ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
Creates the crime of
unlawful use of a scanning device or reencoder and classifies the crime as a
class 6 felony.
Background
Credit card scanning devices, sometimes called “skimmers,” can read and store data embedded within a charge card’s magnetic stripe, such as the card holder’s name and the card’s number and expiration date. Counterfeiters have used scanning devices for several years, but recent advances in technology have enabled counterfeiters to develop smaller scanning devices. These smaller scanning devices can be concealed in a person’s hand and can store data from as many as 300 cards. The stored data can then be transferred to other people, often out of the country, and used to create counterfeit cards.
Although state law does not specifically address scanning devices or “skimmers,” other protections against credit card fraud exist. State law classifies the “fraudulent use of a credit card” and the “possession of machinery” with the intent to defraud as felonies. S.B. 1052 allows authorities to prosecute persons who use scanning devices to obtain credit card information for fraudulent purposes.
Any potential fiscal impact to the state general fund is undetermined at this time, although the addition of a class 6 felony could possibly increase the number of people incarcerated by the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Provisions
1. Creates the new crime of unlawful use of a scanning device or reencoder and requires the offender to have used the device or reencoder both: a) without the permission of the authorized user of the credit card and b) with the intent to defraud the authorized user, the issuer of the credit card or the merchant.
2. Defines scanning device as a scanner, reader or other electronic device that is used to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize or store, temporarily or permanently, information that is encoded on a magnetic strip or stripe of a credit card.
3. Defines reencoder as an electronic device that places encoded information from the magnetic strip or stripe of a credit card onto the magnetic strip or stripe of a different credit card.
4. Classifies the unlawful use of a scanning device or reencoder as a class 6 felony.
5. Makes technical changes
6. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
January 25, 2002