Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site gatech.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!hplabs!sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!akgua!gatech!spaf From: spaf@gatech.UUCP (Gene Spafford) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: Credit Card (mis)Usage Message-ID: <8265@gatech.UUCP> Date: Wed, 20-Jun-84 19:48:15 EDT Article-I.D.: gatech.8265 Posted: Wed Jun 20 19:48:15 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 23-Jun-84 04:13:29 EDT References: <394@teldata.UUCP> Organization: The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech Lines: 33 First off, check with the consumer protection agencies in your state and in CA. The crime was committed in CA (fraud) and occurred as a STATE crime. Thus, contact the state attorney general in CA. Don't pay for the charge when it shows up on your bill. Submit IN WRITING a letter explaining why you aren't going to pay the charges. The merchant was taking a risk in accepting a charge without validating the identity of the purchaser. To my knowledge, it is the responsibility of the merchant to ensure that the person using the charge is actually the authorized user of the card. That is why a merchant may ask for other ID when you make a purchase. It is up to the merchant to recover the cost of the item which was purchased, although you may be responsible for the first $50 of the charge. Check with a lawyer for specifics. Third (maybe you should do it first), get a new account number IMMEDIATELY and list the old one as stolen. That will prevent you being liable for any further charges. Last of all, if any further charges result which occur across state boundaries, contact the FBI. In fact, try it now. Wire fraud statutes cover a number of cases such as you mention, and placing a fraudulent order over the phone constitutes wire fraud. I'm not a lawyer, so don't believe anything I say. Of course, if I was a lawyer, you still shouldn't trust me... -- Off the Wall of Gene Spafford The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332 Phone: (404) 894-6169, (404) 894-6170 [messages] CSNet: Spaf @ GATech ARPA: Spaf%GATech.CSNet @ CSNet-Relay.ARPA uucp: ...!{akgua,allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,masscomp,ut-ngp}!gatech!spaf ...!{rlgvax,sb1,uf-cgrl,unmvax,ut-sally}!gatech!spaf