Chains hung up in strip-search phone scam; police seek perp; managers tricked into undressing workers

Nation's Restaurant News, March 22, 2004 by Milford Prewitt

Police nationwide are looking for a serial telephone prankster who, posing as a cop or chain official, convinces restaurant managers to strip-search employees in a bogus hunt for purportedly stolen money, drugs or guest valuables.

The perpetrator, who solicits detailed descriptions of the hapless victim's private parts and underwear, has struck several dozen times since 1999, fooling unit managers at McDonald's, Burger King, Hooters, Ruby Tuesday, Applebee's, Perkins, Taco Bell and other restaurants, investigators said.

From Florida to Alaska and from Maine to Colorado, the caller, posing as a detective or a corporate executive, has struck almost exclusively in small towns. Unlike most con men, the vocal voyeur is not interested in easy money.

Instead, police theorize, the perpetrator either is ego-tripping on his extraordinary powers of persuasion, is seeking vengeance against an ex-employer or is achieving sexual stimulation from the verbal descriptions provided by the managers.

"I think reasons one and three are motivating this guy," said detective sergeant Victor Flaherty of the West Bridgewater Police Department in Massachusetts.

Flaherty, whose town is 25 miles south of Boston, is the lead investigator on a task force made up of police from three other Massachusetts cities that have pooled their resources to find the suspect after he bamboozled managers at four Wendy's outlets a month ago.

Wendy's International is bankrolling all expenses related to the task force's quest for an arrest.

In addition to the Wendy's in West Bridgewater, branches of the chain in Abington, Whitman and Wareham, Mass., all had their managers directed over the phone to force staffers, male and female, to disrobe in the ostensible pursuit of stolen money or guest valuables. Some but not all investigators appear to believe that a single perpetrator is behind the deceptions. But police officials don't seem to think that word of the crimes, spreading among restaurant workers, might have inspired some to indulge their own voyeuristic urges under the copycat guise of being ordered to conduct strip searches by some disembodied caller.

Why the managers--generally known for being well-trained and savvy individuals--are falling for the scam is unclear. But Dan Jablonski, a Wichita, Kan., private investigator whose Jablonski & Associates specializes in suspected white-collar infractions and executive background checks, thinks he knows why the caller is so persuasive.

Jablonski, a 28-year field agent of the FBI, said the prankster knows just enough about restaurant operations to sound legitimate, sprinkling industry jargon in his conversation while pretending to be an area or regional manager of the chain.

Based on Jablonski's research and consultations with law enforcement around the country, he estimated that the caller has tricked restaurant managers and a few supermarket unit managers at least 50 times into strip-searching colleagues since 1999.

Many more telephonic strip-search scams go unreported each year or, even if reported, are filed away as "miscellaneous" and unresolved by police, Jablonski said. He and Flaherty concur that many victimized restaurant operators don't report such incidents out of embarrassment.

"Think about it: You are an assistant manager, and one day you get a call from your area manager or regional vice president, who identifies himself and asks you to do this," Jablonski said. "Do you think most assistant managers know the name of the area or regional manager?"

A McDonald's in Roosevelt, Utah, a Taco Bell in Juneau, Alaska, and a Hooters in Fayetteville, Ark., typify the kinds of places the prankster hits.

Jablonski expressed concern that the con artists are getting better the longer they stay in the game.

Jablonski, who as an FBI agent was credited with getting Oklahoma City federal-building bombing suspect Terry Nichols to admit that he was more involved in the attack than he initially had let on, said there may be one or two copycat phone scammers on the prowl.

But for the most part, Jablonski said, authorities really should be looking for one individual: a white male, 30 to 40 years old, with above-average intelligence and a persuasive demeanor.

Based on investigations by Jablonski and other investigators, a typical instance of the crime unfolds as follows. The caller--after posing a beguiling series of questions to determine which of a restaurant's workers are the most attractive and youngest--orders the unit managers to hold the alleged suspects on site until officers arrive to take them into custody or search their cars.

Meanwhile, with the arresting officers said to be en route, the manager is directed to strip the suspects and describe their undergarments and body parts. The scam most often is exposed for what it is when the manager, puzzled that police haven't arrived, finally calls the local police department and discovers the deception.

The damage left in the scam's wake can be costly both emotionally and legally. Angry and embarassed employees often quit; some file lawsuits charging sexual harassment. And employee morale plummets as bonds of trust between employers and employees are ruined.