For one Reddit user, this Christmas brought the gift of a bombshell family drama discovery.
We're talking TWO YEARS worth of unpaid electric bills in this guy's name.
Reddit user AuroliusComet found himself in a moral bind to start the 2020 year.
So much so that he posted to the "Am I The A$$hole" (AITA) subReddit for advice, a sanity check and to clear his mind.
"AITA for shutting down the electric to my moms house after finding out she had used my social security without my knowing?"
The guy seems really stuck.
But the gist of it is that this guy is 20 years old and just learned that his mom used his social security number to set up an electric account two years ago. In those two years, his mom racked up $5400 in unpaid monthly bills.
Dude now suddenly finds himself staring down the possibility of dreadful credit for a very long time.
Worst part is, the discovery came ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
He was checking his mail and came across a bill from the electric company in his name. Evidently, his mom was flawless about getting to the mail first for the past 23 months.
He goes on to describe the messy holiday confrontation:
"I texted my mom asking about it, I tried to be respectful about it, but she threw a fit, yelled at me, and immediately tried to turn the tables on me."
"She had tried saying that I told her she could use my name, but even if I did, (which I know I didn't because I would remember something like this) it's the fact she didn't pay a penny for two years, since she opened the account."
"She said things to me like I ruined Christmas, how terrible I am treating her, I don't appreciate anything she does for me, and tried holding college over my head saying she isn't going to help me do anything, or pay anything for my college if I try to do anything about the electric."
Then he dishes on his ultimate choice in dealing with the whole thing:
"After much thought and consideration, I decided to shut the power off, I gave my mom some time to figure something else out for the power to the house and I'm not sure if she thinks I'm serious or not but I intend on closing the account."
"She now has basically disowned me, and after talking to my little brother, (He's 18), I heard how she tried turning my siblings against me, telling them how terrible I am and twisting the situation in favor of her."
Plenty of Redditors weighed in and gave their take on the whole situation, giving this guy the moral assurance he clearly needs.
"NTA dude your friends are right this is abuse, and identity theft/fraud. You should not take on an extra random 5,400 in debt. That could be five months of rent, a cheap used car, or a vacation. Think about that." –u/MrPotato2753
"Go to r/legaladvice because your mother committed a massive crime, speak with a lawyer and take pictures of your mother's texts as proof of her highly illegal behavior. You need to keep a paper trail of the things she did and try to sue her for the Debt she put on you" –u/Mrsam_25
Others told him he needed to look at the bigger big picture.
"A lot of people here are focusing on you losing the money, but it's much much much more serious then that. If it was only 5400 in money, then I'd understand that you don't want to get your mother into problems."
"The thing is... it's not just the 5400. The non-payments will keep having an effect on your credit score. This is taking a hit for years. Non-payment is baaaaad."
"She can keep opening more accounts, some that you won't be aware of for years, unless of course you permanently want to act paranoid (justified in this case, but still not a fun way to live)."
"And what makes you think that if she did this to you, that she won't do it to your siblings?" –u/WicGoingAnonymous
Some, were a little less patient.
"This is a validation post. Dude, go to an attorney and work through there. Karma whoring on Reddit isn't going to help you."–u/safetyguy1988
But in the end, the subRedditors declared him NTA, Not The A$$hole.
We hope things work out for this young man and his siblings. Maybe some day his mother will understand his side.
But regardless of family relationships, identity theft is a crime.
The book HACKED: How I Recovered from Identity Theft is available here.
