Son using Prepaid Mastercard to send money to strangers via

[Anonymous]

I bought one of these Prepaid Mastercards found in drug store chains to teach him financial   responsability and because it is easier than carrying cash. I have access to the account statement online and I saw that he made 3 money transfers to strangers. Two of them were to males out of the country,in Mexico and Panama. The other was to a female in Florida. We live in North Carolina. I was hoping someone here could provide any ideas as to why a fifteen year old boy would be making these money transfers?

[Anonymous]

did you ask him?

[Anonymous]

Yes. he claims they were all fraud transactions. But I saw a Western Union Send Money slip that was not filled out. I was thinking that maybe he was planning to send from the local supermarket but he decided to send online but was told by one or more of the recivers to send the money transfer over the internet.

[Anonymous]

Identity theft is the first thing that comes to mind.

The other is that you're a troll implying that your kid is buying drugs via Western Union transfer, which is pretty ludicrous--Mexico, Panama, and North Carolina being reasonably well-known drug source areas.

Or there's porn or gambling involved.

Or the kid just made some friends in chat rooms and is a soft touch for a con.

Or the kid is buying spanish lessons from natives and/or illegal aliens in NC.

Or he's making big-hearted donations to charities to feed hungry children.

Or he's supporting missionaries.

Or they're not strangers to the kid.  Maybe he's loaning money to friends on vacation who are paying him back.

I had a friend get raided by a federal agency once.  Seemed they noticed something suspicious getting shipped to his house, looked and saw he didn't have a license for a related item that they thought he would have had if it were an "innocent" transaction, and assumed he was Up To No Good.  Didn't help that they were looking to gin up publicity for congressional appropriations and the friend is rather famous.

Turns out he was accepting a mail delivery for a friend who was on vacation and wasn't going to be home to receive it--who *did* have the proper licenses for the related items---and it was all legal, innocent, and perfectly legitimate.

One of those things that looked horribly damning, and if he couldn't *prove* it was innocent people would have said, "Yeah, right."  But it actually turned out there was a perfectly innocent but non-obvious explanation.

On the minor off-chance that you're *not* a troll, you might want to ask your kid about it, as the other poster suggested, before jumping to horrid conclusions.

Timoclea

[Anonymous]

Oh, a female in *Florida*.  Sorry.

Still, he could be a soft-touch for a con, engaging in non-institutional but genuine charity or missionary support, ordering unique hand-crafted Christmas presents from 'net vendors, or doing something illicit.

If it was *my* child I sure would ask before assuming.

Even if an innocent explanation *seems* unlikely, kids do some really bizarre *innocent* things sometimes because they don't have enough experience to know how damning those things may seem on the surface to people with only bits of the story, and to cover their asses.

Adults tend to automatically think about how bits and pieces of what they do could look to busybodies and gossips with dirty minds and cover their asses.  Like I said--automatically--without even really noticing they're following the 12th Commandment:  Thou Shalt Cover Thine Ass From the Malicious Gossip of Mrs. Grundy.

If you're not a troll (which you probably are) *ask* your kid about it before jumping to conclusions.  You *know* if he's doing something wrong he's going to stutter and hem and haw when you show him the bill and ask him about the transactions.  

Unless it's identity theft---which is a real possibility.  Kids also don't have the life experience or judgement to do a good job safeguarding their identity and account information.

Maybe he bought a video game or access to a sex site online and very stupidly gave shady people his credit card and personal information.

Timoclea

[Anonymous]

My friends said pretty much the same thing. They just added Ebay Auction payments and they said steroids are easy to get for anybody on the internet and Western Union is a popular payment method for steroids.It came around his birthday. We are not a wealthy family. The three money transfers totaled 250 dollars. 100 each to Mexico and Panama and 50 to Florida. Plus 15 dollar fees for each making it a purchase of 295.He usually spends any gift money quickly and usually on video games , movies , and the like. He got around 450 total for his birthday and his only purchase that I know of besides the transfers was buying a basketball game for his PS2.It is possible he has made other transfers offline or online that have not showed up on his card statement.

[BSarro]

Prepaid Credit cards are popular among the low class. I would suggest getting American Express Gift Cheques, which can not be used online or be used to make money transfers..This sounds like he is buying illegal steroids or drugs or paying off gambling debts.Does he play poker?Many tenens play poker. Does he like to make bets with people on sporting events or whatever?In any case, I think your son might need intervention.Maybe start him off in a Wilderness or Boot Camp Program.

[Anonymous]

maybe quit giving him *money*?

[Nihilanthic]

North Carolina is a drug source area? eh?

I live there... um... all I see is pot and booze.

If they can get you to ask the wrong questions they don't have to worry about the answers

--Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (Proverbs for Paranoids)