So, Some Scam Artist Really Tried This…

They say that compliance officers need good people skills to succeed. Well, a Minnesota man put that saying to the test by posing as a compliance officer from McDonald’s, scamming his way across America this year as he told hotels and other businesses that McDonald’s would pick up the tab.

According to an article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, David Goldstein, 47, first tried his compliance officer caper in Bloomington, Minn., in February. He dressed in a McDonald’s company shirt and flashed a fake company ID, and conned a hotel near the Mall of America to give him a room with promises that corporate would foot the bill.

Goldstein would also stroll into local McDonald’s restaurants claiming to be from the compliance office. He entered restricted areas and swiped corporate documents, police say, and then moved on to his next target with his fake identity looking all the more impressive.

By February McDonald’s was wise to the scheme, and had alerted Minnesota to be on the lookout for Goldstein. That eventually led to police nabbing Goldstein during a traffic stop in Bloomington on Feb. 2, and they filed felony fraud charges.

David Goldstein

Apparently Goldstein then went on the lam, posing as a compliance officer around the Midwest and New England. By August he was spotted in Rutland, Vt., where police said he went into local McDonald’s dressed in a red corporate shirt, using his fake compliance officer identity “to obtain goods and services.”

Stealing goods and services from a McDonald’s? Really? I’m all for an occasional Fliet-o-Fish sandwhich, but come on. Goldstein couldn’t pose as a compliance officer for Capitol Grille or something?

Eventually the long arm of the law caught up with Goldstein in Sandston, Va. Police grabbed him there on Sept. 23 for scamming a Homewood Suites hotel, when fake credit cards he was using to pay the bill were declined. Goldstein was not posing as a McDonald’s compliance officer at that exact moment. Police did find McDonald’s paraphernalia in his car along with more than 20 credit cards.

Goldstein now faces numerous fraud and identity theft charges, and this time he was denied bail. He is in county jail in Virginia until his next hearing in December.

I suspect he is not lovin’ it.