Comment by ryandrake
17 days ago
I never understand these "identity theft" cases. This dispute has nothing to do with the person whose numbers were fraudulently used. This should be between CashApp and the scammer. At best, CashApp is the victim of bank fraud. At worst, they were negligent in allowing an account to be opened based entirely on non-secret information. Shouldn't authorities have to prove that this random person did something wrong?
I agree. The onerous nature of KYC rules is the mechanism usually used to correctly assign the problem to the person who did not run KYC well. What actually happens in these scenarios? It seems to me that the victim here should be able to sue CashApp for claiming to represent her, but that’s unlikely to work, right?
It is definitely strange if I walk up to someone and claim to be a lawyer for their employer who needs their badge. Is the employer the victim of identity theft? Doesn’t seem convincing to me.
>This dispute has nothing to do with the person whose numbers were fraudulently used. This should be between CashApp and the scammer.
No, because scamming people is a crime, not just a civil dispute, so the police are involved. It's like if someone got drunk and then crashed into you. You could certainly go after the driver for damages (civil), but the police can independently go after the driver criminally (drunk/reckless driving).
>Shouldn't authorities have to prove that this random person did something wrong?
They do, but there's a gap between when someone's arrested and when the trial happens, and in that time the person can detailed, have to post bail, lose their job, etc. When it does go to trial, I suspect even an overworked public defender would be able to raise reasonable doubt for her to get free, but as the saying goes, "you can beat the rap but not the ride".
These companies make it way too easy to create accounts. When I opened my bank accounts years ago I had to show up in person at a bank branch with proof of residency and 2 forms of ID.
Because to a large degree the "justice" system only pays lip service to the idea of innocent until proven guilty.
This is pretty clearly identity theft, but to admit it would throw egg on somebody's face.
they should, and they do. that's what the prosecution will attempt to prove to the jury at trial.
the burden of proof is on the prosecutor, but the defendant stands a better chance by presenting evidence that it wasn't her.
It should not get this far. The identifying info they used is not real. Police and prosecutors are being criminals here. Every single person involved could have stopped this. They all chose to lie and keep her in prison and charge her. One day, someone will be armed and won't submit to a false arrest. This is going to spiral out of hand with all the fake AI based arrests that are increasing.