MURFREESBORO, TN – In a plot worthy of an award-winning sitcom, an overzealous hotel employee unknowingly embarked on a chaotic mission to outsmart nonexistent FedEx woes, resulting in $535 mysteriously vanishing into a scammer’s pocket—and a fire extinguisher making an unfortunate cameo in this unconventional afternoon delight.
It all started with a weekday phone call to one of the nicer hotels in the 'Boro, a call that came in at about 2:30 PM… The phone call was so good that would make even the savviest scam-detection app blush. The employee, manning the front desk at a hotel near Old Fort Parkway, received a convincing call from someone claiming to be the hotel owner. The scammer, showcasing an undeniable flair for drama, coordinated with a fake FedEx representative and sent text messages that apparently screamed "urgent business conference" but translated to "chaotic hoax."
The plot thickened when the scammer convinced the dutiful employee to break into the manager’s office, MacGyver-style, and raid the cash drawer for "important FedEx business." Fire extinguisher in hand—the worker bashed his way through the hotel’s defenses, determined to retrieve funds for a package that only existed in scammer land.
The make-believe mission then took the positive helper on a 30-minute road trip to LaVergne, where a mysterious QR code guided him to deposit $535 into an ATM for reasons as murky as the scammer’s identity. Left with $37 in his pocket and perhaps a sense of fleeting heroism, the employee dutifully returned to work and restocked the cash drawer with the remaining funds, presumably hoping his FedEx-induced odyssey would earn a standing ovation.
Enter the real hotel manager, who was not on a conference call with anyone remotely related to FedEx. Upon learning of the elaborate charade, the manager contacted Murfreesboro Police, equal parts baffled and begrudgingly impressed. Refusing to press charges, the manager instead opted to deliver a masterclass in fraud prevention to his overly trusting employee.
Police labeled the case as "swindling," because apparently "epic comedy of errors" isn't an official crime category. With no suspects and only a heap of lessons learned, the report concluded with a deadpan, “There is no further suspect information at this time.”
As for the hotel employee? He may have lost $535 and a little dignity, but at least he gained a crash course in distinguishing scams from legitimate FedEx emergencies.
Source: Murfreesboro Police Incident Report
