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Thanks for replying PattyPA.
So would it be just a lie but NOT a fraud if I had said "a money order came for John's payment" rather than "from John"?
Or is any lie also fraud?
I certainly don't have a lawyer's understanding of just what is fraud and what isn't. I look at it this way: John owed $167 before this incident, and he still owed $167 afterward. The company came out even -- no gain or loss. It isn't like I marked his account paid, put my money order in the cash drawer, then changed my mind, voided the transction, and took the money order back. That would be fraud/dishonesty/theft or whatever, even if I had paid for the money order.
Hypothetical: I take John Doe's water bill, buy a money order, pay the bill at city hall, and don't tell them I'm not John. Does the city consider the bill paid? Did anyone commit fraud, or do anything illegal or unethical? Was anyone harmed in any way?
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I would have thought "half-baked idea" and "knee-jerk reaction at the eleventh hour" were enough of a hint that I wasn't thinking logically. My objective was to keep my job and avoid unemployment altogether, not to make sure I protected my eligibility for it. People would never get anything done at work if they stopped to ask "Will I still be able to get unemployment?" before deciding to do something.
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I may be misunderstanding this, or perhaps reading too much into it, but it almost seems like you would be glad, or take some satisfaction if you're right .
I have read many of your comments and responses to other threads here, and found them to be generally helpful and supportive, with hardly any "Yeps" or "Nopes." In my case, not so much. To see if it was just me, I asked two friends to read my post and your reply, and they agree. I'm not sure what it might be about my situation or the questions, but you seem to be almost offended that I would ask for advice about it.

