Credit card or gift card fraud; conspiracy; penalties
Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-195
in effectA. A person is guilty of credit card fraud when, with intent to defraud any person, he:
1. Uses for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value a credit card or credit card number obtained or retained in violation of § 18.2-192 or a credit card or credit card number which he knows is expired or revoked;
2. Obtains money, goods, services, or anything else of value by representing (i) without the consent of the cardholder that he is the holder of a specified card or credit card number or (ii) that he is the holder of a card or credit card number and such card or credit card number has not in fact been issued;
3. Obtains control over a credit card or credit card number as security for debt; or
4. Obtains money from an issuer by use of an unmanned device of the issuer or through a person other than the issuer when he knows that such advance will exceed his available credit with the issuer and any available balances held by the issuer.
B. A person who is authorized by an issuer to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card or credit card number by the cardholder, or any agent or employee of such person, is guilty of a credit card fraud when, with intent to defraud the issuer or the cardholder, he:
1. Furnishes money, goods, services, or anything else of value upon presentation of a credit card or credit card number obtained or retained in violation of § 18.2-192 , or a credit card or credit card number that he knows is expired or revoked;
2. Fails to furnish money, goods, services, or anything else of value that he represents or causes to be represented in writing or by any other means to the issuer that he has furnished; or
3. Remits to an issuer or acquirer a record of a credit card or credit card number transaction that is in excess of the monetary amount authorized by the cardholder.
C. Any person who, with intent to defraud, devises a scheme to obtain a gift card or gift card redemption information from a gift card holder, gift card issuer, or gift card seller by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises is guilty of gift card fraud.
D. Conviction of credit card or gift card fraud is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor if the value of all money, goods, services, and other things of value furnished in violation of this section, or if the difference between the value of all money, goods, services, and anything else of value actually furnished and the value represented to the issuer or gift card issuer to have been furnished in violation of this section, is less than $1,000 in any six-month period; conviction of credit card or gift card fraud is punishable as a Class 6 felony if such value is $1,000 or more in any six-month period.
E. Any person who conspires, confederates, or combines with another, (i) either within or outside of the Commonwealth to commit credit card or gift card fraud within the Commonwealth or (ii) within the Commonwealth to commit credit card or gift card fraud within or outside of the Commonwealth, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Code 1950, § 18.1-125.6; 1968, c. 480; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1978, c. 364; 1980, c. 99; 1981, c. 197; 1985, c. 266; 1991, c. 546; 2018, cc. 764 , 765 ; 2020, cc. 89 , 401 ; 2026, cc. 197 , 196 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/18.2-195/Fetched: 10/16/2026