Have I Committed Credit Card Fraud?

As technology becomes more and more advanced, so have credit cards – and so have those who seek to steal credit cards. Nowadays there are many different methods of stealing people’s credit information.

Types of Credit Card Fraud

Credit card fraud falls into two categories: card present and card not present. With card present fraud, the defendant comes into physical possession of the card. Card not present fraud is when thieves take the card information, but not the card itself. A common example of this is card skimmers, devices placed on, for instance, an ATM that scans cards as they pass by. Thieves then use the information online or elsewhere that does not require a swipe or insert at the point of purchase.

The penalties for credit card fraud can be serious. It can hurt your prospects for employment, government benefits and immigration. Additionally, crimes like these show the courts “moral turpitude” and often lead to harsher punishment. Because of recent media coverage pointing out the societal problem of credit card fraud, prosecutors may use you to make an example out of offenders to show the community that these offenders are not to be shown mercy.

If you are facing credit card fraud charges, you might think to contact the police or the credit card company to negotiate. Do not contact them! They will use your words and actions against you in court. Additionally, police and the credit card company may use shady tactics to get you to implicate yourself. Contact an experienced criminal defense attorney first.

Texas criminal defense attorney serving clients in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, including Allen, Arlington, Carrollton, Denton, Fort Worth, Irving, McKinney and Plano.