Parents use son's name to open credit card to fund vacations leading him to bankruptcy

Relationships are built on trust and mutual respect, especially between parents and children. Usually, parents provide their kids with social and financial security and in return, when the parents grow older, the kids do the same for their parents. But what happens when there is abuse in the family dynamics and parents cross the boundary by committing "identity theft?" It happened with u/notatypo-dad. The son's mother and father went on vacation to spend time on cruises using a credit card registered in his name without his knowledge, which left him with a debt of over $10,000. He shared his dilemma with the Reddit community.

"My parents opened a credit card in my name and used the money to go on cruises. I thought it was odd they went on two in the last year, especially since they never went on vacations before, but didn't think a lot of it since they never talked about wanting to go on vacation," the son started his post. A couple of weeks ago, he received a letter from the collection agency asking him to pay over $10,000 for a credit card. The son further claimed that he did some deep digging and found that his parents opened that account. "Through my own investigating, it became obvious either my mom or dad opened the account in my name last year," he wrote.

Furthermore, the son inquired about the credit card from his father. "At first, my dad said maybe the address was a typo and someone else opened the account," he elaborated. After listening to his parents, the son revealed the card was registered at their address. The father later admitted that both he and the mother opened credit cards in his name, along with his siblings' names. Following this, they spent this money to start going on vacations. "He said they intended on paying it back, but the monthly payments were just too high, so they stopped," the son further added.

He was taken aback by the parents' advice. He shared, "Their 'advice' to me was to file for bankruptcy, at which point my mom chimed in and said if I was going to do that, let them open up some more cards in my name first." The man now says he has been keeping it low-key and maintaining distance from his parents since then. "I was absolutely dumbfounded and just stormed out of their house. I haven't spoken with them since and have ignored their calls. I guess I'd just like a little direction on what to do here. My relationship with my parents has always been fine, but this just seems to be too much," the son concluded his post and asked for some advice from the community.

People on the platform advised the man to stay away from his parents, who, according to them, have committed identity theft. u/Happy_Escape861 wrote, "You're the victim of identity theft, plain and simple. It doesn't matter who did it or what your relationship is with them. They broke the law; now they have to face the consequences of their actions." u/Calculagraph shared, "They stole at least 5 years of OP's life, replacing it with financial anxiety. So, they could trade norovirus back and forth with a bunch of strangers in open water. Build that case." u/GothWitchOfBrooklyn added, "It happened to two of my best friends (a brother and sister). Their parents were drug addicts and destroyed their credit before they were out of high school."