One of the biggest news stories in the last year was the story of Ethan Couch, the son of a millionaire who claimed being from an affluent family that set no rules lead to his fatal car crash. When faced with a probation violation, he fled to Mexico but was later caught after using his cell phone to order a pizza in a stunning example of someone having no clue about how digital actions can easily be monitored. And he is not the only rich kid with that problem. A growing number of parents are being called out for their own misdeeds, particularly fraud and tax evasion, after their children post pictures and comments on social network sites. One fraudster was caught after his adult son posted a picture of the two standing in front of a private plan despite the fact he had stated he was broke. And it’s not just the affluent unknowns making this mistake, rapper 50 Cent faced tough questions from a bankruptcy court after posing with stacks of $100 bills spelling out the work “broke” in a Facebook post. What everyone needs to remember in the digital age is that nothing you post online will stay hidden, or forgotten, for long.
See Sarah Knapton, Super-rich caught out by children’s Instagram accounts, The Telegraph, April 3, 2016.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
