TL;DR: Summary: ACP seems to be a scam fleecing job-seekers. Avoid them. Updated 3/24/19.

In my job search, I've seen a few jobs where it was clear from the way the ad was written, or the response I got, that something wasn't right. Either the company is actually expecting you to do sales (often MLM/networking) but are afraid to say that outright, as with the customer service job I just interviewed for, or the company has a bad reputation on places like Glassdoor, Indeed and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Keep in mind that consumers can give a company a bad rating on the BBB but the company can still get a high score and even be accredited by the BBB.

There are certain job areas in which scams seem to proliferate: package and mail handling, check-cashing and other remote jobs have long been targeted.

American Consumer Panels

Lately, I've seen a lot of postings for home product testers from various companies on several job boards and listed in several states. The salary is always $25-45/hr, and it usually mentions American Consumer Panels in the description, although the job title may vary (e.g. "In-Home Usage Testers (IHUT)"). Companies posting for this job include:

• American Consumer Panels
• Flyer Group The
• Not Just a Job Search
• The Flyer

The postings were basically identical and all showed "American Consumer Panels" in the descriptions. I saw them on Zip Recruiter, Indeed and a few other sites, too, sometimes using other company names.

Uh oh! Sleuth hat on!

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Their "Job" Description

In-Home Usage Tester (Product Tester from home) Part-time

Presently we're recruiting Product Testers (from home) in several US cities to expand our private network of In-Home Usage Testers (IHUT) to fulfill upcoming contracts with national and international companies. We guarantee 15-20 hours per week with an hourly pay of between $25/hr. and $45/hr., depending on the In-Home Usage Test project. No experience required.

American Consumer Panels® is a consulting firm that specializes in product testing and product development work. We design and conduct In-Home Usage Testing (IHUT) locally and nationally to provide actual user feedback to companies and market research firms to evaluate products, packaging, related product instructions and more.

We leverage our network of private panels (In-Home Usage Testers) to provide product testers to companies for evaluating the in-home experience with a wide variety of products to ensure proper product certification and greater market access.

Please note that although this job can be done from home 95% of the time, very occasionally In-Home Product Testers may be asked to visit the client's office, laboratory, store, warehouse or factory for training or meetings (visits are local and scheduled at no more than 20 minutes drive from the In-Home Usage Tester address). These optional visits are also paid by the hour.

During your application process, we will determine your consumer profile and establish what products would be suitable for you to test according to your demographics, lifestyle, consumer behavior, skills, hobbies and ability. Research questionnaires are used to identify and target certain types of consumers, to ensure the right participants are engaged and to achieve the representative sample needed. Job candidates for In-Home Usage Testing are also screened to meet the clients needs for the project to ensure that the product is one that they qualify to test and that they have a balance of demographics and attitudes.

Participation in these product testing and consumer panels is always free, secure and private. In-Home Usage Testing is a quick, easy and fun way to make extra cash by telling big brands what you think about their upcoming products and services in the American market.

Main duties:

• Sign and return non-disclosure agreements before the product to be tested is shipped. Individuals who complete the required documents will have the products sent to their homes.
• Once the product is received for In-Home Usage Test (IHUT), the Product Tester must take care of the product being tested and use it responsibly.
• Read and strictly follow the In-Home Usage Test Daily Schedule provided with each product testing project. In-Home Usage Test Daily Schedules may include tasks to do such as: unpacking, reading instructions, journal entries, online or mobile feedback, usage of product for certain amount of time, writing reviews, taking pictures, etc.
• Properly document In-Home Usage Test as instructed in the In-Home Usage Test Daily Schedule. Types of documentation commonly used for In-Home Usage Tests are snapshots, audio recordings, videos and Product Journals.
• Attend Skype meetings or conference call meetings with Account Managers, Brand Managers, Research Managers, Product Managers or small business owners to offer ongoing product usage feedback. These short virtual meetings may take place 2-3 times per week and are paid by the hour also.
• Some In-Home Usage Tests projects may require participants to use MFours Mobile In-Home Use Test Technology (cutting edge smartphone technology to capture Point-of-Emotion® insights to gain unparalleled depth of responses).
• Paid Product Testing is done from home 95% of the time, but very occasionally paid Product Testers may be asked to visit the client's office, laboratory, store, warehouse or factory for training or meetings. These visits are paid by the hour also.
• There are times when the product testing may be discussed in a private chat room that is opened by the market research group.
• Write reviews as requested in the In-Home Usage Test Daily Schedule for each project.
• Review requirements can vary, however, the standard requirement is a written review, photos of the reviewer with the product and a video review.

Requirements:

• Great ability to follow precise instructions
• Be open to write short reviews, record audio or short video (doesn't have to be perfect), no experience needed
• Great attention to detail and curious spirit
• Be able to work 15-20 hours per week and commit to a certain routine
• Have access to a computer and a reliable internet connection
• Have access to a digital camera or cellphone that takes pictures
• Be honest and reliable
• Good communication skills is an asset
• No experience required
• High School Diploma
• 18 years or older
  A paid Product Tester position is perfect for those looking for an entry level opportunity or for seasonal work, temporary work or part-time work. The hours are completely flexible and no previous experience is necessary. Our paid Product Testers come from all backgrounds and industries ranging from customer service and sales to administrative assistant. If you are a manager, receptionist, warehouse or factory worker, driver, medical assistant, nurse, cleaner, college student, messenger, maid, teacher, retail associate, salesperson, secretary, server, janitor, cashier, contract worker or intern who is looking for a flexible part time or seasonal job, you should try paid Product Testing to supplement your income. Also if you have been involved in accounting, clerical jobs, marketing, management, security or data entry jobs you may qualify for a paid product tester position.

Benefits:

• Very competitive salary
• Weekly pay
• Work around your schedule
• Learn about an exciting industry
• Telecommute (you can work from home, work or school)
• Most of the time you can keep the product tested
• An incredible team comprised of motivated and talented individuals

To apply please follow this link: https://american-consumer-panels.com/application

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Website

The first thing I did was look this company up on Glassdoor, TrustPilot (nothing) and Indeed (nothing), and then the Better Business Bureau (bad consumer reviews and complaints). I saw some good reviews, but there was a lot to concern me, including serious indications of an illegitimate business, so I decided to dig deeper. I didn't want to go on the word of others.

Strange...Previously, there was info on BBB, now there isn't, and it still shows the old address.

I looked at the address they had listed at that time (in Servcorp One World Trade Center Ste 8500, NYC, NY, which is still listed on their website). I looked at the building directory but it wasn't listed. I called the building's office, but they had no info. I then noticed that the company that owns the building offers "virtual office space", which includes services like switch-boarding so that a company with no office can have an address, giving it the sheen of respectability. A week or two later, I looked again but according to Google they had miraculously moved to 285 Fulton St, New York, NY 10007, just south of that address. To me, this seems questionable, but perhaps I caught them during a move...while hiring. Odd...

Hmmm...

They have a reassuring label in their footer:

Surely if they have a seal from the FTC, they're good as gold, right? Nope, read the fine print at the bottom.

One complaint that I found most interesting was that ACP would have you complete surveys on other sites to collect info about you so they could target you with the products best suited to you, but in reality you'd get nothing from ACP and they'd collect affiliate fees from the survey sites, plus you'd be spammed with phone calls. I decided to take it to the next level and put on my Sherlock Holmes hat. I signed up! Yes, I used an alternate email address and phone number, but I couldn't use a throw-away email address (via the Blur extension) because some of the survey sites wouldn't accept them.

The initial application was simple: 5 questions.

Did you notice that FTC Guardian logo again? Gosh, that's reassuring!

They were pretty eager to get me onboard, so they sent me an email:

Wow, that was easy! It's almost like they don't want to reject people! But then...(FTC Guardian to placate!)

Ok, at this point, I have to tell you that I have now identified the following "research partners" for ACP:

• Vindale Research Panel,
• LifePoints (Lightspeed Research)
• Ipsos i-Say
• Global Test Market
• InboxDollars (CotterWeb Enterprises, Inc.)
• VIP Voice

Some of these companies are accredited by the BBB and/or have A+ ratings, however they ALL have bad consumer reviews and numerous complaints of consumer accounts being closed for false reasons when they tried to get their survey reward money. The companies that the BBB likes tend to resolve their complaints because the BBB is involved, but some of these companies just don't care. "There's a sucker born every minute."

I had to sign up with I-Say Ipsos and VIP Voice, and I completed their initial surveys. I got very little after that from the former, but the latter sent a lot. I was then instructed by ACP to sign up on InboxDollars, which I did, and I never heard from them again.

In addition, instead of hearing back from ACP, I got this message from InboxDollars.

That's not a survey! They sent more messages like this, plus surveys.

Naturally, I had deduced that something was fishy in NYC, so I unsubscribed from all 3. No contact from ACP since then. I can't tell if I'm getting a lot of fraudulent calls on my alternate phone number because I've always been spammed by scammers on that line...Car Warranty, free back brace, free pain med, student loan forgiveness program, free vacation, and so many more that I can't remember them all.

I reported them to Glassdoor and ZipRecruiter. Now, Glassdoor only has ACP's listings (they even deleted other ACP listings for jobs not related to product testing at all) from older than 30 days ago (which I just reported), and ZipRecruiter and Indeed have nothing, even though I didn't report to Indeed. In fact, I didn't find ACP listed on a few other job boards. Hmmm...Perhaps they share info?

When I was writing this article I went through the application process, but I didn't bother to sign up on any of the survey sites again. This was because the point was to see what ACP would do, and the survey sites were just supposed to collect data about me to give to ACP, and then I'd have no more use for them. Besides, those survey companies have lots of complaints about non-payment and canceled accounts, and the amount you earn for doing a survey is often very small.

As further proof of their perfidy, I discovered an email from ACP in my mailbox - the same one as before asking me to sign up at InboxDollars - even though I hadn't completed any surveys. So, clearly, the responses are all automated.

The only good news is that once you unsubscribe from those unsavory survey sites, they stop emailing you.

I did a whois on ICANN to find the owner, and they've made it pretty much impossible to find out who owns the site. In fact, they use Domain Privacy Guard Sociedad Anonima (Anonymous Society) Ltd in Panama (that's the southern end of Central America, for those who don't know) to obscure their info. Would a legitimate American business need to do that? I don't think so! ACP uses GoDaddy, but they're masking their identity there, too. I sent a complaint to GoDaddy about ACP, and they responded that they'd look into it, but it's not down yet. As the next step, I have filed a complaint on the Internet Crime Complaint Center and will do so on the FTC's complaint site if necessary.

Decide for yourself, though. Try signing up. Let me know what happens.

Other reviews:
https://www.vettedopps.com/american-consumer-panels-review/
https://gighustlers.com/american-consumer-panels-scam-product-testing-fraud
https://affiliateunguru.com/american-consumer-panels
https://www.frugalforless.com/american-consumer-panel-review/
https://workanywherenow.com/american-consumer-panels-product-tester-scam-avoid-avoid/
https://mydailyincomeonline.com/american-consumer-panels-review

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