NCJ Number
90558
Date Published
1983
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The criminal fraud provisions of the Truth in Lending Act and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act do not need significant changes other than to clarify two problems which have arisen from case law decisions and to broaden their coverage to include counterfeiting and credit card altering.
Abstract
Despite the dramatic increase in credit card fraud and losses in electronic funds transfers, the wholesale legal changes as proposed in draft bills prepared by the banking and credit card industry are undesirable. Existing dollar loss requirements should stay the same, because State and local governments have more resources to deal with these crimes. In addition, card issuers need to do more to protect themselves before the criminal sanctions are made more stringent. However, the credit card statute could be amended to include the fraudulent use of account numbers and information alone rather than the entire plastic card itself. The law could also be amended to include transferring or obtaining a credit card as part of a scheme to defraud. A further law that should be examined closely is the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978. This law severely restricts financial institutions from reporting crimes, even when the financial institutions themselves are the victims. The President's Comprehensive Crime Control Bill should also be supported, because it will fill in a gap in the existing law on schemes and artifices to defraud banks.