I don’t mean like pretending to be a specific business, like pretending to be an associate of Coca Cola. I specifically am referring to pretending to be an official business, like if I hand you a card saying ‘Andrewdt85 Window Repair’ so you think I’m a legit business, like that- what laws are broken spec, and what’s the punishments?
If money changes hands, it would be fraud.
If you actually provide a service, then CONGRADULATIONS! You just started your own buiness. And now it has to pay taxes.
Under U.S. Federal Law, fraud is defined in Title 18, Part I, Chapter 47, sections 1001 through 1037. Section 1001(a)(2) covers people who make “any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” and they can nail you with a fine and/or up to five years in prison. This only covers Federal jurisdiction, of course. State laws, I’m sure, vary widely. Simply handing out a business card claiming you represent the ACME Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla isn’t likely to get a Federal attorney on your case, but claiming to be a licensed nuclear inspector might. Of course, once you accept money or sign contracts with someone who believes your fake credentials, watch out.
Let us know how it turns out.
I think it would depend on the actions following the claim. Just handing someone a card like that, don’t think you could be punished for anything.
But if someone gave you money for a product/service which you provide under said name, you might be required to collect and submit tax. Failure to do so could be a crime. Collecting the tax without a tax bond and tax id number could be a crime too. Conducting business under a business name without a business liscence is a crime in many counties/states. If someone provides you with private information or does something in good faith only because you tell them you are a member of a profession which you do not belong, you start dealing with fraud and you could be liable as well.
Not a WHOLE LOT of risk in just making the claim though.
Just to complete: The Feds might not come after you, but the company, if it learns that you are misrepresenting yourself as an agent of theirs, very likely will.
I agree: Let us know how this all works out for ya, ok?
Well, that assumes the ACME Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla actually exists, of course, which is something I hadn’t done.
Anybody can be a “business”. You could go out under your own name, repair windows, probably not have to charge sales tax because you are performing services rather than sell a product, collect the money and report it on Schedule C of your individual tax return .
Depending on the locality and services performed, you might be required to get a business license of some kind just to operate in that locality. If you decide to operate using a different name (ie Andy’s Window Repair’) that’s referred to as a DBA (doing business as) and you would likely be required to register that. In my area it’s a county thing and the purpose is so that a customer could go find out who “Andy” really is.
Once things get more complicated (ie setting up a separate entity, collecting sales tax, hiring employees, etc.) then … find an accountant.
I know both police detectives & private eyes who routinely use cheaply printed
business cards for whatever pretexts their doing to get information from people, or to maintain a particular cover. They also work well for surveillances in residential neighborhoods when people approach them & ask why they’re sitting in a car for so long on their block; “I’m a real estate agent waiting for one of my clients. Here’s my card” (it’s little more complexly acted out than that, but you get the idea.)
As long as they’re not using the fake business to defraud someone or commit some other crime, I really don’t know what law would be broken.
I’ve kinda done the obvious - I’ve filed taxes under a business name, though I haven’t actually used it during the financial transactions I was reporting - I just handled them as chris kennington*, freelance programmer.
However, in the eyes of the government, (I suspect,) I was acting as the owner and sole proprietor of ChrisKWeb software productions.
(*names have been changed to protect the innocent. 
)
Meant to say that I’ve done the opposite or the reverse. Somehow those two words got mixed up in my head, I think, and came out as “obvious”.
Hey, that was in Chinatown- Jake took that dudes business cards and just handed them out authoratatively, pretending to be him…
Anyways, the reason I ask is b/c I found out this guy who put a card on my car for an Auto Glass shop and when I called agreed to meet me at a grocery store lot to fix it (not to do anything mischevious; it was a busy lot), for a price I knew was legit and for parts that prob. were too considering that the service he was doing really can’t be done w/ illegit parts (replacing back windshield- you need the exact glass and rubber for the make and vehicle), but I googled the business name and it’s non existent and I called him and it’s obvious he was joking and lying and it’s fake. And on his card he offers ‘lifetime warranty on leaks’. Somehow, despite the fact that I know he’s giving legit parts (well, AFAIcan tell) and for a legit price and saving people time as opposed to going to mechanics, I can’t imagine what his version of a lifetime warranty might be- it’s gotta be a scam part of his operation.
So what laws does he break? I’m not gonna report him or anything…
Not exactly. Doing that may be crime as you’re impersonating someone who actually exists. What my buddies do is print up cards with their real names on it, but phony company names and occupations.
Yeah, read what I just ^^^ posted and I mention just that.
AND I’M ASKING- WHAT LAWS DO THESE PEOPLE BREAK? ONLY OUT OF CURIOUSITY.
Seriously- even if I knew he was scamming people, which, as I explained, I certainly don’t, I would just call him again and explain not to distribute them in this particular neighborhood or I’d tell the cops. End of story.
I don’t know if he’s scamming or not. It’s not illegal to be self employed and simply have a business card stating what you do.
Just because his business name doesn’t come up on Google means nothing. I have a gun dealership on the side. I have a federal license to do it. I have business cards with a business name on it. But you won’t find it on Google, or even in a telephone directory. But I’m 100% legit. And legal.
But speaking of licensing…he may need some kind of license to do that sort of work. That may be how you determin if hes legit or not. Contact your states division of Licensing & regulations and find out if he needs (and has) some sort of professional license for that kind of work. http://www.crimetime.com/online.htm
None! It’s a free country. There is no “official directory of authorized businesses” in the United States. If you say you’re a business, you’re a business.
You might be confused with the concept of “incorporation”, which entails limited liability and different tax treatment and does require paperwork filed with a state government. Opening a sole proprietorship doesn’t. As long as yuor friend (a) isn’t doing anything that requires a license–and I don’t believe auto repair does; and (b) reports his business income on his personal tax return; he’s perfectly legit.