He had a sense of urgency and secrecy in his heavy French accent.

“You have to do this assignment immediately. This is time sensitive,” David Campbell said, over his cell phone in Montreal, Quebec. “They must not know the purpose of your assignment or the purpose will be defeated.”

Campbell (probably not his real name) runs a scam operation. He mails unsolicited letters to people, pretending to hire them to evaluate stores. It’s a twist of the “secret shopper” scam with the “money gram scam,” and it’s the latest prevalent scam hitting Virginia.

While the letter that he sends out claims to be hiring you to pose as a regular shopper evaluating the work environment at stores like Wal-Mart, K-mart, Home Depot and McDonald’s, his first assignment for you invariably is to test out the services at a money-transferring agency like Western Union or MoneyGram. The letter includes a check and a survey form that all appear professional and legitimate.

Initially, the bank might even cash the check, but then they discover later that the check’s bad, and the money has to be paid back to the bank, after you’ve already mailed it back to the scamster, who is on the run looking for new victims.

“I’m always moving around,” Campbell admitted.

Margaret and Larry Hoots of Norfolk received Campbell’s assignment.

But thankfully they didn’t fall for it.

They both are veterans of the Korean War and are now retired senior citizens living on a fixed income. “I was taught to be on the alert,” Margaret Hoots said. Their son fell for the scam two years ago, losing $3,500, so now their mission is to warn others to beware.

Laura Howard, also of Norfolk, contacted our office when she received a similar letter too. “Really it’s so weird and disturbing,” she said.

If you suspect you have received a scam letter like this, we encourage you to notify our office’s consumer hotline, 800-451-1525.

Consumer protection is an important statutory duty of the Office of the Attorney General, and our staff can help. In an age of increased consumer issues, we all must continue to be educated and vigilant.