Is This Refund Fraud?

[mbj]

I just received something in the mail regarding my son.They are saying that an incident occurred on a certain date in a Walmart involving my son, They Never called the police, Never called me... I called the police station regarding this and The Sergeant on duty told me this sounded very odd and wanted additional information regarding it as well. I called the attorney's office and they tried to tell me that they got information from my son's ID, my son doesn't carry ID, maybe a school ID but that doesn't have our address on it. They said to give them a call in a couple of days to get additional information. Apparently Walmart pressured my son to sign something and now sending me a bill. Is this Legit?

[Security Consultant]

Refund fraud? You post nothing about that in the body of your post. It sounds like a Civil Recovery notice. If your son signed such a document he would of been given a copy. Have you asked him? Is he a juvenile? In what state is this?

[Bireyn]

I'm just gonna take a guess here and say that your son was busted for shoplifting and tried to hide it from you. Don't hate me for that, it's the only thing that makes sense with what you said. What exactly did you recieve in the mail, are they just notifying you of an 'incident', or are they requesting money?

[mbj]

Refund fraud? You post nothing about that in the body of your post. It sounds like a Civil Recovery notice. If your son signed such a document he would of been given a copy. Have you asked him? Is he a juvenile? In what state is this?

Yes my son is a Juvenile. We are in CA. Since I don't commit crimes, I saw this bill as "Refund Fraud" on the stores part. I feel like since The police nor I was ever contacted about this, I feel like I am being railroaded here

[mbj]

Oh and NO, my son was never given a copy

[souperdave]

I'd have to agree with the previous post. I'd be willing to bet that WallyWorld busted your son at something and did not call the cops or you.
You may want to call the store's manager, if your son is a juvie and there was no notification of any 'authority' figure like police and/or parents, dependent on your states statutes, there may be legal requirements to make notification(s) in the event of juvenile custodial issues. I know in my state there is.

[mbj]

I'm just gonna take a guess here and say that your son was busted for shoplifting and tried to hide it from you. Don't hate me for that, it's the only thing that makes sense with what you said. What exactly did you recieve in the mail, are they just notifying you of an 'incident', or are they requesting money?

More like my son and WALMART chose to hide this from me and the police. They are requested money and it is the first notification I got regarding this. It says Walmart has a claim against me using penal code 490.5 (b) (c), unless I pay in 20 days of the notice, they will file civil action against me and may request pre-litigation attorneys fee. They dont even know my name, they address it as Parents of-

[mbj]

My son told me that the document that he was forced to sign was something stating that he is not allowed to return. The person that made my son sign, presented himself as a police officer to my son, which I feel is to intimidate my son and make him feel pressured into signing it. this person worked for Walmart. They are obviously abusing this document for monetary gain. My son also told me that he specifically asked this guy if he was going to have to pay for anything and he was told "NO".

[souperdave]

What, pray tell, did your son allegedly do?

[mbj]

What, pray tell, did your son allegedly do?

The form says 490.5. That is shoplifting.....correct? You said that your state requires parental or some sort of authority contact? What state are you in? Do you know if that includes CA? Couldn't tell you what happened there...I was NEVER Notified...which I find really upsetting