Purchases against terms and conditions

[dedeenecivda]

I apologize if this isn't the right place to post this. Not sure where to start as it's a somewhat complicated situation. Nothing legal has happened yet, but I'm worried something might happen. I just want to get some advice and see where I stand.

So my friend received a special promo code to buy a certain digital item online (that is limited in quantity and generally in demand) for little or no cost. The thing is the promo code was intended for only those who work within my friend's company since they partnered with the company that offered the product, but he sent it to me. There was also a limit to how many you could buy. Yet my friend and I ended up buying much more over the limit using multiple accounts. I presume this is against their terms and conditions. Was told by friend that none of this would be illegal or anything; and that if anything, the orders would just be cancelled. We weren't sure if any of the orders went through in the first place. None of the purchased items had been delivered at time of purchase (there is an option to be digitally delivered at a future date, but again, we weren't sure if orders went through and won't know until then).

My friend got in trouble with his company, had to sign a statement about what happened, and has been fired. I assume the company who offered the products is afraid/angry that we might resell their products on a third party market (which often happens to these sorts of items) and is probably investigating further into this. We haven't received any products and haven't made any efforts to sell. Just hoping they cancel the orders at this point since I didn't really know what I got into, but I'm not sure if they are simply building a case against us at this point. As someone who is intending to enroll in professional school soon and has never gotten into any legal trouble before (not even any traffic tickets), this is worrying me a lot. I intend to never get involved in anything like this again and will remind myself to always do my own research beforehand. Right now, I am thinking of trying to ask them to cancel the orders before the items' use dates (if it doesn't happen automatically) so that they can sell them to someone else. Should I attempt to do that or should I not do anything at this point? I hope that someone here can provide me with any advice and/or suggestions on how to proceed with this. Thank you in advance.

 

[disagreeable]

He attempted to commit fraud likely for thousands of dollars and you were his accomplice. If I were you I would keep my mouth shut and not speak to anyone but my lawyer of the issue.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'd have to agree with disagreeable on this one. It's quite clear that you knew that the promo code was intended only for employees, yet you used it. Same goes for the limit on the number of items you could buy, which you knew or should have known was in violation of their terms and conditions which I presume may have even been presented but you didn't bother to review. I don't think cancellation will be a problem but speaking to a lawyer before doing anything of the sort is probably the wisest move. The company will probably cancel the orders since they now know that they have no obligation to fulfill them after speaking to your friend. If nothing shipped and they are canceled, while it may prevent the sale it still doesn't prevent the attempt to commit fraud. Before doing anything you're probably best served finding out from your friend - if he really is a friend - what happened. You seem unclear on the facts, especially if you're saying he had to sign something. I can't imagine that he was forced to sign anything and probably volunteered information in order to avoid an even larger problem, which potentially could be a discussion involving your name. This is why getting the entire story is probably the first step if you actually intend to do anything so you can assess the situation properly without taking any action.