<prompt> Human: So Ive been a long time lurker of this subreddit, but this is the first time I felt like I couldnt find the answer in any previous topics. There was another user in a similiar situation that posted in this thread a couple of months ago but after reading through the comments, I still feel lost on what to do. Its only been a couple of hours since the incident, so I may be still blinded from my emotions and am not thinking straight. I apologize in advance if this is redundant. So this morning, I found out via CreditKarma that a retail credit card was opened about a month ago with a balance of almost 4,000 on it already. Thinking it was fraudidentity theft, I immediately called the bank that issued it and had them close the account while waiting to hear back from them with an ongoing investigation. I also alerted all 3 credit bureaus and had them put fraud alerts on my information.When I told my parents about this this evening, it turns out my dad revealed that he had done this without any of my knowledge whatsoever. He explained he would pay this off in a few months and was planning on telling me, but given my dads financial track record, Im 99 certain that hes either going to miss payments on it andor Ill be stuck with the balance. Basically, my credit is going to be fucked if I dont step in somehow. Letting my parents handle this by themselves is not an option for me, I know how irresponsible they are with their finances. And its just even more frustrating for me because Ive tried to do everything right financially up to this point in my life as I had just finished paying off the last of my student loans less than a month ago and was finally living debt-free. Anyways, I dont trust my dad with finances at all so Im pretty sure my only options here is to just explain the situation to the credit card bank and have them close the investigation and card and just eat the remaining balance with my own money...Or this is where I could use a little more insight. If I were to have the bank continue with the investigationinform them that it was my dad who opened the card without my consent, what would the legal ramifications be for him? I certainly dont want anything serious to happen to him, but at the same time, he just doesnt take any of this seriously and I fear this kind of behavior is not going to change unless something drastic happens. Can any of you out there give me any insight on alternatives while still maintaining my familys relationship other than just taking full responsibility for my dads fuck up at the cost of 4k? Also, is there any way of preventing anyone other than me from applying for new credit card accounts? I like to churn credit cards for pointsrewards, so I would hate to lose that opportunity because I put a credit freeze with the three credit bureaus. But if that means a risk of this happening again, then I really have no choice but to go through with that.Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and helping me out with this!  <response>: OP, I really feel for you here because your father has put you in an extremely difficult position. Not only has he stolen from you, hes also forced you to question your bond to him as a child. I totally understand where youre coming from in not wanting to press charges. I love my parents unconditionally. But you are in danger. Even though youve had this conversation with your father and come to an understanding, you are in danger.First of all, what your father did is extremely serious. He committed identity theft, fraud and he put your future in jeopardy. If you hadnt discovered these charges when you did, you would be fucked down stream if you ever wanted to get a car loan, a student loan or buy a house. Your father didnt demonstrate irresponsibility, he demonstrated selfishness bordering on sociopathy.Second, and most importantly, youre at risk of this happening again. As a parent, your father has a huge amount of access to your personal information. Right now, there is nothing to stop him from misusing it again. The minute you unfreeze your credit, he could walk into another store and open another card in your name. Given his record of identity theft, his level of financial responsibility, and the apparent disregard that he has for you personally, he has the motivation to do this again. You need to make sure he cant! You cant trust him! That doesnt mean you cant still love him, but you cant trust him. Unfortunately, the only real way to protect yourself from your father is to proceed with legal action. You dont need to throw the book at him or prosecute him maliciously, but the only way to clear your name and keep it clear is to remove your fathers access to your personal information. Unfortunately, you cant change things like a social security number or dispute a CC charge without providing evidence of illegal activity. This means implicating your father for identity theft.So, unless youre willing to remain at risk, you need to proceed with legal action against your father. 