Fake name on credit card

L

Legal Fool

New Member
Jurisdiction
Ohio
A few years ago, in response to ads from MasterCard, I requested a second credit card be added to my account which is an offer typically used by a spouse or other family member. In my case, though, I requested a card with an obviously fake name (something like "Captain Fantastic"). I was surprised when they actually issued the card but I have never actually used it.

My intention in requesting this card was an attempt to maintain my privacy in certain cases where payees collect customer information, store it in databases and market it to others. I never intended to use this card for any kind of obviously illegal means such as obtaining products or services without actually paying for them. My intent was always to pay for anything purchased under this name as it would be billed to my single MasterCard account and any misuse would affect my credit and long-time good standing.

Recently I have started thinking about using this card but have been somewhat concerned about the legal issues. Is my thinking correct that as long as I use this card and pay for any purchases I make then there is nothing wrong with this idea?
 
You are best off to never use the card. You already committed fraud by providing false information to obtain credit. Don't press your luck.
 
Thanks mightymoose,

Can you explain to me how this is fraud? I admit that I am not a expert but every legal definition of fraud that I have researched indicates that there must be intent to obtain something of value or doing some type of harm to a victim in exchange for the misrepresentation.

For example, let's say I use the credit card with the fake name and then pay the bill when it is sent to me at the end of the month. Who is the victim? Who did I defraud?

Also, I did not provide this false information to 'obtain credit.' As noted, I am a long-time MasterCard holder with excellent credit and payment history. I simply responded to MasterCard's question asking if I'd like to obtain a second card for my account.

mightymoose said:
You are best off to never use the card. You already committed fraud by providing false information to obtain credit. Don't press your luck.
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I imagine the answers you seek are in the details of the request you made to get the card, which would typically include a statement that the information you provided is true and correct.
Knowingly providing false information to obtain the card shows intent to defraud. The victim is the creditor.
 
Not arguing - asking. I thought a man was entitled to use any name he wanted to unless it was to impersonate someone else or to obtain something that he would not otherwise be entitled to. He's not impersonating any other individual and if I understand him correctly, all the financial information he provided was correct - in other words, he would still have gotten the card if he'd used his right name. So how is this a problem?

Granted, if he's asked for backup identification he may have trouble using the card. But I'm not seeing fraud here.
 
While I agree that I may have violated MasterCard's terms and conditions I still don't understand why this is considered fraud in the legal sense. Again, I had no intent to obtain anything of value or harm someone. Please explain what acceptable evidence they could provide in court proceedings to prove that I did obtain something of value or harm someone and why the court would reject my evidence of responsibly paying all bills that were sent to me.

Another thing I should point out is that according to the terms of the second card "Captain Fantastic" is not responsible for the credit - I am - under the normal terms of the primary account in my real name. In fact, they did not ask for any information about this person, other than his name, which would normally be used for researching credit worthiness.

mightymoose said:
I imagine the answers you seek are in the details of the request you made to get the card, which would typically include a statement that the information you provided is true and correct.
Knowingly providing false information to obtain the card shows intent to defraud. The victim is the creditor.
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There is no fraud here. Period. You'd already qualified for the account and you're responsible for the charges you make with the card. You're also allowed to use an alias as long it's not for fraudulent purposes.

Besides, these days, wherever you use the card you slide it into a card reader and nobody sees the name anyway.

The exception is purchasing online where "name as it appears on card" is required. I don't know what would happen if you tried that with Captain Fantastic. I wonder what would happen if you set up a billing and shipping account for Captain Fantastic, like if you wanted to be anonymous while ordering sex toys online.
 
Thanks adjusterjack,

I do actually have a physical MasterCard with the name "Captain Fantastic" (which itself is actually an alias for the real fake name that's on the card!) so I believe that I could use it online.

As far as sticking it in a card reader goes I do not know what kind of electronic information goes into the merchant's database when I make a purchase. I have to assume that it is much more than just the card number which, by the way, is the same number that's on my real physical card.

I am still considering whether or not I am going to use this card. I might review the MasterCard terms and conditions first though.

adjusterjack said:
There is no fraud here. Period. You'd already qualified for the account and you're responsible for the charges you make with the card. You're also allowed to use an alias as long it's not for fraudulent purposes.

Besides, these days, wherever you use the card you slide it into a card reader and nobody sees the name anyway.

The exception is purchasing online where "name as it appears on card" is required. I don't know what would happen if you tried that with Captain Fantastic. I wonder what would happen if you set up a billing and shipping account for Captain Fantastic, like if you wanted to be anonymous while ordering sex toys online.
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cbg said:
Not arguing - asking. I thought a man was entitled to use any name he wanted to unless it was to impersonate someone else or to obtain something that he would not otherwise be entitled to. He's not impersonating any other individual and if I understand him correctly, all the financial information he provided was correct - in other words, he would still have gotten the card if he'd used his right name. So how is this a problem?
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You are quite correct, ma'am.

I would only quibble with this sentence:

I thought a man was entitled to use any name he wanted to unless it was to impersonate someone else or to obtain something that he would not otherwise be entitled to.

I'd have written it this way, these days:

"I thought a PERSON was entitled to use any name THE PERSON wanted to unless it was to impersonate someone else or to obtain something that THE PERSON would not otherwise be entitled to."
 
Legal Fool said:
I am still considering whether or not I am going to use this card. I might review the MasterCard terms and conditions first though.
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If you pay your credit card bills on time, the card issuer would never know, nor would they have any concern.

I have a friend who has held an AMEX card for his dog for 15 years.
His dog died five years ago, and he keeps the card to remember his beloved pet.

I also know a woman who lost her son in Iraq back in 2005.
He was only 18 years when he died as a marine.
She gave him a Visa card when he left for basic.
He took that card into combat with him.
She keeps renewing the card and occasionally uses it to keep his memory alive.

People might do things others think odd, but that doesn't make their actions illegal.
 
Legal Fool said:
I do actually have a physical MasterCard with the name "Captain Fantastic" (which itself is actually an alias for the real fake name that's on the card!) so I believe that I could use it online.
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You have inspired me to get a couple credit cards bearing unusual monikers.

I don't know exactly what they'll be, YET, but I'm thinking carefully about the names I'll use.
 
I did think about that, Army Judge, but decided to go with the male pronoun as collective. You make a good point, however.
 
cbg said:
I did think about that, Army Judge, but decided to go with the male pronoun as collective. You make a good point, however.
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I have been lectured, even chastised, about the male perspective; especially alleged white male privilege, and misogyny.

In an effort to atone for the accident of birth which adorned me with an XY pair chromosomes, rather than an XX pair, I endeavor to correctly use my pronouns.

These aren't the times in which I became of age, so I must adjust to them.

Tongue in cheek, of course, @cbg ; tongue in cheek. :D
 
If a line of credit was obtained using fictitious information then it is fraudulent.
Apparently you are describing something different. I don't see why any bank would issue a credit card with only a name provided.
 
Actually, it is fraudulent. You lied on the application in order to induce them to expend resources on issuing the new card.
 
mightymoose said:
If a line of credit was obtained using fictitious information then it is fraudulent.
Apparently you are describing something different. I don't see why any bank would issue a credit card with only a name provided.
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We allowed each of our young adult children us a credit card while in the 1st & 2nd years of college or the military.

They each had the ability to use the card up to a monthly limit (even a transaction limit) we set and monitored.

My wife and I were guarantors of whatever they used.

The bank didn't care if a monkey used the card because two humans with well established credit were guaranteeing repayment.
 

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