Hello, I have a short story for you guys, and I would really appreciate some feedback and guidance.
I got a call from an old boss who owes me $200 (which I don’t care about) and he says he can pay me back but I have to do him a favor. My dumb ***** said ok and we met up. His story was:
“Hey I have these (3) winning tickets (&1500, $1500, $2000) from playing a baccarat machine at a casino (in New York). Please cash these out for me and I’ll give you the money I owe, plus an extra 50 for bothering you about this. I just don’t wanna cash this out because I know I’m gonna take it and gamble it away. All you gotta do is go to the cashier and they’ll give you the money”
Bear in mind that I’m 20 years old and have never stepped into a casino (18 is the legal age for slots in NY). So I went and gave the cashier my ID and the tickets. She then gave me a W-9 form and asked me to fill in my Social Security since it was my first time claiming money at the casino. At this point I went straight into shock because I did not feel comfortable in the situation whatsoever. I also realized that they neeed my Social Security for tax purposes, and that this money will most likely be taxed as income. Eventually I gave in and explained to the lady everything that happened. She registered the tickets underneath my name and flagged them. She gave them back to me and said that the real owner can go to the NYC gaming commissions and prove it’s his tickets, and claim the money.
But it didn’t end here.
I gave him back the tickets and told him to get the money himself from the gaming commissions. He kept on trying to put the tickets into my hand and calm me down by saying “I swear to god it’s not gonna be taxed, blah blah”. So I said why don’t you do it yourself, and he says:
“The reason I can’t cash this out is because I self excluded myself from gambling because I have a problem. Please cash this out, I’ll give you 1k.”
This got really suspicious because he owes me $200 and now wants to give me 1k. Something does not add up.
It is also bullshit because if he’s self excluded, he would’ve got kicked out the minute he walked in, and the minute he won a jackpot.
I don’t know what to do because I feel like it’s my fault he’s not gonna get his 5k. And at the same time it’s his fault for not telling me that they’re gonna need my social security PLUS lied to me that’s its not gonna be taxed as income.
Someone please guide me or give a feedback.
Ps: in the end I gave him his tickets and said I’ll see what I can do. I just texted him to deal with it himself by going to the commission and claiming his prize money.
This is what happens when you try to help people
