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So, long of the short. They offered to pay off my meager credit card debt. I was able to cancel all the payments but one.
I called my bank and reported a fraudulent payment. It was for $211. So, am I going to jail or will the charge reverse and I pay my bills like usual?
I know I made a mistake, please don't rub it in.
I'm assuming that you were either tricked into being a "money mule" or you were yourself the victim of fraud. Presumably you were sent money and asked to forward it on to someone else. In the money mule scenario this money is the product of a crime and you are helping launder it. Or this may have been the variant where the incoming payment bounces after you have sent it on, leaving you out of pocket.
As the article says, a witting money mule is complicit in the crimes being committed (generally money laundering or fraud). However if you were genuinely unaware that you were being involved in a crime then there was no intent to commit a crime ("mens rea") on your part so you are not guilty, although you may need to persuade law enforcement of this. Any messages exchanged with your "sugar daddy" are likely to help in establishing this, so make sure you keep them. You might also want to read this about what to do if the police want to question you. Talking to a lawyer ahead of time might be a very good idea too. Do not assume that just because the police are sympathetic and friendly that they are on your side. Being sympathetic and friendly is a very good way of getting people to incriminate themselves.
If you have simply been conned out of money then you have not committed a crime.
