The story of a calculated hoax and manipulation related to strip searches across the US
Something strange was happening at fast food places. A strange sort of crime, one that its perpetrator deviously constructed. In small towns across the US between 1994 and 2004, at McDonald’s and Taco Bell and other fast food restaurants, a crime occurred and was barely investigated. Managers received phone calls from a man claiming to be a local police officer. They were told that someone reported a purse or wallet stolen by a young woman who worked there, and that the manager needed to strip search this employee to find out. The employee was not named—only described—so the manager found an employee who fit that description and proceeded to followed the caller’s every command.
Seem unbelievable? It happened at least 70 times, until it was finally investigated fully in 2004. Netflix’s Don’t Pick Up the Phone documents the story through three episodes. The detectives who took up the cause in 2004 recount how they found the hoaxer, victims tell their stories, and trials for the managers and hoaxer are described.
You will find yourself asking how this could happen and how it went on so long. You will find yourself wondering how people could be manipulated so easily. And you will find yourself hoping for repercussions against the hoaxer. It’s a chilling story, with chilling revelations about the psychology of humans.
True Crime Docket 