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What kind of trouble am I in?

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goliwala

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
This ISP offers $10 reward for each referral its members make. I have an account with this ISP. I figured out a way to create new accounts with a random series of numbers used as credit card payment. This ISP use these random numbers to create test accounts. I create accounts using these numbers and put myself as referring person. a few months later I receive a check for $10 in the mail for each successful referral. I put the check in my checking account. I collected close to $2000 over 3 years.
Now, I know that what I did was completely wrong. I am not doing it anymore. What I want to know is if the company finds out about it, what kind of trouble am I in?
Is it credit card fraud? These random numbers do not belong to any credit card company. In fact, when I created those accounts, I did not have to select the type of credit card. Payment went in without it.
Am I looking for a felony charges?
Please advise. Please try to understand that I am completely aware of the fact that what I did was completely unacceptable. I also understand that I am responsible for my actions and am not looking to blame this on anyone else.
Thanks in advance.
 


20pilot

Member
Definitely grand theft of $2,000.

Likely wire fraud.

Likely credit card fraud.

I am really surprised that the ISP let this go for as long as they did. I suspect they are on to you and are keeping the thing going in the hopes that you will lead them to other criminal activity. When they decide that they have enough evidence, they will come down on you.

Stopping your criminal activity is absolutely a must. Talking to a criminal lawyer is the next step.

I am still not sure what exactly you were doing with the "test accounts" but if you were somehow able to randomly generate credit card numbers that passed the validity check, they are most probably looking at you as part of some large credit card theft network that has stolen 200+ credit cards.

Every time a credit card number is compromised, it costs the credit card company several hundred dollars to investigate, cancel the account, create a new account, keep an eye on future activity..... That is on top of any money that is stolen. If you caused 200 credit cards to be closed, you may have cost credit card companies several tens of thousands of dollars in damages and they are entitled to collect every penny from you.
 

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