Many people have shady family members who are always looking for a good scam.
And more often than not, they try to bring everyone down with them.
So relatives have to stay on guard.
It’s sad and difficult to process staying away from them.
But sometimes it’s a necessity.
Redditor paintedlumiere wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback, so naturally, they came to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subreddit.
They asked:
“AITAH For Not Helping My Sister Claim Her Casino Winnings?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“My sister and B[rother]-I[n]-L[aw] like to go to the casino.”
“They also like to drag anyone they can into their messes, so I don’t mess with them.”
“She won a large amount of money at the slots, and for some reason that I don’t want to know, she told them she was me. “
“The Casino’s payout policy for the amount she won is that it is to occur during business hours.”
“She knows I won’t go anywhere with her, so she couldn’t lure me to the casino.”
“She came clean and said she’d give me a few thousand for helping.”
“She always thinks enough money will motivate anyone.”
“I told her no and hung up the phone.”
“I don’t want to be a part of any of that.”
“Now she’s got the rest of the family up my butt because, money.”
“Both of our brothers yelled at me for ‘not getting over myself enough to help her out this one time.’”
“I’m thinking she offered them some money, too.”
“But whatever.”
“Her messed-up name is not my problem.”
“She’s been hatching plans all her life, and I got dragged into them by default.”
“Our father favored her because ‘she’s the baby,’ and made me responsible for her because ‘that’s your sister. Her trouble is your trouble.’”
“I walked away when I became an adult.”
“Even if I did get along with her, I don’t go to casinos, and the thought of shenanigans with them, no ma’am Pam.”
The OP was left to wonder:
“Does my being a goody two-shoes make me a AH?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed in on some options to the question, AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A**hole.
“She’s trying to stiff you with the taxes on lottery winnings. NTA.” ~ Federal-Ferret-970
“It also could maybe mess up her metrics if she (sister) receives any government assistance.”
“Personally, F casinos, but there are definitely laws OP doesn’t want to get caught up with.”
“Fraud possible with plaintiff casino, plaintiff IRS, and plaintiff Economic Security. NTA.” ~ Hungry_Doctor_5803
“NTA. I’d be reporting the attempted fraud to the casino.”
“Your name is currently on their books.” ~ Humble_Pen_7216
“NTA, I’m wondering if she is trying to avoid paying taxes on her winnings and is thinking of sticking you with the tax bill instead.” ~ GenxBaby2
“You need to call the casino and tell them someone used your name, and it wasn’t you.”
“Casinos have a ton of surveillance and should be able to pull up the person and see it wasn’t you.”
“Up to you if you want to tell them who it was, but I don’t think you have a choice.”
“But since your name is on these winnings, YOU are in this, like it or not.”
“And there’s no telling what sis will do next, to get the money.”
“Extricate yourself now.” ~ JunkMail0604
“NTA, she’ll give you a few thousand… and then your tax bill is $20,000, or something like that, because she’s totally trying to dodge paying taxes on it.”
“Not your fault, she lied to them.”
“I would think she’d have had to provide ID at the time of winning, so she’s probably not even telling you the truth.” ~ Jerseygirl2468
“NTA. The Casino would definitely check things and find out you were not in the video winning unless you are identical twins.”
“They review all big payouts.”
“You don’t want to be caught in a fraud charge.”
“This is a huge legal mess.”
“Stay away.”
“Now that she lied, she can’t get any money.”
“She should have claimed the money and just used it to pay back whoever she legally owes money to.”
“She isn’t claiming because she either owes money (fines) or is getting State or Federal benefits, both of which are also fraud.” ~ Middle-Cupcake-7308
“100% this!!”
“As a casino employee who deals with jackpot payouts daily, absolutely do not try to claim it!!”
“They will know, and fraud charges will be pressed.”
“If you try to claim it, you would be charged as well as her!” ~ momofboys2013
“So she stole your identity, presumably because she has been banned from the casino, and now she wants you to claim it?”
“Hell naw.’
“You will also get stuck with the taxes. NTA.” ~ PartyCat78
“Either she’s putting you on the hook for taxes, or something like what happened to an acquaintance of my youth.”
“He won a bad beat jackpot playing poker for $50k+.”
“All of a sudden, he left town, and no one saw him again.”
“See, what happened was every single person he’d borrowed money from wanted to be paid back until he was found out, since the casino publicly posted it.”
“And when this deadbeat started paying money back, and then ran out, and still owed money to some people, he had some broken bones, and left the state.”
“And that didn’t stop some of these people, and some went after him legally since he had cash and they wanted to be paid back too.”
“NTA either way, and watch yourself.”
“Some of those types of people will come looking for you if that’s the case.” ~ JBThunder
“NTA. Sister is trying to avoid taxes.”
“Stay clear of her.”
“Call your tax person and explain what she did.”
“Make sure you will not be tangled in her mess.” ~ ImaginationTop5390
“NTA. I’m pretty sure that’s fraud of some sort.”
“Don’t go anywhere near someone else’s fraud.”
“If you did claim the winnings and had no problems getting the money, you would be taxed on the winnings.”
“Your sister may be trying to steal from you by getting you to claim the money, her taking all the money, and you getting taxed on the money.” ~ teresajs
“NTA, the casino has her on video winning and will know that you didn’t win the prize.”
“They may very well charge you with a crime if you try to collect the money.”
“And this is not speculation; a friend of mine had his name used as the prize winner just exactly like your sister used yours, and when he attempted to collect the money, he ended up getting charged with a crime and getting banned from the casino.”
“The charge was bulls**t; what he did isn’t considered a crime in my state, but it is in some states because it can be a way of avoiding taxes and in some states, child support.”
“But he still ended up having to do community service because he didn’t want the expense of going to trial (and didn’t have a lawyer).” ~ dusty_relic
“Your sister is up to no good.”
“Call the casino, ask for the manager, and explain what is going on.”
“Tell your sister that’s the consequence of using your name.”
“In the meantime, lock down your credit and take all safety precautions to prevent her from using your identity again.” ~ smileycat007
“NTA. I can’t see any responsible reason for her to be claiming gambling winnings under any name that isn’t her own.”
“What she is up to, I don’t know for certain – avoiding taxes, trying to get around a ban at the casino, or something else that is almost certainly breaking some law or other.”
“Personally, I would want absolutely nothing to do with whatever nonsense she is up to – something I can only expect will backfire on you as she runs off into the sunset clutching her winnings.”
“Not only that, but I would perhaps be wary with regards to what she has potentially used your name for before, too – a credit check may be worth doing…” ~ Nrysis
“NTA. There is no non-scam reason she would have lied about being you.”
“Don’t get involved.”
“Though if she doesn’t drop it, you may have to get the cops involved for identity theft.” ~ I_might_be_weasel
“Your sister is trying to get around taxes, probably.”
“Even if it isn’t about taxes, this is obviously shady, possibly illegal.”
“NTA – stay far away from that mess.” ~ Jealous-Contract7426
OP came back with an update.
“The responses that said her giving them my name involves me in this got to me.”
“I called the police.”
“The detective I spoke to said no fraud has been committed yet because the money has not been claimed, and it’s not a crime to give a false name to a casino.”
“But she also said not to relax, because nothing is stopping my sister from getting a fake ID made and claiming the money, especially since I refused to help.”
“She also mentioned the fraudulent tax liability, in case the casino didn’t spot the fake ID.”
“She said it was better to reach out to the Casino now.”
“So I did.”
“I explained the situation and made it clear that my name was given fraudulently.”
“Turns out she was banned from the casino over a separate incident.”
“When she hit the jackpot, they were prepared to payout then, once they verified her ID.”
“She told them she didn’t bring it with her and ID’d herself as me.”
“The manager told me that the case was flagged anyway.”
“They’re automatically suspicious of winners who claim they forgot their ID.”
“I’m not sure if she’s ever made a flat-out fake ID of me before.”
“But when my probationary driver’s license expired, she did use it to get into clubs while I was away at college. ”
“We looked a lot more alike back then.”
“Just forever scheming.”
“I’m glad I didn’t chance it.”
“Thank you to everyone who responded.”
Glad this worked out for you, OP.
Your sister sounds like a real piece of work.
And your family doesn’t sound like much help.
Sorry that you have to worry about this.
Good luck in the future.