I am so upset right now. I just called chase about a balance transfer, and they said they had received an email about me being underage, and that their fraud dept would just send out a letter requesting my birthdate. The only people who know about this are my parents and best friend. They also gave me the email address, and it was my best friends. He denies doing it, and said it has to be an error. I am going to definitely cancel the card. Will they think it odd I cancel the card when they request to verify information? What would they do to me if they actually did find out. I just don't want to go to prison, and I know how stupid I was to do what I did. Advice is badly needed. I am so hurt because my friend would do this to me. I guess he was jealous because I had credit cards or something. I'm just very stressed about this, and need some comforting.
Relax, you're not going to jail. The ones in trouble are Chase for entering into a contract with a minor. Pay off any balance you owe and close the card. No muss- no fuss!
GO TO PRISON??? I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!! All that will happen is that they will close your account and DEMAND payment in full. END OF STORY...unless they "PULL" a credit report and notify all other credit cards you have...
06-11-02...<4 months away...tell them you can't provide any documentation till 06-11-02...your having it mailed by a credit card payment posting service!!!
Matty, Forgive the "mother hen" advice but, if you're only 17, you're getting into a bad habit if you're running balances on a credit card.
No worries, Matty! I would close it before they do so that it doesn't show up on your reports as closed by them. Personally, I congratulate you for what you've accomplished. It's too bad your friend doesn't learn from you.
Thank you all! I know I've done wrong by lying, but after seeing all everyone here has accomplished, I was just too tempted. I had those little horns come out of my head! I am so disgusted with my friend, because he has been my best friend since preschool. It really hurts me to be betrayed, and then he still denies it. I just got off the phone with Chase, and they did close all the accounts for me and never mentioned anything about the email this time. I guess you get bit in the ass for what you've done sooner or later. Keepmine, you have a very good point. I have only ran a balance the last month, because I had to repair my card. It will tempt me a lot less to only have a few cards. I appreciate your advice SOO much! You all are so supportive and I appreciate everything you have done for me.
Ok guys, here's my situation. I've got 3 cards left. Here's the status. Discover Platinum (wrong DOB) Citi Plat Select, just lowered rate (wrong DOB) ICCU Visa (Correct DOB) I want to keep the Iccu Visa and Citi Plat. I am going to BT the amount from Discover to Citi at 0% and close Discover. The issuers don't contact one another do they? Also, my friend just called me and asked me if I had any other accounts open. I know he is playing stupid with me and I am not going to have it. He's like, well they can't legally give out my email address over the phone, and also said someone had hacked his email account. He told me that he had received emails from Chase about me having the wrong DOB and also Discover, but Discover said they had verified my DOB as correct. I know he is feeding me a line of shit, because there is no way in hell that they would know who my friend is and his email address. It doesn't fit together, but I was just like "yeah, that is weird." I also told him ALL my credit card accounts are closed, and from now on, I'm not telling him anything. And, to lay it into him, I said things on the phone such as "If I ever find out who did this, I'll never talk to them again." "I consider this treason against a friend", etc. I really laid it into him hoping he would admit he did it, but he didn't say anything, but he did pause and was like "yeah, I know." I think my psychological approach worked. It just makes me sick, becuase when you think you have a best friend, they betray you. He even went as far as saying one of my other friends mentioned turning me in, when I know they never would do so. Well guys, I guess I am still distraught even though most of the accounts are closed. Hats off to all of you who have offered me consolation and support. God Bless you all. I will have to do something for each of you for all of your advice.
Matty, I wouldn't close Discover as long as you are running a balance. You don't want Citi to do an A/R and see you with a balance and only 2 cards. Those favorable rates may go away. Also, you may get Discover to budge on their rates after a few months of zero balance. This is just a personal opinion but, for every card with a balance, you should have at least 2 with no balance just to have some plave to go if the issuer you have a balance with decides to be difficult.
Are you sure I should keep it open? What if Chase notifies all the other issuers? Do you think they would do this? Can the card issuer do anything legally if the account is closed and has a zero balance? Would they pursue a case against me?
I don't know if I am giving bad advise here, but I would keep the cards. But be RESPONSIBLE with them. You are building up your credit history which hopefully after reading posts on this board you realize it is one of your most important assets. I would keep a small balance on these cards and pay every month no matter what. You signed the contracts for these cards as a minor. I would research the laws in your state and see what the age of consent is for entering into contracts. If it is 18 in your state and later on in life you have financial trouble you could use this as your defense. But no matter what you do, pay the bill for these cards every month. You have a golden, once in a lifetime opportunity here to get a good credit rating that will help you for the rest of your life. Don't blow it.
Matty, Relax! I have no idea what Chase will do. And, whatever they do, there is nothing you can do about it. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal {betrayal by a friend not included in this statement}. If they contact Discover and Discover cancels you then so be it. Not a thing you can do so why worry. But, if you can keep it open, I think you should but, don't lose anymore sleep over it.
Matty, I'm going to provide a few opposing views: 1) If you read many of your older posts, you've mentioned carrying balances months ago. Despite that, you're giving keepmine the impression that you've only started running a balance last month because you had to repair your car. (If you didn't have credit cards, you'd still have to repair your car, although you'd have to find a different way to do it. Teenagers sometimes have their cars repaired without doing it on credit -- and so do adults.) Bottom line: I think your response to keepmine was misleading and really speaks to your comfort level with respect to dishonesty. 2) I don't think you've accomplished anything by opening credit card accounts when it's illegal for you to have them. First of all, anyone who has zero negatives can acquire quite a few good credit cards if they're of age. (Ask many seniors in high school who've reached 18 who've applied. Or visit any college campus -- they're crawling with credit cards.) Second of all, you lied to get them. Long ago, you told us that you knew the banks had an incorrect birthdate for you. Question to think about: at what point is an "accomplishment" a sham if blatant dishonesty is involved? I realize you've asked for comfort, but I don't think it will necessarily help you to have a bunch of adults pat your back, congratulate you, and generally provide a lot of positive reinforcement about this. The reason? Because you might internalize those warm fuzzies and stack it up to "no big deal, I got caught" -- then years down the road those positively-reinforced old dishonest habits learned years before may be put into play in order to "achieve" some accomplishment, perk, or material item and then get you into real trouble. Unlike this time, though, what you do at age 27 may well land you in jail. No, Matty, you're not going to jail. No, JP Morgan Chase won't allocate resources to prosecute your parents. No, nothing will come of this. However, "comfort," "congratulations," and "all you've accomplished" shouldn't really be on the table either. Sorry, Matty, I've worked with teenagers for years, and believe it or not, practically every single one has appreciated my no-bullshit honest approach. Maybe you'll be the first one who'll register a no-vote, and I can live with that. Regardless, though, I hope the lesson you take from this isn't that others will always approve and nurture you if you knowingly break the law. Doc
Pysch, I can understand where you are coming from, and I do realize I did wrong. Other than this, I've never done anything serious. I've never stolen, got in a fight, not even skipped a class. I guess I wanted something much too early. Yes, I have carried balances on cards before, but I usually paid every 2 weeks to keep the balances low. I appreciate your advice, and will take it into account. I personally feel a little consolation is needed too. It's not so much the lying about the date of birth, but the betrayal by a friend that upsets me. I know the lying thing is serious. I would never go out and charge up the cards and then not pay them, I'm not that type of person. I would always pay well over the minimum payment. I just don't want you to perceive me as some kind of a monster, because I really am not. I know I have done wrong, and am just very concerned about the repercussions this could bring about. But once again, thank you for your advice, and thanks to everyone else too.
Matty If you opened any of these accounts illegally, you need to close them immediately. Hold your standards higher than ever at a time like this. You will sleep better and it will build charactar that will last a lifetime. You have got all your life to be in debt my friend.
Thank you godaddyo, that has got to be the best piece of advice I've seen yet. I think I will heed it. Thank you.
