BIL, IRS Scam & Prepaid AmEx Cards, Oh My!
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Anonymous
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Long story short, we're on vacation with DH's family and his idiot brother confesses that he recently got scammed by one of those fake IRS scams. They convinced him to buy a number of AmEx prepaid cards and turn them over in order to change his current tax repayment plan. He fell for it and is now out $2500. He does owe the IRS money and financially this is quite a hit for him. He is trying to dispute the cards with AmEx because they were used fraudulently but has run into an issue where apparently you can only have one card registered to your name at a time and therefore can only dispute a single card. He is asking family members to register the cards (which have already been drained) in our own names so that he can get his money back. I don't know much about these prepaid cards and have an actual AmEx credit card already in my name. I think the whole thing sounds fishy but it could definitely cause issues with the family if DH and I don't agree to register cards to our own names.
Is there any financial or legal harm that could come to me or DH if we go along with the plan? Does he even have any chance of getting a refund from AmEx? I wish we were never put in this spot... Any advice? |
Anonymous
| Are you well off? Could you afford to gift him the disputed amount on one or two of those cards? I'd rather do that than start lying to AmEx. |
Anonymous
| Stay out of this. Stay far away. Buy him dinner, help with groceries but do not get in involved. |
Anonymous
| I have a hard time believing that you are only allowed to dispute one card per person, for a prepaid gift card. There are plenty of instances where someone might have multiple prepaid cards, and if they were stolen I can't imagine AmEx would say "Sorry! You can only report ONE of them stolen!" |
Anonymous
Also, looking at this link, it seems that you can't dispute charges at all - only report the cards as lost or stolen. And they won't refund your money for fraudulent debits made with the lost/stolen cards prior to you contacting them. So, yeah. Your BIL is not getting his money back from AmEx. https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/prepaid/gift-cards/terms-and-conditions.html |
Anonymous
| HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
Anonymous
| To dispute anything on a credit card (which these were not), you need to sign an affidavit and it's a huge illegal deal to lie on those. You BIL is not bright enough to pull this off. |
Anonymous
| No way, I wouldnt put anything in my name. |
Anonymous
| OP here. DH and I talked it through and determined that we just weren't comfortable doing it. DH told his brother and he wouldn't take no for an answer and kept giving him the hard sell. I was in the other room and only heard the tail end of the conversation. 30 mins later it came up again and this time I started talking to the BIL, telling him that we felt very sorry he was in the situation and would be willing to help, but not lie and file fake fraud cases in our names. He freaked out and completely lost it and start cursing and berating me in front of my kids and MIL. The conversation ended with him telling me to f* off and to have a nice life as he grabbed his keys and stormed out. I was completely shaken and in tears and we packed up and left for home within the hour. I don't know what the resolution will be, if there ever is one and am now very stressed about the future of our relationship with my husband's family. This is his only sibling so it's a very small group. |
Anonymous
Not sure if you're a troll, but obviously it's better not to have a relationship with a volatile individual like your BIL. Someone who's willing to lie, cheat, commit fraud, ask you to commit fraud, and then yell and swear at you in front of your family? I'd pay good money not to have a relationship with someone like that. You get to never see him again for FREE. Win-win. |
Anonymous
| I'm definitely not a troll... I wish more than anything that this was some made up story and not my actual life. Like I said, DH's immediate (and extended for that matter) family is very, very small and they're all he's got. BIL has always been the one with issues so this is nothing new. Clearly I don't want to have him in my life but I don't see a way around it when it comes to family gatherings, holidays, etc. |
Anonymous
| You did the right thing. His story is super fishy to begin with...and I would never trust the word of someone who's stupid enough to think the IRS would ask to be paid in prepaid AmEx cards. I've known people like this, and they want to make saying no to them so incredibly unpleasant that you're afraid to do it, even in really clear-cut situations like these. Small family or not, you can't let yourself be bullied, and you sure as shit can't lay down and take abuse in front of your kids. If I were you, I'd be done with this asshole, forever. Full stop. |
Anonymous
| OP think about this. Your BIL was such a poor planner that he ended up owing the IRS. The IRS if he made arrangements with them ONLY communicates to taxpayers in writing. He says he got a call that could cure his tax issue with Amex gift cards (how did the thieves obtain the cards by the way??). Then the only way for him to get his $ back is to pull in multiple family members into a scheme. And you guys are the @ssholes for not playing along?? Sorry the family is small, but this is far from his first bonehead move. And sorry it's your husband's only sibling. But also irrelevant. |
Anonymous
| Do not commit fraud . No no no . Don't break a law for someone else |
Anonymous
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Your BIL is scamming you. Why do you and your children to be around him after that? Have MIL bail him out. What a dork.
$2500? One can make that working 2nd job within a month or 2. He needs to be working and not meeting up with family where he can yell at them for not helping him. |