My girlfriend and I were hired by a woman named Heather this past summer. ([email protected]) We were told that we would be selling electronics at convention centers around the country. We were put on a Greyhound Bus the next day headed for Kansas City, MO. We got there, and were told that we were going to be provided with a free hotel room, and meals. The following morning we got into a big white cargo van, and were each dropped off in a rich neighborhood, and told that we had to go door to door and tell people that we were athletes doing a fund-raiser for the local Mercy Children's Hospital. We both instantly did not want to take part in this, and asked to go back home. They told us that we had to do this for 2 weeks, otherwise we would have to pay for our own trip home. 3 days of scamming later, we were sent to Denver Colorado. (We drove there on our supposed 1 day off of the week) We went around, scaling fences, and sneaking around guard shacks in multi-million dollar neighborhoods, scamming innocent people. We were forced to tell people that we were neighbor kids doing a fund-raiser to raise money for a trip to Maui for a tournament sponsored by Nike Select. We both managed to be ticketed by police in Aurora Colorado for soliciting without a license. The manager, whose name was "Nate" said that we were 100% legal. That was a lie. The little card that he gave us and told us was our permit was nothing more than a "little card". On our 14th day, they simply dropped us off at the Bus Station in downtown Denver with no money, and a ticket for a 3 day bus ride home. Just today we both received a w2 in the mail for $775.00. The thing is, we never received a paycheck, (not that we deserved one) and now have to pay income taxes for money that we never received. When we contacted "Heather", she simply said to contact the better business bureau, and hung up. I have information on the people responsible for this scam. They have been doing this for years, and the man they say owns Allied Group, "James Claire", has been hiring kids, and forcing them to scam people, or be dropped off in a strange city, and a strange state, and never picked up again. If anyone reading this has any legal advise, please contact me.
And if you do have one of these men or women show up at your door, doing a "fund-raiser" for a local children's hospital, it is a scam. But don't be too harsh on the kids, because most likely they are being forced to do this so that they are not abandoned with no money, or a place to stay. The customers were ripped off, but the employees have to suffer walking 12-15 miles a day, for virtually no pay. This is an outrage, and these people are making millions of dollars a year, using unsuspecting kids to do their dirty work, while they sit in air conditioned hotel rooms collecting the cash.
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