Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: credit card fraud

Follow your good instincts and make the arrangements necessary to allow your daughter to

pay off the debt for which she is responsible

and which will minimize any possible adverse consequences to the family as a whole.

Re: credit card fraud

Yes, I think this is tricky. It is unlikely that the credit card company would cause any criminal action against her, or even investigate much at all. They might not even have enough evidence to find out who made the charges, if not you.

However, there is a genuine risk that it could come down to some kind of charges, even criminal charges. And that is not what you are looking for.

Between you and the credit card company, I don't believe there is any way for you to escape responsibility other than to say that your daughter used the card without your authorization. I don't think there is any middle ground. And if you don't want to point the finger at her, there may be no other way.

However, I don't know if a stern talk would work with your daughter that there are two possibilities: (1) she pays for the charges and makes it good (and you immediately close the account to avoid any further charges) or (2) in the course of explaining to the credit card company that the charges are not yours, there is a very real danger that it could lead to criminal charges against her. You will want to be clear and careful in how you explain this. Explain to her that there is no middle road. The only way you can tell the credit card company that you are not responsible is to tell them that your daughter committed a crime. There isn't any other choice available.

So I don't know if her understanding that dilemma, that there are only two choice available, will sober her up and get her to pay for the charges and not try something like this again.

By the way, it does not help her establish credit to be using your name instead of her own!