Press charges for theft, fraud, etc. He doesn't sound like the brightest criminal
Resolution option No. 2: Go to the authorities
Experts advise victims of familiar fraud to approach their situation just as they would if they didn't know their perpetrator by placing a 90-day fraud alert on their credit, filing a police report and disputing all fraudulent accounts and charges.
Victims "need to file a police report for us to be able to proactively remove information" from a credit report," said Experian's Griffin. "The same thing will likely happen with lenders. We need to somehow verify that it is in fact fraud, especially if it is a case within a family. The police report does that."
You can't trust anybody. Not even your own cousin.
Thomas Nitzsche
Familiar fraud victim and certified credit counselor
Filing a police report also gives victims easy access to additional long-term fraud protection. "If you are willing to file a police report, you can also file for an extended fraud statement that will last for seven years from each of the bureaus," Griffin said. "And if your situation is extreme, you would also have the option of requesting a credit freeze from each of the credit bureaus at no cost if you have a police report."
The police report may play key role in clearing up a victim's credit, but the decision whether to file a police report is often a difficult one, according to Velasquez."They might fear retaliation because the relationship is a toxic one; other times it could be that the individual thought they had a good relationship with the thief and are so devastated when this turns out to be untrue, they simply cannot admit that identity theft is actually occurring," she said. Victims will look for any reason for this to be a mistake. "By filing a police report, they are admitting that it's real, and that they have been betrayed."
Nitzsche confronted his cousin about using his credit card illegally, then decided to take the case to authorities because he couldn't rely on his cousin to help resolve the situation another way.
"If it's not taken care of, you have to be willing to press charges," Nitzsche explained. "I did and it resulted in my cousin actually going to jail for a period of time. You don't want to be accountable for their irresponsible actions."
Regardless of the path to resolution, a victim should not give up. "Part of this process involves digging your heels in," Betz-Hamilton said. "I never let it go. If you want to know the answers, keep digging. If you need to, find a different angle to get the results you are looking for. The truth shall prevail."
Do you think calling the police and having him put in jail will help his situation? I can't know what it's like to have your own brother do this to you, it's got to really hurt, but I feel that after prison he'll come out worse than going in. American prisons aren't designed for rehabilitation.
Don't have any advice, just wanted to say sorry you have to put up with this man. Hopefully your brother will get the help he very obviously needs. Sucks he put you in a situation where the best option is having him arrested, but it seems like the only way he will get cleaned up is if your mom stops enabling him and he has to answer for his actions.
Wow, that's terrible, man. Hope everything goes well. I can't imagine what you're going through, especially since it sounds like it's been happening for a long time.
Sorry to hear about this. Sad that things would come to this, but it seems you have your brother and rest of family's best interests at heart. Hope it all turns out alright in the end.
I believe that if you report the charges as fraudulent with your bank, and help them providing them what you know, they will take care of the rest. That's what we do in AMEX.
I am going through a personal crisis with my brother who is an addict, and was hoping for some advice. This might be long winded so i apologize, but any help is greatly appreciated.
My brother has been an addict for the past 12 years, totally terrorizing my family. Stealing, fights, and putting my entire family in danger thanks to an enabling mother who just cannot let him go.
Last month my Chase card info was stolen. All the transactions happened to be right in my hometown and i didn't lose my card. I knew it was my brother because of the stores it was used in and he has done this many times before. I fixed everything, and eventually found out he stole a bunch of cards from my parents house that i somehow left there and admitted to it. I couldn't understand how he did it, because I thought i only had one card, but i forgot my mom had a card because she was an authorized user in case she needed it. I closed that chapter and told myself i was done with him and was moving on. I changed all of my accounts except for my debit because i know for a fact i only have one card and he doesn't have access.
Well today, i go into my debit card account and notice a bunch of transactions again. This time not in my hometown, but two towns over where i also know he frequents. Per usual, the odds of someone phishing my numbers offline and using it so close to home are slim to none.
But this time i am at a loss of how he did it because i only have one debit card for that account. And these were physical purchases in store.
My question is this. What can i do to get this kid in trouble for fraud and put him behind bars? He is terrorizing my family and me, making threats to my mother, and even bring trouble to my parents home.
I would think if these places have surveilance, they could check the videos and see him using my info somehow or card right?
I live in NH and this is happening in MA. Would i call the MA police or NH?
I really appreciate anyone taking the time to respond to this............
You should have called the police the first time and it probably wouldn't be happening again. If you don't, there will be a 3rd time....
Comments
I imagine you'd call the local authorities if he stole your card info locally, and let them deal with MA.
Resolution option No. 2: Go to the authorities
Experts advise victims of familiar fraud to approach their situation just as they would if they didn't know their perpetrator by placing a 90-day fraud alert on their credit, filing a police report and disputing all fraudulent accounts and charges.
Victims "need to file a police report for us to be able to proactively remove information" from a credit report," said Experian's Griffin. "The same thing will likely happen with lenders. We need to somehow verify that it is in fact fraud, especially if it is a case within a family. The police report does that."
You can't trust anybody. Not even your own cousin.
Familiar fraud victim and certified credit counselor
Filing a police report also gives victims easy access to additional long-term fraud protection. "If you are willing to file a police report, you can also file for an extended fraud statement that will last for seven years from each of the bureaus," Griffin said. "And if your situation is extreme, you would also have the option of requesting a credit freeze from each of the credit bureaus at no cost if you have a police report."
The police report may play key role in clearing up a victim's credit, but the decision whether to file a police report is often a difficult one, according to Velasquez."They might fear retaliation because the relationship is a toxic one; other times it could be that the individual thought they had a good relationship with the thief and are so devastated when this turns out to be untrue, they simply cannot admit that identity theft is actually occurring," she said. Victims will look for any reason for this to be a mistake. "By filing a police report, they are admitting that it's real, and that they have been betrayed."
Nitzsche confronted his cousin about using his credit card illegally, then decided to take the case to authorities because he couldn't rely on his cousin to help resolve the situation another way.
"If it's not taken care of, you have to be willing to press charges," Nitzsche explained. "I did and it resulted in my cousin actually going to jail for a period of time. You don't want to be accountable for their irresponsible actions."
Regardless of the path to resolution, a victim should not give up. "Part of this process involves digging your heels in," Betz-Hamilton said. "I never let it go. If you want to know the answers, keep digging. If you need to, find a different angle to get the results you are looking for. The truth shall prevail."
Whatever you do, please be careful and be safe.
Just my opinion, don't mean to cause any offense.
Hey Na,
I am going through a personal crisis with my brother who is an addict, and was hoping for some advice. This might be long winded so i apologize, but any help is greatly appreciated.
My brother has been an addict for the past 12 years, totally terrorizing my family. Stealing, fights, and putting my entire family in danger thanks to an enabling mother who just cannot let him go.
Last month my Chase card info was stolen. All the transactions happened to be right in my hometown and i didn't lose my card. I knew it was my brother because of the stores it was used in and he has done this many times before. I fixed everything, and eventually found out he stole a bunch of cards from my parents house that i somehow left there and admitted to it. I couldn't understand how he did it, because I thought i only had one card, but i forgot my mom had a card because she was an authorized user in case she needed it. I closed that chapter and told myself i was done with him and was moving on. I changed all of my accounts except for my debit because i know for a fact i only have one card and he doesn't have access.
Well today, i go into my debit card account and notice a bunch of transactions again. This time not in my hometown, but two towns over where i also know he frequents. Per usual, the odds of someone phishing my numbers offline and using it so close to home are slim to none.
But this time i am at a loss of how he did it because i only have one debit card for that account. And these were physical purchases in store.
My question is this. What can i do to get this kid in trouble for fraud and put him behind bars? He is terrorizing my family and me, making threats to my mother, and even bring trouble to my parents home.
I would think if these places have surveilance, they could check the videos and see him using my info somehow or card right?
I live in NH and this is happening in MA. Would i call the MA police or NH?
I really appreciate anyone taking the time to respond to this............
You should have called the police the first time and it probably wouldn't be happening again. If you don't, there will be a 3rd time....
Those rehab places are just out to get money, they might help someone that isn't in too deep, but it's so hard to get long time addicts off the shit.