South Carolina § 16-14-60 - Financial transaction card fraud.

§ 16-14-60. Financial transaction card fraud.

(a) A person is guilty of financial transaction card fraud when, with intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or any other person, he:

(1) uses for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value a financial transaction card obtained or retained, or which was received with knowledge that it was obtained or retained, in violation of Section 16-14-20 or 16-14-40 or a financial transaction card which he knows is forged, altered, expired, revoked, or was obtained as a result of a fraudulent application in violation of Section 16-14-40(c);

(2) obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of value by:

a. representing without the consent of the specified cardholder that he has permission to use it;

b. presenting the financial transaction card without the authorization or permission of the cardholder;

c. representing that he is the holder of a card and the card has not in fact been issued;

d. using a financial transaction card to knowingly and wilfully exceed:

(i) the actual balance of a demand deposit account or time deposit account;

(ii) an authorized credit line in an amount which exceeds the authorized credit line by five hundred dollars or fifty percent of the authorized credit line, whichever is greater, if the cardholder has not paid to the issuer of the financial transaction card the total amount of the excess over the authorized credit line within ten days after notice to the cardholder by certified mail to the last known address that the credit line has been exceeded. Failure to pay the amount in excess of the authorized credit line after the notice is prima facie evidence of an intent to defraud;

(3) obtains control over a financial transaction card as security for debt;

(4) deposits into his account or any account, by means of an automated banking device, a false, fictitious, forged, altered, or counterfeit check, draft, money order, or any other document not his lawful or legal property;

(5) receives money, goods, services, or anything else of value as a result of a false, fictitious, forged, altered, or counterfeit check, draft, money order, or any other document having been deposited into an account by means of an automated banking device, knowing at the time of receipt of the money, goods, services, or item of value that the document deposited was false, fictitious, forged, altered, or counterfeit or that the above deposited item was not his lawful or legal property.

A person who violates the provisions of this subsection except subsection (a)(2)d. is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, if the value of all money, goods, services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this section or if the difference between the value actually furnished and the value represented to the issuer to have been furnished in violation of this section, does not exceed five hundred dollars in any six-month period. If the value exceeds five hundred dollars in a six-month period, a person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than three thousand dollars or more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

A person who violates the provisions of subsection (a)(2)d. is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(b) A person who is authorized by an issuer to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a financial transaction card by the cardholder, or any agent or employee of such person is guilty of a financial transaction card fraud when, with intent to defraud the issuer or the cardholder, he:

(1) furnishes money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a financial transaction card obtained or retained in violation of Section 16-14-20, or a financial transaction card which he knows is forged, expired, or revoked;

(2) fails to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value which he represents in writing to the issuer that he has furnished.

A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, if the value of all money, goods, services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this section or if the difference between the value actually furnished and the value represented to the issuer to have been furnished in violation of this section, does not exceed five hundred dollars in any six-month period. If the value exceeds five hundred dollars in a six-month period, a person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than three thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(c) A person is guilty of financial transaction card fraud when, upon application for a financial transaction card to an issuer, he knowingly makes or causes to be made a false statement or report relative to his name, occupation, financial condition, assets, or liabilities; or wilfully and substantially overvalues any assets, or wilfully omits or substantially undervalues any indebtedness for the purpose of influencing the issuer to issue a financial transaction card. A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(d) A cardholder is guilty of financial transaction card fraud when he wilfully, knowingly, and with an intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or any other person, submits, verbally or in writing, to the issuer or any other person, any false notice or report of the theft, loss, disappearance, or nonreceipt of his financial transaction card. A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

(e) In any prosecution for violation of Section 16-14-60, the State is not required to establish and it is no defense that some of the acts constituting the crime did not occur in this State or within one city, county, or local jurisdiction.

(f) For purposes of this section, revocation is construed to include either notice given in person or notice given in writing to the person to whom the financial transaction card or personal identification code was issued. Notice of revocation is immediate when notice is given in person. The sending of a notice in writing by registered or certified mail in the United States mail, duly stamped and addressed to the person at his last address known to the issuer, is prima facie evidence that the notice was duly received after seven days from the date of the deposit in the mail. If the address is located outside the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone, and Canada, notice is presumed to have been received ten days after mailing by registered or certified mail.

(g)(1) A person who is authorized by an acquirer to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card or a credit card account number by a cardholder, or any employee of that person, who presents to the issuer or acquirer, for payment, a credit card transaction record of a sale, which sale was not made by that person or employee, violates this subsection and is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than three thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(2) A person without the acquirer's express authorization, employs, or solicits authorized merchants, or any agent or employee of the merchant, to remit to an issuer or acquirer, for payment, a financial transaction card record of a sale, which sale was not made by the merchant, his agent, or employee, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, is punishable as provided in Section 16-14-100(b).

HISTORY: 1980 Act No. 427, SECTION 1; 1991 Act No. 126, SECTION 2; 1993 Act No. 184, SECTION 97; 1995 Act No. 7, Part I SECTION 11.