Online Transactions

[Yukichan]

****Online Transactions *Need advice - PLEASE*

What is the name of your state? California

I did something I shouldn't have done. I screwed up and am well aware of legal issues that may come from this. I am more than willing to accept my part in what has taken place. What I need is some information concerning law and liability. I want to make right the best I can what I did wrong.

I signed up for an online casino using my own information. What I didn't have was a credit card and so I used the credit card information of someone I knew. I know I am wrong and ultimately it was my fault but anyways... This person of course had no knowledge of anything. I repeat - this person is 100% innocent, truly ignorant to all of what I was doing. For the card section, I filled in the true information of the actual cardholder.. so I was never trying to do anything like identity fraud. The casino noticed that the names and gender were different between cardholder and account holder and even asked me why. I never gave them a response but instead I asked if it was a problem for me to use someone else's card. They told me no problem, but before any money could be collected, I would need to send them in an authorization form filled out by the cardholder giving me permission to use the card. I never sent any sort of consent form from this person. The reps at the casino encouraged me to play the games and gave me bonuses and incentives whenever I did. Now understand I am playing the games thinking that no harm could come from this because in my head "no authorization form = no real money able to transfer" therefore I thought I was playing for fun. There was a couple of occasions where I had won substantial amounts of money, but I never attempted to cash it out or collect on it because as I stated before, I didn't think I was really playing with real money. As it turns out, every dollar I was spending was being taken from my friends account through the card - When I found this out, the first thing I did was contact the casino to tell them what I had done and that I wanted to cooperate in whatever way in order to clear this up. I figured that the casino would refund my friends money no question and then it would be an issue with me only. They said they would refund the money only if I could pay the same amount that day to them along with criminal charges etc. Then they cut off our online chat session with no further information. I am doing the best I can to be cooperative, but they were too pissed to care. They ended up telling me that they were going to sue me AND the card holder for what this fiasco has done to them. That there were alot of damages done by the problems this was causing them. I made it clear that there shouldn't be anything that the card holder should be held for because he was an innocent victim and that if anything I thought the casino is as much at fault as I was because they knew it wasn't my card from the beginning ! I thought the easiest and most painless way to clear it up was to have the casino refund my friends account everything that was deducted and then take it from there between us.. After all, they suffered absolutely no losses because I didn't collect on any of the winnings. And according to them, I couldn't have collected without the form anyway. I tried to explain this but they weren't having it. They were very rude, made threats, and I know that it didn't have to be like that. I would like to know what exactly I've done and what I can do to rectify it if at all. Mostly I would like to know what I can do or how to get my friends money back... Please any advice / suggestion on what I should do ?

 

[Ladynred]

What have you DONE ?? You have committed FRAUD and IDENTITY THEFT, and that's probably just the tip of the iceberg !

First of all, the casino has SOME blame in allowing you to do ANYTHING on someone else's card w/o authorization, so they're not exactly blameless themselves.

However, you have committed a crime and you've committed it against your friend as well. Your FRIEND is going to be the one who gets slapped in the face with that credit card balance you ran up and your FRIEND is the one who's going to have to file a police report for identity theft and fraud in order to keep from having to pay for your foolishness and --well- criminal activity. The casino can come after you for the fraud and so can the credit card company - not to mention your FRIEND.

You haven't mentioned how much money you're talking about, but you ARE in big trouble. Do you work, do you have any income ??

What on EARTH made you think that the casino would sit still for this chicanery ? Initially your friend is liable for every penny you charged up on his/her account, but once the ID theft and Fraud investigations point the finger at YOU, you're the one looking at criminal charges.

 

[Yukichan]

Thanks for replying

Hi thanks for replying. I was afraid no one would... I would first like to clarify that I didn't commit identity fraud. I never tried to be the other person, nor did I use anyone else's name as my own. I gave the casino my name and information. The only thing I know I did that was wrong was use his card to open the account. And with that, I know what I did could be criminal. However, I still feel that the casino is being somewhat shady. How is it that they tell me they can't use the card without the authorization filled out and turned in, yet are still able to pull money from the card without that very thing they require themselves ? And like I said, they knew that the card was not mine from the very beginning. I'm at fault, I know, but should my friend be the one who is screwed ?

 

[Veronica1228]

Hi thanks for replying. I was afraid no one would... I would first like to clarify that I didn't commit identity fraud. I never tried to be the other person, nor did I use anyone else's name as my own. I gave the casino my name and information. The only thing I know I did that was wrong was use his card to open the account. And with that, I know what I did could be criminal. However, I still feel that the casino is being somewhat shady. How is it that they tell me they can't use the card without the authorization filled out and turned in, yet are still able to pull money from the card without that very thing they require themselves ? And like I said, they knew that the card was not mine from the very beginning. I'm at fault, I know, but should my friend be the one who is screwed ?

What is identity theft?
A perpetrator gets your social security number, credit card numbers, checking account info, etc, and uses it for his own financial gain. This can be an organized group exploiting victims for their group's own personal financial gain.

As you can see from the definition above, what you did does in fact constitute identity theft. As Ladynred explained to you, the casino does have a degree of responsibility for this situation, but most of it falls on you. If your friend is smart, he will file a police report. This will prevent him from being "screwed." You, on the other hand, are in a lot of trouble.

 

[Yukichan]

What is identity theft?
A perpetrator gets your social security number, credit card numbers, checking account info, etc, and uses it for his own financial gain. This can be an organized group exploiting victims for their group's own personal financial gain.



The only financial gain has been on the part of the casino.. I have never gained anything, nor was that my intent. Is there anything I can use in my communication with the casino that will convince them to return my friends money and deal solely with me ?

 

[Veronica1228]

What is identity theft?
A perpetrator gets your social security number, credit card numbers, checking account info, etc, and uses it for his own financial gain. This can be an organized group exploiting victims for their group's own personal financial gain.



The only financial gain has been on the part of the casino.. I have never gained anything, nor was that my intent. Is there anything I can use in my communication with the casino that will convince them to return my friends money and deal solely with me ?

You did gain. You used the card info to obtain entertainment. This IS a gain. The fact that you were gambling, and didn't walk away with any actual winnings is irrelevant.

I'm sorry, but I doubt that the casino is going to want to work with someone who stold credit card information, creating a financial and legal risk to them. I'm afraid you have a difficult road ahead of you on this one.

Did you tell your friend what you did yet?

 

[Veronica1228]

Actually let me explain the gain part better to avoid any arguments on this.

The financial gain was using the card in the first place to obtain entry into the games you were playing. It cost money that did not belong to you to even get in. The fact that you didn't walk away with cash does not matter.

It would be the same if you used the card to purchase drinks at a bar, or a new pair of shoes, or tickets to a concert. You benefited from using a card that you had no legal authorization to use, hence, the aforementioned theft.

 

[Yukichan]

There was no fee for playing the games. And yes I've told my friend. Should he sue the casino?

 

[Veronica1228]

There was no fee for playing the games. And yes I've told my friend. Should he sue the casino?

There is no fee, but you need money to make a bet. You used your friend's cc without his authorization to obtain the money to make that bet. You are guilty of Identity theft.

Your friend can try to sue anyone he wants, but the only way he will get his money back is if he presses charges against you.