New Mexico Credit and Debit Card Fraud
Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last reviewed June 20, 2016
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If someone steals your wallet and uses your credit card, both identity theft and credit card fraud has been committed. Credit card (or debit card fraud) is a type of identity theft that usually involves taking another's credit card information with the intent to defraud. However, credit and debit card fraud are broad terms that also covers forging new cards and merchants who fraudulently claim that credit card transactions took place. Each state individually criminalizes credit and debit card fraud.
In New Mexico, a "credit card" is defined as any instrument or device issued for a cardholder to use in obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value, either on credit or on previously deposited funds. These devices are referred to by many names, but are generally called credit cards and debit cards. This article provides a brief overview of the main laws that criminalize credit and debit card fraud in New Mexico.
Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card
Code Section |
New Mexico Code section 30-16-33: Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card |
What's Prohibited? |
Obtaining anything of value, with the intent to defraud, by using a credit card that is:
|
Penalties |
If the value fraudulently obtained within a six-month period is:
|
Theft of a Credit Card
It is illegal to take a credit card from the person, possession, custody, or control of another without the cardholder's consent. It is also a crime to acquire or possess a credit card with the intent to use, sell, or transfer it if you know that the card is stolen. These offenses are both fourth degree felonies in New Mexico.
Fraudulently Signing a Credit Card Receipt
Any person other than the cardholder (or a person authorized by the cardholder) who, with the intent to defraud, signs someone else's name on a credit card sales receipt is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
Forgery of a Credit Card
Also, it is illegal to create your own credit card. New Mexico's code of law makes it a crime to make or emboss a purported credit card if your intent is to defraud. Violating this law is a fourth degree felony.
Credit Card Fraud by Merchants
Code Section |
New Mexico Code section 30-16-34: Fraudulent Acts by Merchants (or their Employees) |
What's Prohibited? |
1. Merchants (or their employees) furnishing anything of value, with the intent to defraud, when presented with a credit card that:
2. Merchants (or their employees), with the intent to defraud, representing to a card issuer that something of value has been furnished to a cardholder when it in fact hasn't been provided. |
Additional Resources
State laws change frequently. For case specific information regarding New Mexico's credit and debit card fraud contact a local consumer protection attorney or criminal defense lawyer.
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