ET wrote
See, there are a lot of people out there who file IFR without an
instrument rating.
Hrm, I know nothing about what kind of records are kept, but wouldn't
that have the potential to come back and bite you? with perhaps serious
reprocussions?

Not unless there's an accident. Records are not kept. The
controllers don't know if you are rated or not, and really they don't
care either. As long as you comply with your clearance and don't
sound worse than average on the radio, the chances of getting caught
are nil. If you're not operating out of a towered field, you might
even use a fake name and tail number.

I know a lot of people who have filed IFR without benefit of rating.
I don't know any who were caught, but I do know at least one who went
on to become a captain for a major airline.

Michael