A “friend” (?) I’ll call Shelly called me yesterday and wants me to help her use a scanner, at a local Kinko’s. From what she said when she called, she has an insurance paper and wants to change a date on it. I am concerned about whether she wants me to help her use computer hardware to falsify insurance documents, something for which she (and I) could face criminal penalties for doing. :eek:
Am I overly concerned, or should I regard her as an ant trying to push a locomotive off the track? (You get the idea)
I believe your first instinct is correct. Let her commit her own crimes.
Can’t you simply ask her why she wants to do that? If it’s for any dishonest (or illegal) reason then just politely decline or make up an excuse.
It may be that she accidentally entered the wrong date and she doesn`t have a spare form to fill out. Maybe whiteout would be too obvious and unprofessional looking. Asking her “why” should be in your bounds since she is the one asking for you to go out of your way to meet her.
A scanner won’t give that hot a copy as it would have to do text recognition first. Better to type on some paper & tack that to the form & copy it. Wether she is doing something she shouldn’t be, I can’t tell.
They wouldn’t have to do character recognition first, they could scan and modify it just like any other image. The scanner doesn’t know or care if that image is really text.
My opinion is that asking her for an explanation wouldn’t be out of the question.
Even if her reason for altering the form is legitimate, it could be that the act of altering it could get her in trouble. She’d be better off talking to the insurance people or a lawyer, and seeing if she can attach supporting documentation for the change.
And, of course, if she IS trying to pull something, I say she’s on her own.
I agree with Scarlett. Even if her intention is honest, somebody at the insurance company might see that the document is a copy and suspect foul play, which could end up costing her policy. If you get involved you might end up being accused of fraud yourself.
Don’t do it. I can’t think of any good legal reason for her to do this, and all sorts of illegal ones.
Another vote for run away.
“They wouldn’t have to do character recognition first, they could scan and modify it just like any other image.”
Yeah, I’ve done it that way & it sucks, it’s clear it’s been altered. What if it’s not a complete b/w document?
If you don’t want to do it, just say you are ‘too busy’
As Scarlett67 said, if she has a legitimate reason for needing to change the date, she should be able to simply get in touch with the insurance company for either a new form or some other documentation. Otherwise, it sounds more than a little shady. Don’t do it.