Credit card Fraud (by family member)

bethanyrayne

kenneth1946 wrote: »

I've already spoken to a Solicitor over the phone and there is no guarantee that he wont go to Prison.
My Wife will have a nervous break down if I go to the Police.
I honestly don't know what to do. I am not willing to Pay his debt and I am not in a position to get further loans to help him.

I don't know whether to call the CC companies and tell them the truth.

No, there is no guarantee and given the position of a solicitor he would have to make that clear. However, why dont you ask him how likely that scenario is?

Do it and do it now! This predicament will NOT end until you take ownership of it and deal with it!

nobblyned

Does your son have a house?

As he has a good job can he raise a loan to pay the card companies back, therefore taking the credit into his name? Either as a mortgage or unsecured?

jimbo26

What happens to your son would depend on his criminal history. If it's a first offence I would say prison was highly unlikely.

The most likely option would be a community based order with maybe a compensation order.

kenneth1946

He doesnt own a house.

He's had a few cautions in the past for silly things. One however was for fraud. This however was when he was 17.
He's also been charged for theft about 10 years ago.

poet123

Then I would say prison was not so unlikely........I can see where your wife is coming from,but as this is not the first time he has been dishonest he has not learned his lesson from the other occasions has he?

Time to play hardball I think,spell it out ot him that he needs to get a loan,to pay the amounts needed or you will have no option but to tell the CC company about the FRAUD he has committed. Tell him your health and that of your wife is suffering(which it must be,stress of this nature is very bad for you)and you cannot let it continue.

miss_corerupted

can't he apply for a loan in his name to clear the debt?

it then comes of your name, and he messes up it's him that will be affected.

I would never let be 2nd card holder on anything again and probably need to make it crystal clear if he does it agian you will report him.

i would probably tell him i was for a few days and let him stew

mystic_trev

Kenneth, is there any chance you can do some part time work to help pay off the debt? B&Q and many of the Supermarkets will employ the 'older' person.

Difficult situation, hope you manage to work it out.

simongregson

If you do not have the money to pay off the debt and he doesn't then I see that you have little option to report the fraud. I realise that this is a difficult decision to come to, but it does seem to me that your son has a track record and has not learnt his lesson in the past. I agree with the poster who has said that you should give him the option of paying you off in full, or you're going to have to report it as you are not in a position to do otherwise financially. This gives him a way of avoiding the police, but not avoiding the debt that he has fraudulently obtained. Perhaps he could remortgage his house?

Legally, you are responsible for the debt on the card where he is an authorised card holder. You are responsible for none of the debt on the card he 'added himself' as a cardholder, but obviously need to report the fraud.

You can get a marker put on your credit report so any future credit applications will be checked with you for fraud. I think it is called a CIFAS marker?

Lavendyr

I understand you not wanting to give your own son over to the police. But are you really doing him any favours by picking up the pieces for him? If you let him get away with this, what might he try next? How much more could he take next time? Who else could he hurt?

It's so tough, and I am really sorry you are in this situation. But I think that it would be better for your son in the long run to have to face up to his theft now. Yes, he might go to prison, but in all honesty, that is what you get for breaking the law, and he needs to learn that he cannot behave like this and get away with it. I'm really sorry this sounds so blunt as I know this is your own child we are talking about, but this really sounds like one of those times where a bit of tough love now could ultimately go a long way to prevent something even worse happening in future.

Very best of luck to you and your family.

Gillianh2

Kenneth
This is an horrendous situation. You said your Son has a good job could he not afford to increase the monthly payments to cover this debt?
I would avoid going to the Police if at all possible and Yes your Son has done wrong and needs to face up to his resposibilties. But if you go to the Police how would your relationship with your Wife be affected? Would you be able to cope if your Son did recieve a custodial sentence (a very real possibility given his previous history)How would this affect his child.
There are no easy answers to this and your Son needs a damn good kick up the axxxe, He needs to come up with a more realsitic way of helping you to repay this debt asap.
Perhaps you could go to the CAB and ask for advice and help from them to set up a repayment plan. They carry some clout if they contact CC on your behalf.

Good Luck