quote:

Tricked into Opening a Credit Card that Went on My Credit Report?

I am a 32 [M] and was at a Cincinnati Reds game with my girlfriend about a month ago. They had a promotion to get a free hat if you signed up for their Reds Credit Card. My girlfriend and I each got one and used it to buy some food, beer, and souvenirs from the game. We had a great time. Flash forward a month and we are furious. My girlfriend was trading in her car for a newer model and when discussing financing, the dealer said they couldn't give her the discounted interest rate because of her credit score. We checked her credit report and found that we had "Derogatory Marks", a recent application, late fees, a missed payment, and interest charges.

We eventually figured out that it was from the Reds card. I went online and bought a copy of my credit report as well and found similar sayings on my report and a huge hit to my credit score. How in the hell can a baseball stadium issue a real credit card, let alone a card that ends up on my credit report?

Is there anything I can do to get this removed because they tricked me into opening it? No reasonable person would assume that a Reds Card that you get with a hat could end up on your credit score. Should I get the BBB involved? Who do I go to for issues like this? With my credit score so low, my income is going to be impacted and the Reds should not be able to change my credit report or my girlfriends. Her new car is going to cost thousands of extra dollars because of this bullshit. So this is a very real and very serious problem that needs to get resolved ASAP.

Any help is appreciated.

monster on a stick posted:

GWM: divorcing with no assets means there's nothing to split

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

My question is: What did the guy and his girlfriend think was happening with the charges for the beer, food, and souvenirs they bought?

Nail Rat posted:

Wait so they thought the card was a pretend card that gave them free money to use to get hundreds of dollars of stuff from a baseball game?

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Can I use my credit card to take the place of margin in my brokerage account?

Schwab won't grant me margin privileges and I know I'll make it back with some option plays on bank earnings this week. Does anyone have experience with cash advances?

quote:

Help! My short position got crushed, and now I owe E-Trade $106,445.56

I was holding KBIO short overnight for what I thought was a nice $2.00 fade coming. At the close of the bell I saw the quote montage clear out and figured today there was no action after hours in the stock. So I went to my office for a long meeting. I got out of the meeting and saw a message from one of my buddy’s, he asked if I was ok since I was short KBIO.

I've started a GoFundMe to help pay it off. If you don’t want to donate I understand, at least read my story of what happened today and protect yourself from the same happening to you. This is a terrible lesson for me but if this helps just one person than I’m happy I wrote this.

quote:

Wife and I couldn't agree on Variable vs. Fixed mortgage. We went with variable and got into a fight. Divorcing two months after mortgage. How do I proceed and estimate my future costs?

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Some tales from the margins:



He ended up liquidating his and his wife's 401k, and taking out a HELOC to pay off the debt. He also raised $5,128 on his GoFundMe.

Nail Rat posted:

Wait so they thought the card was a pretend card that gave them free money to use to get hundreds of dollars of stuff from a baseball game?

edit: where is the credit card one? I NEED to read the comments.

https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/5oma3g/tricked_into_opening_a_credit_card_that_went_into/ posted:

Two years ago I was shopping at Victoria's secret when one of the sales girls suggested I signup for a VS angels rewards card. I assumed it was just another store rewards cards where you get points everytime you buy and then you can redeem the points for free gifts etc.

Turns out it was a credit card and I wasn't aware of that. She asked me to type in my SSN and I typed it without knowing and being completely unaware of the credit card signup process (I am not a US citizen and this happened when I moved to New York City two years ago with a job).

So I got a card and didn't use it but then I got a call from some bank saying I owe $50 on the card. I said no and asked them to cancel that card since I didn't ask for it and they said they will cancel once I pay $50. So I paid it and then the next month I got another call with another $50 charge which made me very angry and I refused to pay. They suggested negotiating a lower price but I adamantly refused to pay saying they're being fraudulent. (It was a bank called comnety bank that apparently manages VS angels credit cards).

Anyway, the man on the phone promised me he will cancel my account and I ended up forgetting this issue. Now recently I checked my credit report and it says I have this account as a negative remark because it has $150 in collections and also a 30 day past due remark for October. I am so furious now and I called this bank and Victoria's secret customer service but they are unable to give me any resolution. I feel that this is very unfair so is there any way for me to get this removed from my credit report. I am about to rent a new apartment in Manhattan and I can't afford to have bad credit.

Nail Rat posted:

Leon what subreddit was the credit card story from and how far back? Google and reddit search are no help and I have a burning desire to see what helpful advice he got.

quote:

Jobs in Japan

What job can one apply for in Japan with basic knowledge of the language and still make a decent salary (apart from teaching English)?

quote:

Already got the ticket so that is not a factor in cost calculations.

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What happens if I keep going along with my grandma's illegal schemes?

Age 12 I went to a "behavioral hospital". I got out and was forced to go to a therapist. My grandma forced me to lie to therapist and say I saw and heard voiced, wanted to kill sister, and was extremely depressed. She filed for disability after my numerous diagnosis.

I'm 16 now. I received a letter from SSA for an appointment to be tested by a doctor for a mental evaluation (haven't given it to her yet). She'll want to be in the room to make sure I don't say the wrong thing, and gives passive agressive threats to keep my mouth shut as she answers the questions.

I've made an appointment with the school counselor who knows about it. I have no one to turn to. No family, no friends, no job. She threw me out before, I told CPS worker who didn't really do anything.
She uses the money to buy unnecessary things. Walk into the front room and you'll see a 60" flat screen, leather couch, and a leather chair.

CPS had to force her to pay for my medication (I'm trans). Now, she says she'll only pay for half. Anytime the money is used for my expenses she makes me out as selfish and hates doing it. Always keeping tabs on how much money she's given me to make me feel guilty.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. I also got a long awaited package from my doctor for my name and gender change on the same day. I reported her for fraud a while back (few months ago), so I'm not sure if this is just coincidence or they're advancing their investigation.

quote:

Parents took my mail, should I call the police now?

I had a credit card overnighted to me yesterday and my parents stole it, I don't care what kind of threats they make including kicking me out. What should I say to the police? They already admitted to taking it but they don't want me to have a credit card.

quote:

The police will likely not give a hoot unless they are using the card to make purchases.
You can file a mail theft complaint here.
You should also start looking for a new place to live because your parents will almost certainly give you a notice to vacate their housing after you burn this bridge. Think about if this is something you really want to do.


obviously i should, but i am so in debt right now moving out isn't feasible.


....then why did you get another credit card?


Because having money is nice even when you are broke? Get off your high horse dude

quote:

Hump day achievement: I just increased my credit by $7000.

Hi, reddit! I just wanted to share my happiness with someone. I received an email from Bank of America letting me know I am eligible for a credit line increase without a credit check. I put in my projected income for this year and got a credit line increase of $3500. I then went to CapOne and did the same, $3000 increase, and Discover gave me extra $500. Ca-ching! TL; DR: Went from a credit line of $14,900 to $21,900 in 15 minutes.

quote:

Horse Video Game - The Horse Saga
About this project

Hello I'm making a realistic horse video game with both Western and English riding styles. A lot of horses, events, arenas to go with.

The game will have many different features such as; gamemodes, levels, arenas, breeds, and a variety of horses. My goal is to make the ultimate horse game that runs smoothly and looks great! Please keep in mind that the game isn't laggy like in the video, looks way better too and is getting better everyday you can also follow the game progress on ...

instagram ~ The_Horse_Saga_Game

facebook ~ Thehorsesaga Videogame

twitter ~ @TheHorseSaga

reddit ~ The_Horse_Saga

the game will be on windows and android for sure. if reaches funding goal then will be on mac and apple store aswell!

song was not made by me here's the link >>

httpfreemusicarchive.orgmusicAndy_G_CohenMUL__DIV_1198Andy_G_Cohen_-_MULDIV_-_07_-_Bathed_in_Fine_Dust

quote:

Dad used Entitlement! It's Sue-per Effective!

I recently picked up a second-hame copy of a pokemon game from a well known game store franchise. I made this purchase using my loyalty card for the store. When I got home, I reset the cartridge so I could start my own playthrough (pokemon games only have one save slot, so it's necessary to remove the old save before restarting). I did briefly check the save file to see if there were any interesting pokemon, but ended up just resetting because everything was pretty standard (apart from the surfeit of pidgeys).

A few days later, I got a call from the store telling me there was an issue with the sale, and that there was someone who wanted to talk to me. I said okay, and the sales associate handed the phone over to a kid (primary school aged). Turned out it was his game, and he was pretty upset (he'd sold it, but regretted it, as far as I could work out).

Now, I'd lost a couple of pokemon games when I was young, and it was pretty upsetting, so I felt for the kid. We talked for a few minutes and I agreed to give him the game back in exchange for what the store had originally given him (quite a lot less than what I had paid the store), but apologised and told him that I'd already written over the save file so it was only the game he'd be getting back. He said he understood, and I asked him to pass me to his Mum, and I cleared both the exchange and the fact that the cartridge would be blank when it was returned with her. We arranged to meet at the store a few days later.

The hand over went fine, the kid seemed really happy to have his game back and started a new game while still in the store. The Mum thanked me, gave me the money, they left, and I didn't think any more of it beyond trying to track down another copy (it's a slightly older game).

A few days later I started getting calls from the kids Dad, yelling at me and accusing me of 'stealing' his son's pokemon, that some of the pokemon on the cart had been rare/hard to get and they'd had to go to certain places for the events to get them and that had cost money, etc. I talked for him just long enough to ascertain how he'd gotten my number (apparently the store clerk gave it to them after my call with the boy and his Mum, which I did not agree to and in fact arranged the store as the meeting place to avoid giving them my personal data) and then told him I had legally purchased the game and had done nothing wrong.

He continued to call incessantly (43 calls in three days) and sent multiple texts. I did not answer or reply. Eventually, I sent him a text telling him to cease contacting me and that any further contact would be considered harassment, and blocked his number. I did not delete his texts or the calls in my call log and am in the process of backing up my voice mail messages.

On Friday I got a letter by registered mail saying I owe >$2400 for destruction of property by the end of January and that failure to pay would result in further legal action. It included a list of expenses for the costs involved in getting some of the event pokemon (gas to stores, time, etc) but also the cost of their holiday to Japan where they apparently got one of the pokemon. There were no event pokemon on the cart when I got it. The letter was on official looking letterhead from a law firm. Googling the law firm showed they were legit.

I called the firm to find out what was going on, and they said they didn't have a lawyer by the name on the letter working there. They asked me if I could bring the letter in to them and provide any information I had about the guy and that they would like me to provide a statement.

I don't know what to do at this point. I want to help the firm, but I don't feel like it's a good idea to hand over the proof that he did this and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to give them his phone number etc. They're lawyers but not my lawyers, so they're looking out for themselves first, and while I completely understand that, I don't want to get screwed in the middle. Do I give it to them? Do I give them a certified copy instead? Is there any reason I shouldn't give it to them?

I also don't know what to do about this guy if he's willing to go to these lengths, or what to do about the store giving out my personal contact details without permission.

quote:

[Update] Dad used Impersonation! ...But nothing happened.

Firstly, thank you all for the advice and support last time. I got a lot of good guidance, and it helped make this a much more manageable mountain to tackle. Additionally, I've been amazingly touched by the community banding behind me - I've had not just one but six redditors offer me replacement copies of HG or SS or want to send me rare pokemon. Y'all are amazing.

It's been a fairly hectic couple of weeks, but it seems like my part at least is coming to an end.

I took a couple of days to get everything together - notarised copies of the forged letter, my receipt for the purchase of the game, a copy of the trade-in terms and conditions for the game store.

I also contacted my phone company and got them to print my call history, because while I'd blocked the Dad on my phone, that was just auto-rejecting the calls on my end; they were still passing through the carrier. Their logs showed he continued to call ~5-10 times a day after I blocked him (More the first two days, then less as he apparently realised I wasn't answering) and a load of text messages (no idea as to the contents though).

Once I had everything together I took it to the cops. They filed a report and despatched an officer to go give the guy a 'stop doing that' talk. They gave me a number to call direct if he contacted me again, but didn't feel I needed to look into a restraining order quite yet, which I agreed with.

The cops were far more interested in the forged letter and asked for it. I made sure I got a case number and a receipt. They headed over to the law firm to confirm/follow up.
The impersonated law firm was also my next port of call. I gave them a notarised photocopy, a usb with a digital scan and a copy of the case number attached to the original that the police had. They asked me for a written statement as well, I told them I'd let them know.

Rang my lawyer aunt (albeit corporate law) to confirm if this was something I should do. She said to go ahead, but that to be safe I should have my own lawyer check it over. She pulled in a favour with someone she'd gone through law school with. (Before anyone asks why I didn't go to her earlier - her partner has advanced Alzheimers which takes a lot of her time/energy so I feel bad about bothering her with things if I don't have to). Sent Aunt copies of everything for another physical back up.

Lawyer helped me write up the statement properly and checked to make sure there wasn't anything problematic (basically just in case anyone decided to go 'well how do we KNOW that guy sent it maybe YOU'RE trying to set HIM up' - I know, I know, probably paranoia but this whole thing has me on edge). Also drafted a cease and desist letter and sent it to the Dad, along with a denial of responsibility for the charges. Gave lawyer copies of everything.

Got in contact with head office for the game store. They investigated and talked to the staff member who called me. I was informed they were let go. They also gave me a rather excessive gift card. I feel the amount was far larger than necessary (honestly I wasn't trying to get compensation), so I kept enough to replace the game if another copy turns up and used the rest of it to buy a console and game for one of those 'toys for sick kids' charities. At least some good can come of this!

At this point, everything's in a rather murky shade of 'other people doing stuff that I don't know about'. I have a feeling from some comments made that both the cops and law firm are interested in pursuing the impersonation/forgery, but I'm not super involved in the process anymore. At this point, unless I get called back in or the Dad ignores both the cops and cease and desist letter and continues to contact me (knock on wood), I'm pretty much tapping out on my end.

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Potentially, if i had customers most of the time its open, and got some events it could make money.

Powerlurker posted:

Interestingly, one of the big red flags that an employee might be engaged in embezzlement or fraud is that they don't take vacations (because they're afraid that their backup will figure out what they've been doing) which is why executives above a certain level at major financial companies are required to take at least one two-week vacation per year.

WarMECH posted:

After years of reading these stories about people being "tricked' into signing up for credit cards, you start to see something in common between them: "I gave them my SSN".

As my kids get older I need to instill in them the knowledge to tell the difference between signing up for free promotions or loyalty cards that typically ask for name/email/phone only and going the full "name/DOB/SSN" required to open a new line of credit.

Tiny Brontosaurus posted:

That's good advice, definitely do that, but the line isn't as clear as it should be. I've had more than one internet provider insist on using my SSN as my ID for customer service, for instance. SSNs are misused constantly.

DarkHorse posted:

Just heard from my coworker that his stay-at-home wife had put down a deposit on a $2000 purebred dog, that they'd have to drive across the continent to get, that they could pick up once "they were ready" i.e. the dam hasn't even been bred yet.

When I asked him what breed it was, he said it was a "Bordoodle" - a border collie/poodle mix.

For those that don't know, both breeds are extremely high-energy and smart, meaning that if you don't give them a job to do, they will FIND something to do and it will likely involve destroying everything you love while they slowly go insane from boredom. To say nothing of paying 2 grand for what amounts to a mutt.

Thankfully he shut that poo poo down. For reference they're already a bit strapped for cash, but that's because he's being responsible saving for retirement. He did buy an enormous house at the peak of the market and sold at a loss, but that was to move to a better school district for his daughter with a minor learning disability, so I can't really fault him for that.

cowofwar posted:

How do you "shut that poo poo down" without walking away from the deposit?

ate all the Oreos posted:

Do the men get asked that question too because if not lol

quote:

Paul D. Ryals (WSBA No. 17732, admitted 1988), of Richland, was disbarred, effective May 25, 2011, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following a default hearing. This discipline is based on conduct involving the commission of a crime.

On March 21, 2009, Mr. Ryals stole a vacuum cleaner from a department store in Lynnwood, Washington.

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Browsing Washington State Bar Association disbarment records, most are for accepting settlements and not telling your client. But some are fascinating. Take this attorney, who had been practicing for 21 years:


https://www.mywsba.org/DisciplineNotice/DisciplineDetail.aspx?dID=1580

DarkHorse posted:

Just heard from my coworker that his stay-at-home wife had put down a deposit on a $2000 purebred dog, that they'd have to drive across the continent to get, that they could pick up once "they were ready" i.e. the dam hasn't even been bred yet.

HelloIAmYourHeart posted:

GWM on the breeder's part though, getting money for dogs that don't even exist yet. I have coworker who backyard breeds German shepherds, which she charges $1000 for. She had 10 puppies and has found homes for four, so she is desperately trying to find homes for these dogs before they grow up and aren't cute puppies anymore. I can't imagine she actually makes that much money from this scheme, what with supplies and vet care and all.

Twerk from Home posted:

I always thought the real winner was the owner of the purebred male, just rent him out and collect stud fees once in a while. Basically be a pimp for your dog.