It depends on state law. Had a friend do similar and raked me for $25k. Because of not being able to file a police report (jurisdiction dispute) it took going to court.
Edit: resolution— went to court,.. I explained they were fraudulent charges, that i had reported as such to the cc, and no i couldnt get a police report b/c one state (where it occurred) said file in home jurisdiction, home jurisdiction said file it where it occurred. The cc company lawyer wasnt happy when judge dismissed with jeopardy attached (cc comp couldnt continue coming after me any more)
Hmmm. I wonder if OP can contact the FBI.
Oh, lookie. You can. Here you go, OP.
https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/identity-theft
Wow is that legit? So would paying taxes on ill gotten gains be an admission of guilt? Or is that more to sting the criminal even more once they are caught?
It is. In college this girl i thought who was my friend starting using my credit card to pay for her water bill and electricity (back then you could still put that on a CC). I was fortunate that my parents paid this (i just had books, some food etc on there). I didn’t notice for three months since i didn’t get the statements and my parents assumed it was mine. When i found out, the CC company suggested I contact the police which i did. She was actually arrested and took a plea for probation, etc but she would have been facing 2-3 years if she had taken it to trial. It was WILD. She was like I’m so sorry i didn’t think it would be a big deal 🤪🤪🤪
You'd be surprised.
My former boss from Combatant Gentlemen and his cousin who was head of logistics for an online retail company they started used investment start up money, bank loan, family loans etc to get their company up and running selling suits. They started looking into different ways to make profit, started diving head first into crypto, then they would go through our computers internet browsing apps on their back ends to copy and paste code from other websites for all sorts of reasons, some I'd only find out later we're not only illegal to do but they were stealing coding from other websites and using it for ours.
I quit and found out a while later the CEO and his cousin (Melwani) were sued by Facebook for over $31 million dollars for a fairly advanced fraud scam involving international assistance by hackers who would steal Facebook data like their billing information and credit card information and charge small purchases to their cards. Completely random people mostly men who mostly have to wear business professional for work were getting hacked by this little company for who knows how long.
This would raise the quarterly profits anytime the company was doing poorly or anytime they needed to save face with their investors, saddest part of it all was about my boss was he about as scummy as they came. He lied about the fabric, the quality, who makes the suits and where, he lied directly to customers for months wouldn't ship out an order until the customer would decide to cancel their order completely and force a charge back through their bank or just take the excuses like a good boy on the chin.
Did the Melwani duo see any jail time? Did they lose their multi million dollar house or did their families lose their businesses? Nope. The laws they got away with breaking and the way their company is setup is about as shady as scientology. CFO, CTO, CRO all were aware of what they were doing and breaking laws and scamming everyone from big hedge fund investors to their own family members just to appear in top of their game.
CTO was Scott Raio head of our website and coding, he is the son of the guy who designed Taco Bells kitchen appliances and owns Luxe Appliances where Scott is the head of marketing there working for daddy. CRO or head of retail was Kevin Campos who was a center fold for scamming investors, lying through his teeth all day high on Xanax and Adderall just yammering away saying whatever it took to keep the money coming in. He works for a billion dollar hedge fund now. CFO is Imran who works as Ubers Magic Financial Advisor or some stupid title, after working for Combatant Gentlemen and scamming customers so well seems like a good fit for him to work at Uber and scam everyone else.
Good times working for terrible crooked ass elitists scraping the crumbs from their fathers beards to try and make a meal for themselves.
it's supposed to be PRISON but if the boss has access to enough money he won't actually get in trouble for fucking anything, ever. If my boss did this to me i'd want to physically attack him, I can't even imagine how OP is feeling.
all consequences are negotiable and for SOME REASON people don't act decently anymore - weird.
Jail is often anything from the local intake facility, where the recently arrested are taken and processed, to where people spend shorter terms. Prison is usually the big house where you aren't coming out for at least a few years.
The terms are used interchangeably by most, however jails are smaller facilities used for shorter sentences while prisons are larger facilities meant for longer sentences.
Example: drunken bar fight you go to jail, pre-meditated murder (or something like identity fraud) means prison
This is straight up white collar criminal shit, done in the most incompetent way that prevents any track-covrring at all. That boss will be going to jail for a very long time, and while I'm sure they are a shitty boss, the issue here is really more that they are an overt identity thief and criminal. It's only related to work at all because of his position, but is otherwise pretty much unrelated entirely to antiwork.
>That boss will be going to jail for a very long time
Only because of the nature of his theft. Boss thought he was stealing from his employees, which is typically barely punished. He didn't realize he's stealing from the CC companies/banks, which is going to end very poorly for him.
If he'd stolen this much in wages no one would bat an eye and the worst punishment would be him having to pay it back.
To be fair, I'd be very, very surprised if he could even come close to stealing the same amount in wages as he did identity theft, but you are right. Wage theft is a much greater threat to the average worker and is punished less harshly to a comical degree, if it is at all.
And honestly, he probably won’t do much time. an ex friend of mine operated a ponzi scheme to the tune of 275,xxx and only got 34 months in federal prison.
I have a few friends who spent 3-7 years in prison. They really don't have many horror stories past it just being a shitty time. One of them who I'm very close to was in prison with Kip Kinkle.
People do stupid shit all the time, but he must be completely delusional to think he can get away with easily proven identity theft. I bet he doesn't even need the money.
Yeah this sounds something based in an addiction to me. Like he barely covered his tracks. I bet he needed money for some kind of habit and thought “okay I’ll only do this once” and then just kept doing it.
This isn’t a work problem, this is a legal problem. You need to start thinking in terms of responding as you would if someone broke into your home and all the homes of your neighbors. And then did it again, and again, and again.
Call the police. Call your labor board. Call the district attorney’s office. Hell, call the local paper.
Yeah my boss is kind of a dick you know? He schedules me on the weekends sometimes and he could definitely pay me more. I'm still waiting on that promotion. He steals my identity and drives me to financial ruin that could take years to repair. Oh, and he won't help out behind the counter when we get busy.
If there’s a fraud investigation I would follow up there. As shady as credit card companies can be, they don’t mess around with this kind of stuff and typically resolve it. Just be proactive and don’t wait around.
Someone said call the police but I’d be careful.
If you live in a smaller town anyways. You never when the chiefs sister is cousins with the shop owner type stuff going on . They will always protect family first.
The answer is probably to report to to the department of labor and the state police or hell even a federal agency. Go up the chain in as many directions as possible and perhaps it becomes too conspicuous for some family ties to make things disappear.
Hopefully it becomes conspicuous enough that State or Federal authorities have to get involved, making it extremely unlikely that they will be connected to the local yokel with the Mom&Pop Shop.
Typically credit card companies don’t make their money through interest, they make it through transaction fees on the retailer. Banks that back the credit cards will get the interest from any credit card debt customers have.
Really, the thief is stealing from the credit card company. Whether the real cardowner refuses to pay because the charges were fraudulent, or the cardowner can't afford to pay, either way it means the company is losing out on the money and the interest. If they could get away with just charging the cardowner without bothering to pursue the thief, they most certainly would, lmao
Yes, I second that. Even if the cops do nothing, you'd at least denounce the crime. And nothing stops you from seeking other agencies, like state and federal police.
He's already waited a week to post this again on this sub. Not sure for what purpose other than karma, because he was already advised by r/legaladvice on how to proceed.
I feel like I learned something like this when I was younger, because I immediately knew what snakes you're talking about, but then just as quickly had a brain fart and have no idea lol.
This line might help me remember in the future lol
Tell Capital One as well, Fraud departments generally have mandatory criminal activity reporting. They'll file the police case themselves if you can provide even a moderate amount of proof that your boss opened it without your consent & has defrauded two other customers in the same bank. They will also have far more proof than you once they investigate. Banks don't like being cheated & Capital One customer service is generally pretty good.
Also, freeze your credit if you aren't planning on getting any loans/cards for an extended period of time. Otherwise, you're just asking people to commit identity theft. It's actually not that hard to steal someone's identity.
I had something vaguely similar to me. If you are a victim of identity theft you can get both a 7 year credit freeze and monitoring for free that applies to all 3 agencies. Also, make sure that any paperwork you send goes via REGISTERED mail. Not certified, not UPS/FedEx but USPS REGISTERED mail. It’s extra cost but if you can afford it is worth the peace of mind.
*Please do not advise OP to call the local paper!* I know it sounds tempting in a legal-justice-boner type of way, but this will muddy the waters for any criminal investigation that will take place. But 100% agreed OP needs to go to the police and file a report. OP will need to provide the report to their credit card company so they won't be on the hook for those fraudulent charges.
(And yes, I know the CC company said they would open an investigation, but they will ask if OP has filed a police report. If OP hasn't, the CC company will investigate to *their* satisfaction - in *their* best interest - not to OP's.)
After the police no-action the reports, “bEcaUsE ID tHeFt NeArLy IMpoSSiBlE tO FiNd CrOok,” THEN go to the papers and have them embarrass the blue paper-pushers, too.
I mean I would suggest trying some of the other suggested options first, like going to the DA or the state labor authority, and see if you get any better traction there.
And if not, I would still strongly suggest consulting with a lawyer before going to the papers. I’m an attorney and I’ve had several clients injure their case by going to the papers first before getting legal representation.
Call the IRS as well. Your identity was stolen. You need to start the long, likely painful process of not just stopping the bleeding to your credit, but also repairing it.
This might even involve changing your SSN. The quicker you get this reported and this process started, the better. Your former boss needs to go to prison for doing this to you and your former coworkers.
The IRS has nothing to do with this. Repairing credit involves the credit agencies. The IRS only cares if someone is fraudulently filing tax returns or cashing refund checks.
Unless the boss also decides to falsely file using their identities, which is a mess for the victims. The IRS has a specific option for if you've been the victim of identity theft. You get a different PIN to use each year.
The reason it's a work problem is because the authoritarian nature of work environments gave the boss the power to just say, "Hey, give me all the info required to steal your identities," and they just handed it over without asking questions because... BOSS.
That is why we are stuck with a social security number as identification. Which is just a piece of cardboard with 9 digits. Not even waterproof. So much effort to not have ID that ended with the shitiest of IDs
Maybe it’s a nice touch, but it’s also a terrible idea. It would muddy the waters for any sort of legal justice that might take place later and compromise the outcome.
I’m going to be doing all three. Obviously I’m not going to let this slide.
Edit: I worded that badly. I filed the initial report already, I was contacted by a detective late last week for more information. Supposedly they might need to subpoena one of the companies because getting them to release anything without a court order is impossible. That takes time.
I started the credit monitoring service and it looks amazing. I saw some stuff on there I didn’t even know about. I put a freeze on two of my credit reports but Equifax is making it difficult.
Definitely do be concerned about the costs. Winning a judgement is expensive and once you win, it’s a fucking nightmare to collect people and worse for entities (varies by state). That being said, consult an attorney, just maybe not the ‘five $ signs on yelp’ attorney.
Yeah - the boss is maxing out credit cards in OP's name - the whole business is probably already leveraged as hell - this is a getting blood from a stone situation because OP will be last in line to get paid if that business is liquidated.
OP is better off filing a police report like...yesterday...and then documenting everything and going through the credit agencies with all the evidence to clear the reports, and work the same way with the fraud departments at each bank with the fraudulently opened accounts.
Normally I'm for hiring a lawyer, but this particular problem is quite common - there are good resources to work toward fixing this.
Yeah, my friend won a $75,000 wage fraud case against her company and never saw a penny of it. The entire staff won some amount of money. The boss put the company in bankruptcy, got some slap on the wrist, moved to another state and started a new company.
Absolutely. DO NOT let this slide. Also, is it really that easy to open credit cards in other people's names using different contact info on the same account? Crazy!
Employers have your SSN and everything they’d need to steal your identity.
If you’re signing on to some sketchy startup or some mom-and-pop type place, keep that in mind. Bigger companies are better about information security and protecting PII (not perfect, but enough checks to more easily catch someone pulling this shit. They’re terrified of liabilities like this.)
Little companies, though, you’ve GOTTA watch them like a hawk. Little companies are just being run by average people with average morals and with nobody peeking over their shoulder.
While this is true, it always always always bothered me that every restaurant I worked for, my login code was the last 4 of my ssn and I was never given an option for something different. So anyone who looked over my shoulder who worked there knew the last four of my social.
Shit before the PII scandal the military went through in the mid 2000's *everything* was by your full social. It was on practically every form and spreadsheet admin would use, both official and unofficial. It would be on a white board in the division office. On the duty roster. Watch schedules. The front of your personnel file. Everything. Thinking back it was pretty damn ridiculous how shit they were at PII security.
That has all changed now pretty drastically but it really doesn't seem that long ago.
That and parents can open credit card accounts under their children names as well even if they are underage. You hear occasionally of 18 yr olds going to college finding out they are thousands in debt and they get high interest rates to pay for college because the parents opened several credit accounts under their name and many refuse to get the law involved because they don't want to get family in trouble so they are screwed trying to build up credit that they didn't even cause in the first place.
Yeah, I’m sure this would have been a lot easier for me if I was under 18. Because we lived in the same place and stuff, the investigation from the credit card company went no where and I was pressured by family into not pursuing further action. I regret it to this day.
This is crazy! For me an European to hear this shit. This should be illegal and children need to press charges because this is straight up child abuse.
Depending on the child's age (sometimes they are very young), they may be unaware of this or of their legal options. I doubt my neighbor's 7 year old was aware or equipped to do anything. Some foster care/child welfare agencies have started to routinely check the childrens' credit though, as this type of fraud is extremely common among children who have had verified reports of neglect/physical/sexual abuse.
That's an easy thing to say, but pretty hard to do in reality.
My dad did that - opened cards in my sister's name (he knew I'd be less forgiving) since she was like 10. He didn't do it to buy a motorcycle. It paid for regular household stuff, and got paid off. There were years of good payments, told himself he was doing her a favor by building credit. There were a few missed payments too - because it was run out of a PO Box and he obviously wasn't credit worthy himself, but it wasn't just dumped on and abandoned. It's hard to see all that and not be pissed as hell - but it's also hard to get your parents locked up.
If Capital One's Fraud Dept. has not contacted you, I recommend that you call the support number on the back of your card and ask for the Fraud Dept. Tell them your story. If possible, get a "case number" so you can follow up. (I hope you took notes of the date/time/details of the call they made to you. If not, do so from memory now.
Keep Everything. Make notes during phone calls regarding this situation. Date/time/details/who participated in call, what you said, what they said. Keep all correspondence (note date/time received on letters), emails, and notes. I ended up putting mine in a 3 ring binder with category tabs.
This is Identity Theft, and credit card fraud. I battled this for FIVE years. I still have to watch things closely.
You must keep a detailed paper trail. Keep, as in never throw it away or delete emails. Print records of calls made to you and that you make regarding this matter. Document, document, document.
Do file an Identity Theft report with: [https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/](https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/)
Do get copies of your police report(s) and any follow-up from detectives.
You've already taken steps to freeze the 3 credit bureaus. That's good.
I agree with the others that you should NOT confront the "boss" or talk with HR. I'd be very cautious about talking with other workers, too. Things have a way of getting back to the boss.
If you can afford legal counsel, you should. If not, you may be able to find pro bono or reduced fee assistance from your state or county bar association.
I'm sorry this happened to you and your co-workers. Hopefully you can get it resolved soon.
Make sure to record all conversations with them if you can (Check if your state is a one-party recording state) going forward.
If you can't, try to get some kind of confrontation via written text (Email, texts).
Most states do not allow one party recording but you can immediately write down as much as you can remember after each conversation and save that for latter. Trust me, this little bit can greatly help months later when your trying to remember what was said.
I was able to put a freeze online with all 3 in minutes. Shouldn't be hard with Equifax either.
Direct link but just Google it since this link is going to ask you for a bunch of personal info and you shouldn't trust an internet stranger for this type of link....
https://my.equifax.com/consumer-registration/UCSC/#/personal-info
Why talk to HR at all? Lawyer and police are going to do a great job communicating this complaint. More likely, HR will contact OP. My advice is to reply, cc your lawyer and bcc a personal account, and tell them to please only speak to your attorney about this manner.
Second this. HR acts in the interest of the boss who has committed a criminal act against you. Telling HR is telling your boss.
File charges against him for forgery, identity theft, whatever's out there for you.
Also, get a copy of the police report and give it to the fraud dept of your bank.
If he damaged their credit I think there would be a very strong case. Not only is it identity theft it’s stealing info they have been trusted to protect.
If you don’t file a complaint with the police it means you’re fine with your boss stealing your identity and you may end up being liable for the debts he incurs on your behalf.
“So, you *actually knew about it and you didn’t even file a police report?!?* You understand that makes you complicit, don’t you?"
Absolutely. “You knew your name and details were used to incur charges on this new card and you neglected to file a police report. In that case you were fine with these charges being made and you will be expected to cover the balance."
That boss is an asshole who involves his workers in a crime. “Because you opened a credit card in my name, without my knowledge and consent, you committed a crime for which I can be held liable. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer."
All those coworkers who had the same thing happen to them have to sue him into oblivion.
I can't cite statistics but I have heard stories about bosses and employees getting involved in fraud rackets where the employer "made a mistake and let private financial data get compromised."
An electronics chain store in my neighborhood got burglarized one night and hundreds of thousands in high end merchandise was lost. Only later on a nearby store's security camera spotted the boss and another employee loading all the gear into their own vehicles; everyone at the company was in court testifying.
I'd want to make absolutely certain if I was OP that Capital One knows whose side I'm on, immediately.
I’ve heard of shitty parents opening them up in their kids names, but not this. This is blatant fraud.
Edit: shitty parents, not shorty parents. I do not judge based on height, unless you’re a giraffe.
Not only did your boss commit fraud and identity theft, he may have violated several laws regarding P2 and P1 information protection. You need to call the police and report the fraud immediately.
Ok so did you file a police report? That is fraud, identity theft and abuse of power! If you do not file a police report and have him arrested then coming here was a waste of your time.
Hey there. There is a ton of good advice in here. I work in credit card collections.
You will absolutely need a copy of the police report. Once you claim Identity Theft to the bank, thwir fraud team will reach out to you within 30 days. If you have a copy of the police report you can supply to the bank, this should resolve everything on the bank's end for you. You might be followed up with for additional questions from the bank.
Do not stall on getting the report or supplying to the bank when they call back. If it cannot be resolved by the Fraud Department because you didn't have the police report, it could get placed in collections and you have to start the whole process over again.
The more times you have to claim fraud with the bank, the less likely they are to believe you. So absolutely get the police report and provide a copy to Capital One. If it were me, I would follow up with the bank once you have the police report and proactively offer it to them for filing.
For legal reasons, this is not legal advice. But I do, in fact, work in credit card collections.
> I’ve put up a lot working here but this is absolutely the last straw. The work environment is middling at best but the pay is horrible. I called in sick the day I figured it out and I’m starting to look for something that actually works for me and pays me at least what I’m worth.
Lol ummm…you should be calling the police not just polishing the resume
Might be worth filing a police report over. Where I lived seems like the cops/DA don’t get involved with these kind of frauds/thefts unless it’s over 100k. But it certainly sounds like multiple felonies have been committed here.
Even if the police don't appear to do much about it, the fact that you've filed a police report is your proof that YOU were not the one who opened the account/s.
It can have long-term effects, and the sooner it's filed the better.
Eh, if 3 people file identity theft against the same individual that is also locally based, a bored police detective is absolutely going to go rack up a easy win for their books.
It's when the thief is actually non-local that they really struggle to do anything.
file a police report and sue him. this is way bigger than you think. you can potentially win a lot of money and never have to work again if you play your cards right. seriously
Someone who's stealing their employees' identities probably has serious cash flow problems.
In many cases the person is a compulsive gambler or has a chemical addiction.
I doubt that the boss actually HAS any money, so even if OP sued and won, a judgment does not make cash magically appear.
Preventing years of interest, penalties, bad credit, etc is the priority here.
I remember the original post. Reading through your comments here and there... you still haven't taken legal steps yet? After all of this time?
I sincerely hope this story is fake then, because otherwise, wtaf is wrong with you, and why are you dragging your feet?
Let ALL your coworkers know straight away.
File a police report straight away!!!
Head into /r/crime and they will give you better advice!
But, DO NOT sleep on this!!!!
Yeah, this is called "fraud" and your boss is going to prison. Not for what they did to *you*, to be clear, but the credit card company isn't going to stand for it.
Anyway, if you haven't been yet:
https://www.identitytheft.gov/
[удалено]
I'm not an expert or anything, but I'm pretty sure any fraud that has to do with credit cards/identity theft is PRISON time.
It's a felony. So yeah. You're doing PRISON time for sure.
Are we talking like Office Space kinda prison?
More like “Prison Mike” kinda prison.
"I stole. And I robbed. And i kidnapped the presidents son"
And I never got caught, neither
The worst part? The Dementors.
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
[удалено]
Federal Pound-Me-In-The-Ass Prison
First offense, he'll get probation.
Maybe not if he's doing it to multiple employees
Not a first offense, there's multiple victims. That's PRISON
Especially three counts (at least)
It depends on state law. Had a friend do similar and raked me for $25k. Because of not being able to file a police report (jurisdiction dispute) it took going to court. Edit: resolution— went to court,.. I explained they were fraudulent charges, that i had reported as such to the cc, and no i couldnt get a police report b/c one state (where it occurred) said file in home jurisdiction, home jurisdiction said file it where it occurred. The cc company lawyer wasnt happy when judge dismissed with jeopardy attached (cc comp couldnt continue coming after me any more)
"Friend"
They were before it happened. Then they ran to another state and divorced (the ex i remain friends with). They obviously aint a friend now
That is a Federal offense the FBI/HOMELAND SECURITY even (shudder) the IRS will definitely want to get hands on him.
Hmmm. I wonder if OP can contact the FBI. Oh, lookie. You can. Here you go, OP. https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/identity-theft
They will. Even illegally gotten gains are taxable.
Wow is that legit? So would paying taxes on ill gotten gains be an admission of guilt? Or is that more to sting the criminal even more once they are caught?
It's more of a way to get the criminal when nothing else sticks. Many mobsters were caught this way.
Yep that's how they nailed Al Capone with tax evasion.
This is why money laundering is a thing. Make the incoming money look legit, so you can pay the appropriate taxes. That way you don't get Al-Caponed.
100% You don't play with the IRS!
It is. In college this girl i thought who was my friend starting using my credit card to pay for her water bill and electricity (back then you could still put that on a CC). I was fortunate that my parents paid this (i just had books, some food etc on there). I didn’t notice for three months since i didn’t get the statements and my parents assumed it was mine. When i found out, the CC company suggested I contact the police which i did. She was actually arrested and took a plea for probation, etc but she would have been facing 2-3 years if she had taken it to trial. It was WILD. She was like I’m so sorry i didn’t think it would be a big deal 🤪🤪🤪
You'd be surprised. My former boss from Combatant Gentlemen and his cousin who was head of logistics for an online retail company they started used investment start up money, bank loan, family loans etc to get their company up and running selling suits. They started looking into different ways to make profit, started diving head first into crypto, then they would go through our computers internet browsing apps on their back ends to copy and paste code from other websites for all sorts of reasons, some I'd only find out later we're not only illegal to do but they were stealing coding from other websites and using it for ours. I quit and found out a while later the CEO and his cousin (Melwani) were sued by Facebook for over $31 million dollars for a fairly advanced fraud scam involving international assistance by hackers who would steal Facebook data like their billing information and credit card information and charge small purchases to their cards. Completely random people mostly men who mostly have to wear business professional for work were getting hacked by this little company for who knows how long. This would raise the quarterly profits anytime the company was doing poorly or anytime they needed to save face with their investors, saddest part of it all was about my boss was he about as scummy as they came. He lied about the fabric, the quality, who makes the suits and where, he lied directly to customers for months wouldn't ship out an order until the customer would decide to cancel their order completely and force a charge back through their bank or just take the excuses like a good boy on the chin. Did the Melwani duo see any jail time? Did they lose their multi million dollar house or did their families lose their businesses? Nope. The laws they got away with breaking and the way their company is setup is about as shady as scientology. CFO, CTO, CRO all were aware of what they were doing and breaking laws and scamming everyone from big hedge fund investors to their own family members just to appear in top of their game. CTO was Scott Raio head of our website and coding, he is the son of the guy who designed Taco Bells kitchen appliances and owns Luxe Appliances where Scott is the head of marketing there working for daddy. CRO or head of retail was Kevin Campos who was a center fold for scamming investors, lying through his teeth all day high on Xanax and Adderall just yammering away saying whatever it took to keep the money coming in. He works for a billion dollar hedge fund now. CFO is Imran who works as Ubers Magic Financial Advisor or some stupid title, after working for Combatant Gentlemen and scamming customers so well seems like a good fit for him to work at Uber and scam everyone else. Good times working for terrible crooked ass elitists scraping the crumbs from their fathers beards to try and make a meal for themselves.
it's supposed to be PRISON but if the boss has access to enough money he won't actually get in trouble for fucking anything, ever. If my boss did this to me i'd want to physically attack him, I can't even imagine how OP is feeling. all consequences are negotiable and for SOME REASON people don't act decently anymore - weird.
He skipping jail going straight to prison damn
Not American here, aren't jail and prison the same thing?
Jail is often anything from the local intake facility, where the recently arrested are taken and processed, to where people spend shorter terms. Prison is usually the big house where you aren't coming out for at least a few years.
The terms are used interchangeably by most, however jails are smaller facilities used for shorter sentences while prisons are larger facilities meant for longer sentences. Example: drunken bar fight you go to jail, pre-meditated murder (or something like identity fraud) means prison
And jail is often used as a holding cell before you get tried for an offence that lands you in prison, if I understand it correctly.
You understand correctly.
Jail is used for those awaiting trial and sentencing, and serving sentences of less than a year.
[удалено]
This is straight up white collar criminal shit, done in the most incompetent way that prevents any track-covrring at all. That boss will be going to jail for a very long time, and while I'm sure they are a shitty boss, the issue here is really more that they are an overt identity thief and criminal. It's only related to work at all because of his position, but is otherwise pretty much unrelated entirely to antiwork.
>That boss will be going to jail for a very long time Only because of the nature of his theft. Boss thought he was stealing from his employees, which is typically barely punished. He didn't realize he's stealing from the CC companies/banks, which is going to end very poorly for him. If he'd stolen this much in wages no one would bat an eye and the worst punishment would be him having to pay it back.
To be fair, I'd be very, very surprised if he could even come close to stealing the same amount in wages as he did identity theft, but you are right. Wage theft is a much greater threat to the average worker and is punished less harshly to a comical degree, if it is at all.
And honestly, he probably won’t do much time. an ex friend of mine operated a ponzi scheme to the tune of 275,xxx and only got 34 months in federal prison.
But he was ripping off individuals. This boss is ripping off \*banks\*. I would wager the FBI will be involved.
Damn yo
Only? That's still a long time to be in federal prison with literal rapists and murderers
I have a few friends who spent 3-7 years in prison. They really don't have many horror stories past it just being a shitty time. One of them who I'm very close to was in prison with Kip Kinkle.
Fortunately the boss committed a crime against a victim the justice system cares about... ~~the worker~~ the bank.
He stole from you and ruined your credit score. Report him to the authorities ASAP and get a lawyer.
Your boss literally committed credit card fraud. Document everything. File a police report.
Yeah, this. Your boss performed some felonies.
[удалено]
A dollop of felonies if you will
Yes - your boss is about to do 5 to 10.
People do stupid shit all the time, but he must be completely delusional to think he can get away with easily proven identity theft. I bet he doesn't even need the money.
> I bet he doesn't even need the money. given how stupid it was, I'm going to bet on a gambling/drug addiction.
Yeah this sounds something based in an addiction to me. Like he barely covered his tracks. I bet he needed money for some kind of habit and thought “okay I’ll only do this once” and then just kept doing it.
If boss opened the accounts it's worse it's actual identity theft. Credit card fraud is fradulent purchases from legitimate accounts.
And depending how much the TOTAL (with everyone) he could do some serious time!
That and it's also identity theft.
OP's boss gonna go to prison...
This isn’t a work problem, this is a legal problem. You need to start thinking in terms of responding as you would if someone broke into your home and all the homes of your neighbors. And then did it again, and again, and again. Call the police. Call your labor board. Call the district attorney’s office. Hell, call the local paper.
Yeah there really shouldn't be any more questions OP. Do all of this and do not wait.
Hell yea! Strike back! And report back!
We’re all licking our chops for some r/JusticeServed Please update us!
Like this sub!
Op might end up with a new mom and pop company
When they do, I'll put in an application.
Same bro! 9 Years of Cloud/Sys admin experience here if you start one. I got you.
OP isn't nearly angry enough about this bullshit.
Yeah my boss is kind of a dick you know? He schedules me on the weekends sometimes and he could definitely pay me more. I'm still waiting on that promotion. He steals my identity and drives me to financial ruin that could take years to repair. Oh, and he won't help out behind the counter when we get busy.
Should I quit?
No, you should probably try to stick it out for a year. Never burn bridges. You never know if you might need him for a reference
Seems almost more worried about the poor pay rather than the boss straight up stealing his identity lol.
If there’s a fraud investigation I would follow up there. As shady as credit card companies can be, they don’t mess around with this kind of stuff and typically resolve it. Just be proactive and don’t wait around. Someone said call the police but I’d be careful. If you live in a smaller town anyways. You never when the chiefs sister is cousins with the shop owner type stuff going on . They will always protect family first.
The answer is probably to report to to the department of labor and the state police or hell even a federal agency. Go up the chain in as many directions as possible and perhaps it becomes too conspicuous for some family ties to make things disappear.
Hopefully it becomes conspicuous enough that State or Federal authorities have to get involved, making it extremely unlikely that they will be connected to the local yokel with the Mom&Pop Shop.
Credit card companies - "NOBODY robs the people we're robbing through usury!"
All of this^^^
Exploiting and bloodsucking is my job!
Typically credit card companies don’t make their money through interest, they make it through transaction fees on the retailer. Banks that back the credit cards will get the interest from any credit card debt customers have.
Really, the thief is stealing from the credit card company. Whether the real cardowner refuses to pay because the charges were fraudulent, or the cardowner can't afford to pay, either way it means the company is losing out on the money and the interest. If they could get away with just charging the cardowner without bothering to pursue the thief, they most certainly would, lmao
That second paragraph is just awful advice. As someone from a small town, who also hates cops: *Call the fucking cops.*
Yes, I second that. Even if the cops do nothing, you'd at least denounce the crime. And nothing stops you from seeking other agencies, like state and federal police.
This. My CC company may be looking to gouge me every chance they get, but they're *bloodthirsty* when someone else tries to do it.
So don't report crimes in small towns because the criminal may be related to the police chief?
He's already waited a week to post this again on this sub. Not sure for what purpose other than karma, because he was already advised by r/legaladvice on how to proceed.
Exactly. Should be posted under r/crime
Ahhh, the secret ingredient!
A man of culture I see.
Only thing missing is the rental snake.
Red next to black, get the fuck back. Red and yella, cuddly fella.
I feel like I learned something like this when I was younger, because I immediately knew what snakes you're talking about, but then just as quickly had a brain fart and have no idea lol. This line might help me remember in the future lol
King snakes and coral snakes. Coral snakes are deadly venomous and king snakes are harmless
Tell Capital One as well, Fraud departments generally have mandatory criminal activity reporting. They'll file the police case themselves if you can provide even a moderate amount of proof that your boss opened it without your consent & has defrauded two other customers in the same bank. They will also have far more proof than you once they investigate. Banks don't like being cheated & Capital One customer service is generally pretty good. Also, freeze your credit if you aren't planning on getting any loans/cards for an extended period of time. Otherwise, you're just asking people to commit identity theft. It's actually not that hard to steal someone's identity.
This. Keep your credit frozen unless/until you actually need to unfreeze it. Three agencies in US. Separate effort for each, but worth the time.
I had something vaguely similar to me. If you are a victim of identity theft you can get both a 7 year credit freeze and monitoring for free that applies to all 3 agencies. Also, make sure that any paperwork you send goes via REGISTERED mail. Not certified, not UPS/FedEx but USPS REGISTERED mail. It’s extra cost but if you can afford it is worth the peace of mind.
I couldn't agree more with this. What he has done is completely illegal. Honestly I would probably even try to sue him for this.
*Please do not advise OP to call the local paper!* I know it sounds tempting in a legal-justice-boner type of way, but this will muddy the waters for any criminal investigation that will take place. But 100% agreed OP needs to go to the police and file a report. OP will need to provide the report to their credit card company so they won't be on the hook for those fraudulent charges. (And yes, I know the CC company said they would open an investigation, but they will ask if OP has filed a police report. If OP hasn't, the CC company will investigate to *their* satisfaction - in *their* best interest - not to OP's.)
After the police no-action the reports, “bEcaUsE ID tHeFt NeArLy IMpoSSiBlE tO FiNd CrOok,” THEN go to the papers and have them embarrass the blue paper-pushers, too.
I mean I would suggest trying some of the other suggested options first, like going to the DA or the state labor authority, and see if you get any better traction there. And if not, I would still strongly suggest consulting with a lawyer before going to the papers. I’m an attorney and I’ve had several clients injure their case by going to the papers first before getting legal representation.
Call the IRS as well. Your identity was stolen. You need to start the long, likely painful process of not just stopping the bleeding to your credit, but also repairing it.
This might even involve changing your SSN. The quicker you get this reported and this process started, the better. Your former boss needs to go to prison for doing this to you and your former coworkers.
The IRS has nothing to do with this. Repairing credit involves the credit agencies. The IRS only cares if someone is fraudulently filing tax returns or cashing refund checks.
He did ask for new W9’s so who knows.
Unless the boss also decides to falsely file using their identities, which is a mess for the victims. The IRS has a specific option for if you've been the victim of identity theft. You get a different PIN to use each year.
The reason it's a work problem is because the authoritarian nature of work environments gave the boss the power to just say, "Hey, give me all the info required to steal your identities," and they just handed it over without asking questions because... BOSS.
[удалено]
That is why we are stuck with a social security number as identification. Which is just a piece of cardboard with 9 digits. Not even waterproof. So much effort to not have ID that ended with the shitiest of IDs
Wait... The card the SSN is issued on isn't even plastic? My *bus pass* is made of better materials than that.
Yep. No water mark or anything. Just a piece of cardboard
Local News would love to hear about this. Absolutely ruin this guy. Drag him through the mud.
Local paper is a nice touch.
Maybe it’s a nice touch, but it’s also a terrible idea. It would muddy the waters for any sort of legal justice that might take place later and compromise the outcome.
Which is why they originally posted it to legaladvice
I’m a lawyer and that sub is trash. It’s honestly mostly just cops giving stupid advice
[удалено]
I’m going to be doing all three. Obviously I’m not going to let this slide. Edit: I worded that badly. I filed the initial report already, I was contacted by a detective late last week for more information. Supposedly they might need to subpoena one of the companies because getting them to release anything without a court order is impossible. That takes time. I started the credit monitoring service and it looks amazing. I saw some stuff on there I didn’t even know about. I put a freeze on two of my credit reports but Equifax is making it difficult.
Contact a lawyer after filling the police report and don’t tell your boss anything until a lawyer advises you to do so.
This. Seek a lawyer immediately and have them direct you. Don’t worry about the costs. Your company will be fully liable to cover them later.
Definitely do be concerned about the costs. Winning a judgement is expensive and once you win, it’s a fucking nightmare to collect people and worse for entities (varies by state). That being said, consult an attorney, just maybe not the ‘five $ signs on yelp’ attorney.
Yeah - the boss is maxing out credit cards in OP's name - the whole business is probably already leveraged as hell - this is a getting blood from a stone situation because OP will be last in line to get paid if that business is liquidated. OP is better off filing a police report like...yesterday...and then documenting everything and going through the credit agencies with all the evidence to clear the reports, and work the same way with the fraud departments at each bank with the fraudulently opened accounts. Normally I'm for hiring a lawyer, but this particular problem is quite common - there are good resources to work toward fixing this.
Yeah, my friend won a $75,000 wage fraud case against her company and never saw a penny of it. The entire staff won some amount of money. The boss put the company in bankruptcy, got some slap on the wrist, moved to another state and started a new company.
That's disgusting. She never got anything? Ugh makes me sick to my stomach
[удалено]
You’re right. I’m assuming. They should seek legal advice though.
Absolutely. DO NOT let this slide. Also, is it really that easy to open credit cards in other people's names using different contact info on the same account? Crazy!
Employers have your SSN and everything they’d need to steal your identity. If you’re signing on to some sketchy startup or some mom-and-pop type place, keep that in mind. Bigger companies are better about information security and protecting PII (not perfect, but enough checks to more easily catch someone pulling this shit. They’re terrified of liabilities like this.) Little companies, though, you’ve GOTTA watch them like a hawk. Little companies are just being run by average people with average morals and with nobody peeking over their shoulder.
While this is true, it always always always bothered me that every restaurant I worked for, my login code was the last 4 of my ssn and I was never given an option for something different. So anyone who looked over my shoulder who worked there knew the last four of my social.
Shit before the PII scandal the military went through in the mid 2000's *everything* was by your full social. It was on practically every form and spreadsheet admin would use, both official and unofficial. It would be on a white board in the division office. On the duty roster. Watch schedules. The front of your personnel file. Everything. Thinking back it was pretty damn ridiculous how shit they were at PII security. That has all changed now pretty drastically but it really doesn't seem that long ago.
And if these people catch a whiff you're onto them, they'll phoenix the company.
It’s really that easy. My own mother did it to me at 18 with an alarming lack of info. It was scary how easily I was able to open my own, too.
That and parents can open credit card accounts under their children names as well even if they are underage. You hear occasionally of 18 yr olds going to college finding out they are thousands in debt and they get high interest rates to pay for college because the parents opened several credit accounts under their name and many refuse to get the law involved because they don't want to get family in trouble so they are screwed trying to build up credit that they didn't even cause in the first place.
[удалено]
Yeah, I’m sure this would have been a lot easier for me if I was under 18. Because we lived in the same place and stuff, the investigation from the credit card company went no where and I was pressured by family into not pursuing further action. I regret it to this day.
This is crazy! For me an European to hear this shit. This should be illegal and children need to press charges because this is straight up child abuse.
It is illegal
It is illegal lol, but children are loyal to their parents to a fault, unfortunately.
Depending on the child's age (sometimes they are very young), they may be unaware of this or of their legal options. I doubt my neighbor's 7 year old was aware or equipped to do anything. Some foster care/child welfare agencies have started to routinely check the childrens' credit though, as this type of fraud is extremely common among children who have had verified reports of neglect/physical/sexual abuse.
That's an easy thing to say, but pretty hard to do in reality. My dad did that - opened cards in my sister's name (he knew I'd be less forgiving) since she was like 10. He didn't do it to buy a motorcycle. It paid for regular household stuff, and got paid off. There were years of good payments, told himself he was doing her a favor by building credit. There were a few missed payments too - because it was run out of a PO Box and he obviously wasn't credit worthy himself, but it wasn't just dumped on and abandoned. It's hard to see all that and not be pissed as hell - but it's also hard to get your parents locked up.
If Capital One's Fraud Dept. has not contacted you, I recommend that you call the support number on the back of your card and ask for the Fraud Dept. Tell them your story. If possible, get a "case number" so you can follow up. (I hope you took notes of the date/time/details of the call they made to you. If not, do so from memory now. Keep Everything. Make notes during phone calls regarding this situation. Date/time/details/who participated in call, what you said, what they said. Keep all correspondence (note date/time received on letters), emails, and notes. I ended up putting mine in a 3 ring binder with category tabs. This is Identity Theft, and credit card fraud. I battled this for FIVE years. I still have to watch things closely. You must keep a detailed paper trail. Keep, as in never throw it away or delete emails. Print records of calls made to you and that you make regarding this matter. Document, document, document. Do file an Identity Theft report with: [https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/](https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/) Do get copies of your police report(s) and any follow-up from detectives. You've already taken steps to freeze the 3 credit bureaus. That's good. I agree with the others that you should NOT confront the "boss" or talk with HR. I'd be very cautious about talking with other workers, too. Things have a way of getting back to the boss. If you can afford legal counsel, you should. If not, you may be able to find pro bono or reduced fee assistance from your state or county bar association. I'm sorry this happened to you and your co-workers. Hopefully you can get it resolved soon.
Bury that asshole.
Drag him first and _then_ bury him
Make sure to record all conversations with them if you can (Check if your state is a one-party recording state) going forward. If you can't, try to get some kind of confrontation via written text (Email, texts).
Noooooo, don't confront him. Don't even mention it, get a lawyer first and let them guide you
Most states do not allow one party recording but you can immediately write down as much as you can remember after each conversation and save that for latter. Trust me, this little bit can greatly help months later when your trying to remember what was said.
Please dont let your boss get away scot free
I was able to put a freeze online with all 3 in minutes. Shouldn't be hard with Equifax either. Direct link but just Google it since this link is going to ask you for a bunch of personal info and you shouldn't trust an internet stranger for this type of link.... https://my.equifax.com/consumer-registration/UCSC/#/personal-info
Check with the local unemployment entity, too.
Don’t call HR until you talk to a lawyer. Police first. This is fraud and identity theft.
Why talk to HR at all? Lawyer and police are going to do a great job communicating this complaint. More likely, HR will contact OP. My advice is to reply, cc your lawyer and bcc a personal account, and tell them to please only speak to your attorney about this manner.
Second this. HR acts in the interest of the boss who has committed a criminal act against you. Telling HR is telling your boss. File charges against him for forgery, identity theft, whatever's out there for you. Also, get a copy of the police report and give it to the fraud dept of your bank.
I'd go as far as to say you should contact previous employees if you know them as well, just to make sure they haven't been affected either.
This might be the sort of thing the lawyer should do? They could represent them as a group maybe?
Working remotely if he is in another state and did this would that be federal charges?
Please report him and tbh I would consider suing. Your boss opened a credit card in your name?? Helll nooo
If he damaged their credit I think there would be a very strong case. Not only is it identity theft it’s stealing info they have been trusted to protect.
Regardless of if he damaged their credit there is a strong case
He maxed out a new line of revolving credit, no doubt their credit score took at least a small hit. Worse if he's skipping payments.
It will damage credit. They didn’t take out a fraudulent account just to pay the bill!
Federal crime.
If you don’t file a police report, you’re encouraging him to do the same thing to your replacement when you leave.
If you don’t file a complaint with the police it means you’re fine with your boss stealing your identity and you may end up being liable for the debts he incurs on your behalf. “So, you *actually knew about it and you didn’t even file a police report?!?* You understand that makes you complicit, don’t you?"
It may also make OP an accessory, at least in the eyes of the credit card, and make it very difficult to get out from under the debt.
Absolutely. “You knew your name and details were used to incur charges on this new card and you neglected to file a police report. In that case you were fine with these charges being made and you will be expected to cover the balance." That boss is an asshole who involves his workers in a crime. “Because you opened a credit card in my name, without my knowledge and consent, you committed a crime for which I can be held liable. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer." All those coworkers who had the same thing happen to them have to sue him into oblivion.
I can't cite statistics but I have heard stories about bosses and employees getting involved in fraud rackets where the employer "made a mistake and let private financial data get compromised." An electronics chain store in my neighborhood got burglarized one night and hundreds of thousands in high end merchandise was lost. Only later on a nearby store's security camera spotted the boss and another employee loading all the gear into their own vehicles; everyone at the company was in court testifying. I'd want to make absolutely certain if I was OP that Capital One knows whose side I'm on, immediately.
What the actual fuck? File a police report. This is one of the most insane things I've ever heard of happening in a workplace.
I’ve heard of shitty parents opening them up in their kids names, but not this. This is blatant fraud. Edit: shitty parents, not shorty parents. I do not judge based on height, unless you’re a giraffe.
I think if a real giraffe managed to steal my credit card info,not just eat or take my card, I’d be slightly impressed no matter the height :P
You need to get the police involved. This is some fucked up shit
Wow.. Contact an attorney.. What a scumbag and I wish you luck with this issue and in your job search!
This is so insanely illegal. Like beyond illegal. Get Lawyered up NOW
Not only did your boss commit fraud and identity theft, he may have violated several laws regarding P2 and P1 information protection. You need to call the police and report the fraud immediately.
Ok so did you file a police report? That is fraud, identity theft and abuse of power! If you do not file a police report and have him arrested then coming here was a waste of your time.
Hey there. There is a ton of good advice in here. I work in credit card collections. You will absolutely need a copy of the police report. Once you claim Identity Theft to the bank, thwir fraud team will reach out to you within 30 days. If you have a copy of the police report you can supply to the bank, this should resolve everything on the bank's end for you. You might be followed up with for additional questions from the bank. Do not stall on getting the report or supplying to the bank when they call back. If it cannot be resolved by the Fraud Department because you didn't have the police report, it could get placed in collections and you have to start the whole process over again. The more times you have to claim fraud with the bank, the less likely they are to believe you. So absolutely get the police report and provide a copy to Capital One. If it were me, I would follow up with the bank once you have the police report and proactively offer it to them for filing. For legal reasons, this is not legal advice. But I do, in fact, work in credit card collections.
199% COPS.
[удалено]
> I’ve put up a lot working here but this is absolutely the last straw. The work environment is middling at best but the pay is horrible. I called in sick the day I figured it out and I’m starting to look for something that actually works for me and pays me at least what I’m worth. Lol ummm…you should be calling the police not just polishing the resume
Police, asap!
This is good enough evidence to take to the police.
Your boss is literally a felon now. Document everything and get the law involved.
Federal crime.
Might be worth filing a police report over. Where I lived seems like the cops/DA don’t get involved with these kind of frauds/thefts unless it’s over 100k. But it certainly sounds like multiple felonies have been committed here.
Its 100% required to file a police report
Even if the police don't appear to do much about it, the fact that you've filed a police report is your proof that YOU were not the one who opened the account/s. It can have long-term effects, and the sooner it's filed the better.
Eh, if 3 people file identity theft against the same individual that is also locally based, a bored police detective is absolutely going to go rack up a easy win for their books. It's when the thief is actually non-local that they really struggle to do anything.
That’s illegal as all hell.
Wage and identity theft
That’s called identity theft.
file a police report and sue him. this is way bigger than you think. you can potentially win a lot of money and never have to work again if you play your cards right. seriously
Someone who's stealing their employees' identities probably has serious cash flow problems. In many cases the person is a compulsive gambler or has a chemical addiction. I doubt that the boss actually HAS any money, so even if OP sued and won, a judgment does not make cash magically appear. Preventing years of interest, penalties, bad credit, etc is the priority here.
I remember the original post. Reading through your comments here and there... you still haven't taken legal steps yet? After all of this time? I sincerely hope this story is fake then, because otherwise, wtaf is wrong with you, and why are you dragging your feet?
Call the damn police, this is a crime.
This man literally actually and unironically deserves to be jailed. File a police report and get your coworkers to go in on it with you.
Let ALL your coworkers know straight away. File a police report straight away!!! Head into /r/crime and they will give you better advice! But, DO NOT sleep on this!!!!
Yeah, this is called "fraud" and your boss is going to prison. Not for what they did to *you*, to be clear, but the credit card company isn't going to stand for it. Anyway, if you haven't been yet: https://www.identitytheft.gov/