Battle Creek restaurant loses $1,000 after phone scammer poses as corporate official

BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Police in Battle Creek are investigating a recent telephone scam at an area restaurant. It happened on Thursday, May 20 at the Jimmy John’s restaurant on Capital Ave. S.W..

Officers say an 18-year-old employee was defrauded of just over $1,000 of the restaurant’s money after receiving a call from someone claiming to be a corporate official. The man said he was an internal investigation supervisor for Jimmy John’s. He told the employee the company was being investigated for money laundering and ordered the employee to take all the money from the store and buy Money Pack gift cards at a Rite-Aid store.

The employee bought the cards and then called the man back. He told the employee to cut up the cards and receipts and flush them down the toilet. The young employee began realizing it was a scam and contacted the police.