Ins and Outs of Mystery Shopping

Mystery shopping, spotting, secret shopping - call it what you will, it has captured the attention of those looking for employment and those who think they have found the perfect job opportunity. Most private investigative agencies have a branch of their agency that performs this type of work. There also are companies that solely provide mystery shopping to companies.

The Spy Who Shopped Me

We check in this week with one of the CIA’s top local spies, a woman who keeps her identity so well cloaked that we’re surprised she even talked to us. No names, please, and certainly no photos. This is vital work and secrecy is the name of the game. Business lives depend on it.

The CIA, in this instance, is Creative Image Associates, a Lunenburg, Mass.-based intelligence firm that specializes in what’s known as secret or mystery shopping. Our operative uses fake accounts at local banks, infiltrates hotels and car dealerships and has even served behind enemy lines, hired by one company to spy on a rival.