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Minor Pretending To Be An Adult To Operate a Business

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  • 08-15-2006, 10:08 PM
    JoeW
    Minor Pretending To Be An Adult To Operate a Business
    Hello. There are multiple aspects to this situation, and I am going to give limited information to protect myself and the individual however I am interested if this is considered fraud.

    A kid who is 15 years old, who lived in the Miami Florida area, owns a website. His website, is a game in which you can pay to play, or not. Payment gives you extra features, and whatnot. Of course, if somebody knew the owner[s] were 15 years old - kids - most people wouldn't donate money to them. Well, before this point they were only in a "BETA" stage, meaning they were testing the game and users "donated" (via PayPal) to get "BETA Access", meaning they would be able to play the game before the general population and test it etc.

    My question is, would it be considered fraud if this individual claims he is 22 years old and he has a partner who we suspect is really a alias of himself. He claims he owns a company, has an office building, and a telephone line however the office building may exsist, however we have no way to prove that it is owned or leased by the company he mentions because there is no way to get their phone number with only the address and their company is not listed in any sort of phonebook while the telephone according to an website and confirmed by the owner is only a cellular telephone devise that only his "buisness partner" answers - for basic customer support etc.

    Because the staff of this game, are all under the impression that this game will hit it off, they will be paid at that point, and the aspect that a 15 year old has all of these persons personal information (names, addresses, scanned lisences/identification, and possibly in some cases social security numbers) would it be considered fraud for him to be continuing this upon the aspect that we only know that he is 15 years old yet we know nothing else about his partner, and we only have allegations that the company/office connection are illegitimate.

    Also, if you are not familair with Paypal.com it is a company owned by Ebay in which you can use ACH Transfers, and transfer money via PayPal.com however according to PayPal's terms and conditions, you must be 18 years old to use their services and they only accept these "donations" via PayPal. Thus, they are in violation of their Terms and Conditions, if he is the only person and if the company is fake.

    Do you know of anywhere that I could visit online (preferrably free because I don't want to invest in this) in which I can get a phone number by typing in an address or being able to get information on a building by just providing and address? I know the building exsists, but once again I have no way to figure out who owns the building or if this company even leases it. While also, the primary question is it considered fraud if you lie about your age in these circumstances and if so, who should I report this to?

    Cheers,
    -Joe
  • 08-15-2006, 11:21 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    Fraud involves a misrepresentation material to the transaction, where you rely upon the misrepresentation to your detriment. I don't see that the age of the proprietor is material to the service you would be buying or that there is a detriment - whether he's 15, 55, or 150 you're getting the exact service you're paying for, aren't you? What's the injury? Also, you claim to know his actual age so you can't claim to be relying upon his representation of being older.

    If he's violating PayPal's terms of service, that's something they can investigate and act upon.
  • 08-16-2006, 10:56 AM
    JoeW
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    Maybe I didn't explain it well enough however fraud as defined by Dictionary.com is
    1. A deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain.
    2. A piece of trickery; a trick.
    3.
    1. One that defrauds; a cheat.
    2. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor.

    Well, wouldn't him lying about his name, address, company, and creating possibly 3 aliases be considered fraud because of the aspect thet he is tricking users into donating him money so he can possibly run with it all?

    Lets say I can prove his company is fallacious, and that all the other administration are really just aliases of him as we suspect - at that point, would it be considered fraud?

    If it is not fraud, is it something else? Is ths child doing something illegal because it dosen't seem as if what he is doing should be legal.
  • 08-16-2006, 11:01 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    A dictionary definition isn't relevant. You need to apply the legal definition.

    I hardly dare ask what a "fellacious" company is. (Would I look in the dictionary under fellati... er, I probably shouldn't go there. ;))
  • 08-16-2006, 11:09 AM
    JoeW
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    Fallacious*

    My Mistake :D
  • 08-18-2006, 05:22 PM
    JoeW
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    He stated yesterday on the telephone he hasn't filed any of the revenue in which this game has recieved through sponsorship and payment for services. Where would I go about to report this Tax Fraud - especially if he is only 15?
  • 08-18-2006, 05:27 PM
    Happy Trails
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    Quote:

    Quoting JoeW
    View Post
    He stated yesterday on the telephone he hasn't filed any of the revenue in which this game has recieved through sponsorship and payment for services. Where would I go about to report this Tax Fraud - especially if he is only 15?

    How do you know if he made any profit that required him to report it?
  • 08-21-2006, 07:04 PM
    JoeW
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    a. Because there is a large userbase of paid members, and he hasn't registered his buisness etc.

    b. Because I was affiiliated with the company, until I disovered the fraud going about.

    I sent a reporting form to the IRS, we'll see if they actually decide to pick up the case. I also sent a report to some other organization - it was like the Federal Buisness Bureau or Trade Office or something I do not remember but it was posted on another legal form.

    Any other suggestions? I simply want to ensure that this illegal activity stops.
  • 08-21-2006, 07:18 PM
    Happy Trails
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    Quote:

    Quoting JoeW
    View Post
    a. Because there is a large userbase of paid members, and he hasn't registered his buisness etc.

    b. Because I was affiiliated with the company, until I disovered the fraud going about.

    I sent a reporting form to the IRS, we'll see if they actually decide to pick up the case. I also sent a report to some other organization - it was like the Federal Buisness Bureau or Trade Office or something I do not remember but it was posted on another legal form.

    Any other suggestions? I simply want to ensure that this illegal activity stops.


    How long has he been doing business?
  • 08-22-2006, 11:42 AM
    JoeW
    Re: Is this considered "fraud"?
    TS2005, they originated (and recieved profit) in 2005. Thus, when his parents filed they would have committed Tax Fraud, because they didn't include the buisness nor the profit in which they recieved online from this website.
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