Credit Card Theft Charges

6 Types of Credit Card Theft Under NJ Law

The New Jersey Criminal Code targets all forms of credit card offenses in N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6. Subsection (c) is directed at theft of credit cards and outlines 6 ways in which particular form of offense can arise:

1. Taking or obtaining a credit card without the cardholder’s consent
2. Receiving a lost credit card
3. Selling a credit card when you are not the issuer or buying a credit card from a party other than the issuer
4. Making or embossing a credit card
5. Gaining control over a credit card as security for a debt with the intent to defraud
6. Signing a credit card without authorization with the intent to defraud

Taking a Credit Card

A person who takes or obtains a credit card from the person, possession, custody, or control of another without the cardholder’s consent is guilty of credit card theft under N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6(c)(1).  If you have been charged with taking someone’s credit card, there are three (3) elements of proof that the prosecutor will have to establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, to convict you, including:

1. You took or obtained the credit card of another person;
2. Without their consent (i.e. without their voluntary agreement to your taking the credit card); and
3. That your conduct was knowing .

Inference That Consent Was Lacking. If either of the following facts exist, 2C:21-6 creates an inference, that is, a logical presumption, that consent was lacking: (1) defendant was found in possession of credit cards issued in the names of two or more other persons, or (2) was in possession of two or more stolen credit cards.

Penalties For Stealing a Credit Card

A person who takes or obtains a credit card from the person, possession, custody, or control of another without the cardholder’s consent or who, with the knowledge that it has been so taken, receives the credit card with intent to use it or to sell it, or to transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. The penalties for fourth degree credit card theft include up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. Please be reminded that the criminal offense we are referring to in this section is limited to the physical act of taking the credit card of another person and not the separate act of using it.

Receiving a Lost or Mislaid Credit Card

A person who receives a credit card that he/she knows is lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake, and keeps it to use, sell or transfer is guilty of a fourth degree crime under 2C:21-6(c)(2).  There are three (3) elements of proof that must be established, beyond a reasonable doubt, to convict you for receiving a stolen credit card, including:

1. You received a credit card (i.e. acquired physical possession or control of the card);
2. With knowledge that it was lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the identity or address of the cardholder; and
3. You retained possession of the credit card with the intent to use it, sell it, or transfer it to a person other than the issuer or cardholder.

Penalties For Credit Card Theft (Receiving)

A person who receives a credit card that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the identity or address of the cardholder and who retains possession with intent to use it or to sell it or transfer it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. The same penalties are previously outlined for theft of a credit care apply, namely, up to 18 months in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

Buying or Selling Stolen Credit Cards

N.J.S.A. 2C:21-1(c)(3) makes it a fourth-degree crime to sell a credit card if you are not the issuer (i.e. bank or credit card company). The State must prove the following elements in order to prove this form of credit card theft:

1. You bought or sold a credit card;
2. You and/or the seller were not the original issuer; and
3. Your conduct was knowing.

Penalties For Buying or Selling a Stolen Credit Card Theft

A person other than the issuer who sells a credit card or a person who buys a credit card from a person other than the issuer is guilty of a fourth-degree crime. The same fine and prison term applies as in the case of taking or receiving previously discussed, 0-18 months in prison and a potential fine of $10,000.

Using a Credit Card For Security

If you use a credit card of another person to provide security for a debt and it is with the intent to defraud the issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, you commit a fourth-degree crime in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6(c)(4).  In order to convict you of this form of credit card theft, the prosecutor must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that:

1. You obtained control over a credit card;
2. Used the credit card for security for a debt; and
3. It was your intention to defraud the issuer, or a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value.

A person’s conduct is “to defraud” when it is intended to deprive a person of property or any right by deceit or artifice, in other words, to cheat the person.

Penalties Using Another Cardholder’s Credit Card For Security

A person who knowingly uses the credit card of another person to provide security commits a fourth-degree crime. Fourth-degree credit card theft results in up to 18 months in prison and a fine that can reach $10,000.

Marking, Creating or Embossing Credit Cards

N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6(c)(5) creates another credit card theft offense for improperly creating or embossing. A person commits this violation if they are “a person who, with intent to defraud a purported issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or any other person, falsely makes or falsely embosses a purported credit card“.

There are two (2) fundamental elements that the prosecutor must prove in order to secure a conviction under 2C:21-6(c)(5) for making or embossing a credit card. The state must establish that the defendant:

1. Falsely made or falsely embossed a credit card or falsely uttered a credit card; and
2. With the intent to defraud someone providing goods, services, or anything else of value, an issuer, or any other person.

How Does A Person “Falsely Make” A Credit Card? A person “falsely makes” a credit card when he makes or draws, in whole or in part, a device or instrument which purports to be the credit card of a named issuer but which is not such a credit card because the issuer did not authorize the making or drawing. This also applies to altering a credit card that was validly issued.

How Does A Person “Falsely Emboss” A Credit Card? A person “falsely embosses” a credit card when, without the authorization of the named issuer, he completes a credit card by adding anything other than the signature of the cardholder.

What Does It Mean To Utter A Credit Card? A person “utters” a credit card if he/she offers, presents, transfers, or tries to pass it off as genuine.

Are There Inferences Of Wrongdoing Under 2C:21-6(c)(5)? Proof that a person other than the purported issuer who possesses two or more credit cards falsely made or falsely embossed is presumed to violate this section of the statute.

Penalties For Making Or Embossing A Credit Card

A person who, with intent to defraud a purported issuer, a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or any other person, falsely makes or falsely embosses a purported credit card or utters such a credit card is guilty of a third-degree offense. Third-degree credit card theft results in up to 5 years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000.

Signing the Credit Card of Another Person

It is a fourth-degree crime under 2:21-6(c)(6) for a person to sign a credit card without the authorization of the cardholder for the purpose to defraud others.

Penalties For Signing Another Person’s Credit Card

A person other than the cardholder or a person authorized by him who, with intent to defraud the issuer, or a person or organization providing money, goods, services, or anything else of value, or any other person, signs a credit card, is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree. The standard penalties apply here as well – up to 18 months in prison and a potential fine of $10,000.

Contact Our Highly Accomplished NJ Credit Card Theft Defense Lawyers

Facing credit card theft or credit card fraud charges? A credit card theft lawyer from Marshall Criminal Defense is skilled in this area of white-collar crime and is adept at securing dismissals and other favorable outcomes in these cases. So please do not hesitate to contact us at (877) 534-7338 if you have been charged with credit card theft or a related offense anywhere in New Jersey. Our team will move promptly review the facts of your case and advise you as to what we can do to help you. We look forward to assisting you.

Frequently Asked Credit Card Theft Questions