Help Me Avoid Bankruptcy
Donation protected
Dear friends, family and anyone else who might see this,
I'm very sorry to have to ask, but I am in a great deal of trouble and I need help.
As many of you know, I started a small, personal chef business to help pay my bills and debts while I go back to graduate school. What many of you do not know is that this business, and now I myself, have become a victim of identity theft and fraud.
A person unknown recently stole the identity of one of my customers, and then used it to hire me to plan and cater a phony event for them and used stolen credit cards to pay me. I will not bore you with the details except to say it was a very clever scam, featuring real payments that I dispensed after the funds had cleared only to learn later that they had been issued by fradulent cards.
While the corporation Quickbooks by Intuit actually processed the payments and ran the credit card numbers and I never did anything other than send the invoices, they have held me personally liable for the stolen money. Essentially, Quickbooks takes these payments and has absolutely no process in place for verifying the identity of the people who pay merchants like me through their system, and as such I was given absolutely no protection against the fraud for which I am now being held responsible.
Unfortunately, I have exhausted every legal option I could think of to fight them and prove that I am a victim of this theft, and this has left me no choice but to settle with Quickbooks. To avoid declaring bankruptcy, I need to pay them $14,250.00. This is money that I simply do not have. I have been given one year to pay them or else the settlement becomes void and I will have no other option but to declare personal bankruptcy.
I cannot tell you how much this episode has hurt me emotionally and financially, and all I can say is that the love, affection and compassion that many of you who I've told about this has meant so much to me already. I hate having to ask for any more than that, since that love is already more than I deserve, but sadly I also need to find a way to pay off this debt. Anything you'd be willing to contribute would be immensely helpful and would mean a lot to me, though not as much as your love and support already has.
Please feel free to call or email me if you have any more questions, and please know that I will do my best to repay any contributions in the form of pastries and other delicious food.
Love you all!
I'm very sorry to have to ask, but I am in a great deal of trouble and I need help.
As many of you know, I started a small, personal chef business to help pay my bills and debts while I go back to graduate school. What many of you do not know is that this business, and now I myself, have become a victim of identity theft and fraud.
A person unknown recently stole the identity of one of my customers, and then used it to hire me to plan and cater a phony event for them and used stolen credit cards to pay me. I will not bore you with the details except to say it was a very clever scam, featuring real payments that I dispensed after the funds had cleared only to learn later that they had been issued by fradulent cards.
While the corporation Quickbooks by Intuit actually processed the payments and ran the credit card numbers and I never did anything other than send the invoices, they have held me personally liable for the stolen money. Essentially, Quickbooks takes these payments and has absolutely no process in place for verifying the identity of the people who pay merchants like me through their system, and as such I was given absolutely no protection against the fraud for which I am now being held responsible.
Unfortunately, I have exhausted every legal option I could think of to fight them and prove that I am a victim of this theft, and this has left me no choice but to settle with Quickbooks. To avoid declaring bankruptcy, I need to pay them $14,250.00. This is money that I simply do not have. I have been given one year to pay them or else the settlement becomes void and I will have no other option but to declare personal bankruptcy.
I cannot tell you how much this episode has hurt me emotionally and financially, and all I can say is that the love, affection and compassion that many of you who I've told about this has meant so much to me already. I hate having to ask for any more than that, since that love is already more than I deserve, but sadly I also need to find a way to pay off this debt. Anything you'd be willing to contribute would be immensely helpful and would mean a lot to me, though not as much as your love and support already has.
Please feel free to call or email me if you have any more questions, and please know that I will do my best to repay any contributions in the form of pastries and other delicious food.
Love you all!
Organiser
David Stern
Organiser
Chicago, IL