If it sounds too good to be true...

It is.

on May 10th I was offered a job that, if real, would have changed my life and the lives of everyone I care about.  Offering this job was a man named John Shrake.  He offered me $150,000 per year, paid housing, paid benefits, bonuses, and a company vehicle to be District Manager for him.

The company he represented was explained to be Hot Dogs and More which he stated was a franchisee of McDonald's stores located in Kentucky.  As some of you know I was already working for McDonald's as a crew member making next to nothing. What did I have to lose?

Did I ask questions?  Yes. Did I ask the right questions? Not until too much damage had been done.

I am not the only victim of this man's fantasy. 8 other people, some of them being friends of mine, were victimised as well.  We were all offered fantastic, life changing jobs. We were all blinded by dollar signs. Afterall, money is what makes the world turn, and we were offered lots of it and high level management jobs (which has always been a dream of mine).

Fortunately, I did not lose anything besides my job at the real McDonald's, but one, very sweet woman lost her house because she gave it up to relocate to Kentucky for this "wonder job". 

We are all pretty intelligent people, and we all let the $$$$$ cloud our minds and dumb us down which is exactly what Johnny was looking to do, but he did mess up pretty badly (I will explain).

I was hired into this fake company on the 10th of May.  I asked a lot of questions about the company and Johnny had all the right answers. His problem was that he was telling so many lies he couldn't keep track of them all, and I started to notice this, and after about a week I started asking more in-depth questions. All of a sudden on Monday, May 18th he called a "manager meeting" and yes, I was included. The meeting was for my termination from his little fantasy. Apparently, I was now a threat. I was challenging him on a lot of what he was saying. He was NERVOUS.

The way he fired me was pretty brilliant. He put my work experiece under heavy scrutiny and said it had been brought to his attention by his "private investigator" that I had lied about my experience (which I knew to be 100% false).  The other victims of this scam stood by me though, and Johnny was basically forced to allow me time to proove my experience, and though at this point I had nearly convinced myself that it was all a lie I did proove it.  After prooving myself Johnny, all of a sudden, mentioned that the "Board of Directors" wanted me demoted to an "assistant GM" position at "$43,000 per year, and 1/2 paid benefits". His reasoning: the confirmation number I had given to verify my employment at Taco Bell was fake. His thought: (maybe) There is no way she'll take this offer and she'll be out of my hair.  My thought: Game over asshole.

It was at that moment that the wool was removed from my eyes and I knew that everything was a lie, and that Mr. Johnny Dale Shrake was not really who he was saying he was. I knew the number was correct. I had called twice already to make sure the information was there and that Taco Bell Corporate had not lied to me.

I did not accept the fake $43,000 offer. I did ask why a board of directors had suddenly been introduced. He stumbled and said he had mentioned them numerous times. I asked why other aspects of this company had continually been changing. He said nothing had changed.  I walked. This was Wednesday, May 20th at aboput 11am.

At 8:31PM on Wedneday, May 20th Johnny Dale Shrake was arrested by Mooresville Police Department serving an outstanding warrant for something. (Legally I cannot say.) 

After I had left the meeting that morning I knew I had to do something to protect the others. I started calling every local authority I could think of, but no one would do anything. Then my friend needed picked up from McDonald's and I got to talking with a manager there about Johnny, and I was then informed that numerous cops had been looking for him. I went back to where I knew he was staying and confirmed that he was there. Then called the Mooresville Police stating I knew the location of Johnny Dale Shrake, and that I knew he had warrants for his arrest. About 20 minutes later there were 5 cop cars sitting in front of where Johnny was staying...and there was a smile on my face.

After his arrest I found out that he is wanted in 6 states: Indiana, Arizona, Oklahoma, California, Florida, and Kentucky for evading child support, fraud, identity deception, identity theft, forgery, etc.

Lesson learned:  If it sounds too good to be true then it more than likely is.  Always ask the right question the 1st time, and don't be afraid to ask a possible employer for references.  If the job offer is for anything over $60,000 per year ask for a contract. Also use this method when offered a job paying more than $50,000 per year:

1)Was I just offered more than $50,000 per year?
    Yes. (Proceed to 2) (Try to get first and last name of interviewer. Middle initial if you can)
2)Did I graduate high school?
    Yes. (Proceed to 3)
    No. (Ask why you're being hired. Ask for employer references. Chances are it's time to get out. If you're smart you won't proceed to 3, you'll leave).
3)Do I have at least an Associates Degree in something relative to this job?
    Yes. (Proceed to 4)
    No. (Ask why the employer finds you qualified for the offered position. Ask for references. Proceed to 4)
4)State that you need time to think about the offer and that you will contact the employer in a couple days. 
5)Google it. Search not only for the alleged company, but also search the name of the interviewer using all resources you can think of. (sex offender database, BBB, your state's violent offender database, etc.)
6)If after extensive searching you return nothing negative about the company or the interviewer proceed to contact them, but still be cautious.
7)If after extensive searching you return anything negative about the company or interview proceed to contact your local authorities, and Attorney General's office.

Using those 7 steps should keep you from falling victim to a job scam of any kind.  I hope you all can learn from what I have been through, and I am putting my story out there so you can learn from it, and hopefully not become ignorant like I did. Don't let your minds get clouded with images of grandeur and a fat bank account. Chances are you will not just go back 3 spaces. You will possibly need to start a new game altogether.

With much hope for the future,
your friend,
Lauren Rose