, but here's a list of warning signs just in case you're feeling especially gullible the next time you come across a mystery shopper ad and think, as you stare across the cubicles at all the assface jerks you work with, "This might be my ticket out of here."

• You must pay an application fee.
• You must be certified, likely by the company.
• You have to buy a list. You're asked for lots of personal information.
• They contact you because of a resume you posted on a job Web site.
• You're guaranteed that you will get jobs.
• You're told you get to keep thousands of dollars in merchandise.
• You're promised that it will take only a few minutes a day.
• You are promised that you'll earn thousands in your spare time (or even a more modest $30 an hour).
• The company is based outside the U.S.
• You will have to handle lots of money.
• They're not in the Mystery Shopping Providers Association.

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Mystery Shopping Providers Association
(Photo: ninjapoodles, who is a regular Consumerist reader, so please don't call her kid a "creepy looking woman")