Credit card fraud is a serious crime that is treated as such by the law. When a person is accused of this crime, they will soon find that the punishment can be quite severe.
There are many elements of credit card fraud, such as when a person does one of the following:
— Fraudulently takes, obtains, signs or uses another person’s credit card.
— Uses their own credit card with knowledge that it has expired or been revoked.
— Sells services or good to another party with knowledge that the credit card was illegally obtained.
Here is what makes credit card fraud so difficult to understand: This is a broad term that encompasses a variety of actions.
For example, credit card fraud includes identify theft. This is when a person, without authorization, uses another person’s information to commit credit card fraud.
A common storyline is a person who commits identity theft to open a credit card in another’s name. He or she then uses the credit card to make unauthorized purchases.
If you don’t understand the elements and types of credit card fraud, there is always the chance that you could make a “borderline” decision that could be considered a crime. In this case, you could be charged with a crime that you did not knowingly commit.
It’s nice to know that authorities are cracking down on financial crimes, such as credit card fraud, but this often means that people are charged when they shouldn’t have been. In this case, the accused must know his or her rights and then implement a defense strategy for avoiding serious consequences.
Source: FindLaw, “Debit / Credit Card Fraud,” accessed May 06, 2016
