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I worked with a guy that had falsified some records to hide some misdeeds in his younger years. He made it 19 years before something unrelated forced us to do
by pbj1968 3y ago
I worked with a guy that had falsified some records to hide some misdeeds in his younger years. He made it 19 years before something unrelated forced us to do thorough background checks on our employees. He was escorted off the premises by police and his benefits voided by HR.
All I’m saying is… at some point you got away with it. We did him dirty.
- alexey-salmin 3y agoWhy were his benefits voided after 19 years of work? What does it have to do with identity?
- fbdab103 3y agoHow much leeway does HR have to yank earned benefits? After two decades of doing the work, seems like they are entitled. If someone lied about getting a degree, would HR pull the 401k after a 20 year career? Faked a few certifications? Any lie is enough?
- 1123581321 3y agoThey can’t yank any vested money, whether it’s 401k contributions from the employer or accrued pension benefits. An employee of 19 years shouldn’t have lost much but missing a 20-year milestone for a pension might’ve hurt. This is the case even if you’re convicted of a crime, let alone just fired.
- bombcar 3y agoAt some point there should be squatters rights to an identity.
- wbl 3y agoYou can start going by another name. Nobody side eyes Bob for not going by Robert. What makes this different is the fraud.
- btilly 3y agoIf the identity is unused, sure. But if you've been destroying someone else's life, as here, absolutely not.
- nmstoker 3y agoThe key part is you cannot change your birthday - that aspect makes it clear identity theft and not just use of a different given name (legal in many jurisdictions).
- btilly 3y agoI'm sorry. Are you claiming that an actress who lies about her age is conducting clear identity theft? I have a sister who belongs in jail then!
- qingcharles 3y agoIt's problematic. I have a friend who is a parolee. He had trouble getting parole. It was only once he was out and parole officers kept looking at him funny and whispering about him having a fucked-up record that we looked into it and found someone else had used his identity while he was in prison and committed a dozen really heinous crimes which all got added to my friend's record somehow.
- mikrotikker 3y agoAs long as they get some squatters lefts too.
- mlyle 3y agoWhat about the "true owner" of the identity, if there is one? In the article's case, there was a guy who was imprisoned for a couple of years and forcibly medicated because his identity was stolen.
- givemeethekeys 3y agoID thief pats rent and some back rent too.
- givemeethekeys 3y agoSorry, I meant, "pays" and not "pats"
- ars 3y agoI would be much more OK with what he did (at some point the stolen identity IS his identity), but not when there's a living person who also has that identity!!
- AnarchismIsCool 3y agoI know there are plenty of hyper puritanical people who would disagree with me, but I feel like people really embody the ship of theseus paradox. We're just not the same person we were decades ago. I really don't care if you were running around dealing drugs, robbing banks, stealing cars or whatever two decades ago. If I found out one of my coworkers was a career bank robber I'd just want to get a beer and hear the crazy stories.
- takinola 3y agoLegally, the statute of limitations addresses this very problem. You aren’t going to be dragged off to jail in your forties for some shoplifting you did in your twenties. Socially, we probably should adopt something similar. Depending on the crime (non-violent, low cost to society, one time), we should all pretty much pretend it didn’t happen after about 5 - 10 years.
- HeatrayEnjoyer 3y agoStatue of limitations is only on being charged. The conviction record is what causes problems and that sticks around for life in the US.
- takinola 3y agoI agree there should be a statute of limitations on criminal records as well.
- wpietri 3y agoOn the one hand, sure. When I started reading this new story, I was like, "If the guy has lived that long under a name, it's kinda his name now, right?" But then I read how thoroughly he fucked over the guy whose name he stole in 2019, or 30 years after he started using the name. So some people may not be the same 20 years later. But some of them sure the hell are.
- qingcharles 3y agoI was just recently given 24 hours to pack whatever I could carry and leave my home after the landlord's daughter found out my real government name which I rarely use and found a newspaper article about where I was arrested on false charges 11 years ago. (I spent 10 years in jail awaiting trial and then the charges were dropped) Most of the newspapers completely removed all mentions of the case, bless them, but it's the Internet -- removing something from the Internet is like trying to take the pee out of a swimming pool. After asking how I was going to manage on the streets, homeless (it was -30*C at the time), he did come to his senses somewhat and get me a couple of week's grace which let me find somewhere else to stay.