Debit Card Fraud Committed by Friend

My question involves criminal law for the state of: CA

A couple of weeks ago, I reported my debit card for fraudulent charges and signed affidavits from my bank saying I didn't authorize the transactions. Yesterday, a friend confessed to using around $150 for pornography websites on my own computer. The bank reported the IP address to the authorities and it will be me that shows up in those searches. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to press charges and my friend promised to give the money back to me. Please help. Thank you.

Tell your friend - Money by Friday, or you are going to the cops. Tell him you have evidence....

Did you also report this to to the police? If so, and the police find out that the transactions occurred on your home IP address and you decline to provide any other explanation, you may very well face charges for making a false police report.

If you have NOT reported the matter to the police (which would be peculiar, because a case number is required on every affidavit of forgery/fraud from a bank that I have seen) then you can certainly resolve it how you see fit.

If there is no police report, just what "authorities" did the bank report the IP address to? And, did they tell you how they obtained the source IP address?

I believe that a police report has been filed, but I am not sure. I'll call the bank today to see what's happening there.

They obtained the IP address from those websites which apparently log your IP address when you sign up.

If it has been filed, could I cancel the chargebacks I reported so the merchants get their money back? My friend gave me the money just now so I would prefer not to get involved anymore.

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Quoting alemann

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I believe that a police report has been filed, but I am not sure. I'll call the bank today to see what's happening there.

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Usually they require YOU to report the crime to the police ... I have yet to hear of a bank doing it on your behalf. In fact, the police probably would not take such a report unless they spoke to you unless the bank is claiming to be the victim. It is exceedingly rare for a bank to report fraud or forgery with themselves as the victim unless the amounts are in the thousands of dollars. For $150 it would not be worth anyone's time.

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They obtained the IP address from those websites which apparently log your IP address when you sign up.

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Signing up is not the same as using it to conduct the transaction. I can sign up from home, and login and use the service from my phone, a laptop, or even work - all with different IPs (unless linked to my home wifi).

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If it has been filed, could I cancel the chargebacks I reported so the merchants get their money back? My friend gave me the money just now so I would prefer not to get involved anymore.

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Your bank may be miffed if you now go to them and say it was all a mastake, but you can give it a go if you want.

You can't un-ring a bell. If the police are investigating, they don't have to stop merely because you decide to pay the bill. The investigation could switch from whether somebody misused your debit card to whether you were trying to avoid paying for charges you, yourself, incurred.

Somebody put some effort into the investigation and I don't expect that they're going to be content with, "Oh, it's my IP? Then can pay the bill and let's forget this ever happened?" You can try, but....

OK thanks everyone.

I'm not sure if they are indeed investigating, they just said they "would hand over the IP address to the authorities." Whatever that means. Could mean they handed over the IP to some online list telling consumers not to sell to me.

I personally have not reported the case. But I am led to believe that the bank nor the websites involved would report it to the police since it's such a minuscule amount? I just don't feel right about not doing anything.