Can you have someone be charged with theft or fraud if they gave you a bad credit card number?
I do home parties and someone recently gave me a credit card that is no good. The customer already has the product and now refuses to return my phone calls. She knows that the card was no good. Can I go to the police and have her charged?? Would it be theft? Or fraud?? I am in Canada. Not sure if that would make a difference to the answer.
Thanks!
It is definately illegal. If you were a caterer or something, it could fall under theft of services. Basically you came and performed a service and were not paid. To get her on something else, you might have to prove that she knew her card was no good, but that is beside the point. What it boils down to is that you did your job, she didn’t pay, and now refuses to.
The other thing you could do is sue her in Small Claims Court, or whatever your equivalent of it is there. It is basically like Judge Judy, only generally not televised and thankfully without Judge Judy. A civil suit would probably be the better way to go.
If you keep alot of paperwork…like transactions, and stuff. What they bought, when, their address and phone number ect. You could try taking it to the police and telling them what happened.
They will probably tell you that for future reference you should only except cash or money order.
Anyway if you have PROOF that this happened then you may be able to get them to find her. IF not they are gonna say it’s just your word. SO gather all your info and head to the police. It won’t hurt to get their opinion and see what they can do.
P.S. That ***** by the way. SOME PEOPLE!!
The credit card (Visa/Mastercard) is a recognized “trusted third party” between the buyer and seller. It is the duty of the seller to verify the number is accurate and the card is functional BEFORE she/he hands the product to the buyer. You also have the duty to authenticate the buyer with an ID.
That doesn’t completely take the burden off of the buyer when it comes to fraud — it’s one thing if the card was simply expired and the buyer didn’t know it — but you were sloppy as a seller. It’s another thing if the buyer was intentionally screwing you with a fake credit card.
The buyer and seller both trust Visa — the seller knows that she/he will get the money, and the buyer knows she/he will get the product IF everyone plays by the rules. Visa makes money when the buyer makes late payments.