This law assumes great significance in the contemporary world that is driven by symbolic data. By symbolic data, we mean bank account numbers, credit card numbers, personal identification numbers and passwords. The characteristic of these symbolic data is that these can be easily used in lieu of physical security mechanisms. This is the very feature that makes them susceptible to fraud and illegal activities such as identity theft. These activities are not restricted to a physical boundary, but can span international areas.
The statute Title 18 U.S.C section 1029, also referred to popularly as the "access device statute" is a highly versatile means of investigating and prosecuting criminal activity involving fraud. One of the challenges that ecommerce has thrown open to law enforcement agencies arises from the ability of criminals and hackers to obtain online and then use certain computer programs, such as Credit Master and Credit Wizard, which generate large volumes of credit card numbers. These programs help these hackers find particular credit card numbers that online merchants would accept.
These are illegal means as the hackers are not authorized to use them. Having generated large number of credit card numbers, these hackers can use them at random to commit financial fraud over the net. This can be in the form of an online fraud scheme, or substantial fraudulent purchases of goods or services, or cause fraudulent billings for nonexistent goods or services, at the expense of the credit card company or the customers to whom the valid credit card numbers have been assigned.
In the slide above, note that 'counterfeit access device' refers to any access device that is counterfeit, fictitious, altered, or forged, or an identifiable component of an access device or counterfeit access device. An example is long distance telephone service access codes fabricated by a hacker that can be counterfeit even though those codes are valid code numbers in a company's computer access base.
Also note that the term "one-year period" in this subsection is not limited to a single calendar year, but includes any continuous one-year period within which the accused has obtained anything of value aggregating $1,000 or more.
An example of online fraud would be the oft seen example of a large scale online marketing scheme where the concerned individual uses another business merchant's credit card account because he would not gain the bank's approval or authorization if he were to describe his activity truthfully. These include cases where online merchants promise miracle cures or prescription medicines over the Internet.
Another oft quoted example is that of offenders soliciting users over email to secure credit card or PIN numbers and using them to purchase merchandise such as electronic equipment or computers. This would amount to unauthorized access as well as counterfeit access.
The subsection 1029(a)(3) is cited primarily in cases of theft of credit card numbers from ecommerce sites, or even physical possession of stolen or lost cards. It applies to hackers who obtain these by hacking into a system and then offers to sell them. There have actually been cases where a hacker had attempted to sell more than 60,000 stolen credit card numbers with high credit limits from websites, and was apprehended by the FBI.
The 1029(a)(5) subsection comes into effect when for instance, an offender persuades a person with a valid credit card number to give the offender that credit card number because the person believes that he or she will receive something of substantial value in return. This is also applicable when these numbers are used to purchase high value merchandise from ecommerce sites.
The 1029(a)(6) subsection deals with criminal activities such as when an offender offers the consumer credit cards, obtains advance payment and then does not deliver. This can be electronic merchandise as well, as seen in a recent case where an offender purchased high value computer equipment by floating a fake escrow company and did not pay the suppliers, while he schemed to resell these items.
This offense may apply, for example, when a criminal operating a large scale fraud scheme has used false in formation a bout his business to obtain a merchant account from a bank, or uses an existing account of a legitimate business, so that he can process credit card charges through that account. The criminal then obtains credit card numbers from the victims of his scheme and submits those numbers for payment to the bank where the merchant account is located. If the financial institution that established the merchant account did not authorize that account to be used by those operations, all transactions that the criminal conducts through that merchant account may be considered "unauthorized" by that financial institution.
The 1029(a)(7) offense may apply, for example, to persons who make, distribute, or use "cloned " cell phones in the course of a scheme to defraud, such as a telemarketing fraud scheme, or in connection with another criminal enterprise. This assumes significance under the context of mobile commerce.
The 1029(a)(8) subsection states that whoever "knowingly and with intent to defraud uses, produces, traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses a scanning receiver" commits a federal offense if the offense affects interstate or foreign commerce. As used in that subsection, the term "scanning receiver" is defined as "a device or apparatus that can be used to intercept a wire or electronic communication or to intercept an electronic serial number, mobile identification number, or other identifier of any telecommunications service, equipment, or instrument."
The 1029(a)(9) subsection states that whoever "knowingly uses, produces, traffics in, has control or custody of, or possesses hardware or software, knowing it has been configured to insert or modify telecommunications identifying information associated with or contained in a telecommunications instrument so that such instrument may be used to obtain telecommunications service without authorization" commits a federal offense if the offense affects interstate or foreign commerce. As used within that subsection, the term "telecommunications identifying information" is defined as "electronic serial number or other number that identifies a specific telecommunications instrument or account, or a specific communication transmitted from a telecommunications instrument."
The 1029(a)(10) subsection states that whosoever without the authorization of the credit card system member or its agent, knowingly and with intent to defraud causes or arranges for another person to present to the member or its agent, for any payment is liable for prosecution.
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