Someone said
JLS Trading Co.
was a scam.
Well really, many, many people have said that. I've even Googled the exact same thing dozens of times while working for them. Yeah they've paid me every week and bought me tons of ergonomic shit, but I always wondered if they just wanted to keep me comfortable while I helped with their phishing scheme. To be fair, I did get reeaaalllly comfortable. Too comfortable to look into it 🤷. But, after finding a Reddit thread, I decided I had to investigate.
The Reddit Post.
this is what pops up when you google JLS. so, is it true?
Read the thread on Reddit ↗This is one of the top results when you Google JLS Trading Co. When I read it, I was like, shit, am I in the Inception of scamming? Was I getting scammed to scam people? It took me a second, and well, I did debate doing anything about it, because I was still getting paid. But then I called my mom and she said that wasn't how she raised me. So I decided to spend the next few weeks compiling every piece of proof about JLS Trading Co. I could find.
First, who am I.
I'm Anderson Burrus, a YouTuber known for my rap battles, and a videographer for JLS. And the videos I make for JLS are crazier than the ones I put on YouTube. Which is definitely weird for a professional company, but hey, money can make you do weird things.
That was one red flag. But honestly, the one that weirded me out the most was that I work with a group of unusually pleasant people. So pleasant, I wasn't sure if they were people or a well-trained batch of language models.
Like look:
- I have never been yelled at.
- I have never had a bad day at work.
- No one has ever questioned when I take a sick day. Even after a 3-day weekend. Which, if anyone's asking, I was genuinely sick. If hangovers count :P
I knew it was strange, but between the paycheck and my own gaslighting, I did what any reasonable person would do and ignored it. However, that Reddit thread and the phone call with my mom (bless her heart) meant I couldn't ignore it anymore. Which ended up being extremely inconvenient.
Episode 01
Who is Anderson?
Two minutes on who I am and why I put this page together.
JLS knows it looks suspicious, and in order to seem more "real" it's constantly saying that it is. Like somehow addressing it is going to make it more believable. Hiring managers mention it in interviews and emails. The CEO mentions it. Everyone at JLS conveniently feels the need to reassure new people that this is a real company, not a scam.
I'm not gonna lie, I couldn't figure out if that was a red flag or a green flag. It's unusual behavior for a company that is not, in fact, a scam. It is also unusual behavior for a company that is a scam.
Honestly though, it gets even weirder because the CEO asked me to make him a video telling him to go fuck himself. Was it a way to make up for conning people? Was he just masochistic? Was it both? Either way, he loved it, which yay, I guess?
People or AI?
Episode 02
Talking to People Who Work Here
I asked people who actually work at JLS to talk on camera. Here's what they said.
So, I only interviewed 3 people, but the company is supposedly much larger.
JLS was founded in Charlotte and has been continuously registered with the North Carolina Secretary of State since 2012. The CEO is Johnny Lasater, who I meet with almost every week, and honestly, who meets their company's CEO that often? and who wants to?
The JLS Trading Co website has caricatures of all their employees and a map showing where everyone lives. But really, who needs a map to prove their employees are scattered across the globe? And if you look real closely, you'll notice the locations don't even make sense. I was told that was to "protect" employee privacy, but that sounds phishy to me. I did think it was strange for a phishing scheme to commission caricatures, though. Did JLS just want to be silly goofy, or seem more believable?
The whole product lineup for one of their brands is also bizarre. It looks like what a real company looks like when a grown child puts it together: a button that shouts affirmations, a Shart Survival Kit, and BigAssDildo tubes among other interesting items.
I do think, though, if you were faking a company, wouldn't you fake one with products people actually need?
At the 'warehouse.'
I don't know what it takes to fake a Google location where the building actually has your logo on it, but I figured it was nearly impossible in America. And I figured phishing schemes don't have big warehouses, because face it, that would be too much overhead for a phishing scheme. So I drove there to confirm if it was real. Looking back, I could've sent someone else, but I kinda needed an excuse for a "work trip."
Episode 03
Inside the Warehouse
The warehouse in North Carolina.
At this point, I started realizing I was maybe just a bit paranoid. The warehouse was real, and it contained actual products.
I ended up finding a few really familiar looking products. Turned out they were the same products listed on one of JLS's brands, the same ones I made fun of earlier. Whoops!
So, is it real?
Episode 04
The Verdict
After all this, what I think the honest answer is.
Well, after hearing from Johnny and my other coworkers, seeing the warehouse, verifying the documents, and looking at my paychecks, I decided to make the only logical conclusion: I was part of a simulation run by a super computer.
Just kidding.
I did the reasonable thing and put faith in the company and ended my investigation. Though I'm bummed I can't go on any more work trips.
So yes, JLS Trading Co. is a real, active company that from time to time hires crazy people like me.
I got paid this Tuesday, same as always, and my mom's conscience is clean knowing her son's money comes from legitimate means.
State of North Carolina
documentation.
The state of North Carolina also thinks JLS is a real company. At first I was confused because it was under the name "JLS Publishing LLC," which, like, make it make sense. But, after looking into it, turns out that's the legal entity; "JLS Trading Co." is the brand. Same operation, different name on the paperwork. I have no idea why they had to make it so complicated.
But is JLS a good
place to work?
Being real is not the same as being good. So I looked at what other people said about working at JLS.
"You get to have a team that encourages you to learn and upskill. They will not let your hard-earned work go unheard."
no workplace political bullshit, hell yeah
Verify on Indeed →"It is the only job I have ever genuinely missed having."
imagine missing a job, you can't
Verify on Google →"Really chill environment, everyone works off of respect and trust for each other."
R E S P E C T
Verify on Glassdoor →"The culture is great and the people are greater."
people so good you suspect them of being AI
Verify on Google →
The mistake
I made.
I spent weeks putting everything on this page. I drove hours to Charlotte just to see the warehouse, and spent way more than $0 on gas. I called meetings and asked my coworkers to eat spaghetti. They'll literally never forget that I did that 😭. I pulled state records. I catalogued products. I collected reviews. I poured blood, sweat, and tears into this.
Then, after all of that, I went back to the original Reddit thread one more time. And I scrolled down.
"It does seem to be a legitimate company and I was actually paid for the multiple rounds of 'skills tests'."u/radcraig
"So far it looks legit... other users report getting paid for tests they took after passing the aptitude test, so I think you're good to go. Good luck!"u/aeropigeon1 , original poster, back on their own thread
Two months after the original post, a user named radcraig wrote that comment. A week later, the original poster came back and edited their own post. The thread that made me build this entire investigation had solved itself, in public, more than a year ago. I just hadn't scrolled to the bottom. The shame still haunts me.
