or FedEx, or the USPS? I’ve emailed them all, but no responses yet.
I received some counterfeit rims from an unscrupulous merchant. I had them authenticated (determined to be counterfeit) by an expert witness from my local dealership. My credit card company is trying to get me to ship the counterfeit rims back to the scam artist. That just seems, i.d.k. wrong… I have offered to surrender the counterfeits to the state police, but my credit card company is refusing. My next step is to contact the local FBI branch to get their take on what my credit card company is commanding me to do.
I doubt the FBI are going to want them, but it’s a good idea to ask I suppose.
If the credit card company is asking you to send them back, and you have written documentation stating that, and you’re not being asked to pay for shipping, I don’t know why you wouldn’t just send them back.
You’re not shipping counterfeit goods in order to commit fraud, you’re returning goods you know to be fake and don’t want.
Failing a criminal conviction or your seller losing some big lawsuit over selling counterfeits, the only way to get your money back is to return them. And yes, UPS or whatever will just accept them, after all there’s no proof they are counterfeit.
Sure there’s proof they’re counterfeit. I have a signed letter by an expert witness.
I ask whether the counterfeits can be shipped via these methods because my entire career would be significantly impacted if I were ever to be even charged with something illegal.
Suppose you were to take an indelible marker and write on each wheel: “This is NOT a [name brand] wheel!” Wouldn’t this avoid the contention that you were shipping counterfeit goods? Surely the rules against such shipping are based on the notion that the shipper has an intent to deceive.
I have a feeling you don’t feel like sharing details but this made me go :dubious:. There’s nothing “wrong” with being charged, as far as I know - cops make mistakes, too, witnesses have bad eyesight/memory, etc. It’s the conviction that could cause an impact. (IANAL - any of you legal types wanna tell me this is wrong?)
Anyway - your intention is NOT to commit fraud, and you’re following instructions from your CC co. so I don’t see how you could be charged with anything at all.
Why would it be illegal to ship counterfeit goods?
The crime would be ***selling ***counterfeit goods, or shipping / crossing borders with them; as others have pointed out, with intent to deceive. (Or advertising for sale, attempting to sell, etc.)
You can return incorrect goods to the original place of business no problem. Best I can tell, the only issue would be if you found yourself in possession of known-to-be-stolen goods.
I would suggest also notifying the (real) manufacturer who owns the name rights, so they are aware of the situation. Then leave it up to them to sort out the mess.
I agree that it would be a kindness to the copyright owner to alert them if they don’t already know, but I doubt that I’d count on them to “sort out the mess” on behalf of the OP’s credit card charge. That’s still up to him, the CC co. and the deceitful counterfeit maker.
I guess you haven’t filled out too many visa applications and other forms from foreign governments, many of which request details of all arrests, whether or not they resulted in a charge and conviction. Knowing how capricious and/or conniving some governments can be, it wouldn’t surprise me if a mere arrest were used as a pretext for denying the application. Someone whose job depends on a lot of international travel could well be devastated, or at least significantly inconvenienced, by an arrest record.
So? You can be “charged” for walking down the street. What the OP proposes is not illegal, thus he is no more likely to be charged for that than any other thing some cop could dream up.
Seriously, if you ever need to contact law enforcement, you should be doing it in person or on the phone. That reduces the ambiguity of the information conveyed. A phone call also helps determine if you are the genuine article asking for help and guidance, or another crackpot email/letter to either circular file or track.
A call to the local PD might have been a good start, especially if they recommended you then contact the FBI.
I believe the OP was uncertain of this, hence the thread. Hopefully that uncertainty has been resolved by the responses.
Whether or not merely being charged with some kind of criminal activity could constitute an occupational hazard for the OP is a separate issue. Googling “fired after being charged” suggests that terminations upon the filing of criminal charges are not unheard-of. The NFL is notable for levying suspensions on players after they’re merely charged with crimes, without waiting for the whole legal drama to play out.
I don’t know what industry the OP works in. It’s probably not the National Football League; I bring them up only because they are a high-visibility counterexample against claims that criminal charges, later dismissed, can never result in professional harm.
