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What are legal penalties for buying or using stolen credit card data in the US?
Executive summary
Buying or using stolen credit‑card data in the United States can trigger state and federal criminal charges that range from misdemeanors to serious felonies carrying years in prison, heavy fines, restitution and forfeiture (see federal statute coverage and state examples) [1] [2]. Civil penalties and regulatory fines also arise when businesses fail to protect cardholder data, sometimes reaching millions in settlements or statutory per‑breach penalties imposed by state attorneys general [3] [4] [5].
1. Criminal exposure: state and federal charges can both apply
At the federal level, prosecutors frequently use statutes such as 18 U.S.C. § 1029 (credit‑card and access‑device fraud) and related identity‑theft laws to charge people who possess, use, or traffic in stolen payment data; federal convictions can include long prison terms, large fines, mandatory restitution and forfeiture of proceeds [1] [6]. States separately criminalize possession and use of stolen cards and card data; penalties vary by state and by how the crime is characterized (theft, fraud, possession of stolen property, or identity theft), with some offenses prosecuted as misdemeanors and others as felonies [2] [7].
2. How severity is determined: scale, intent and sophistication
Courts and prosecutors weigh factors such as the dollar amount of loss, whether the offender manufactured counterfeit cards or used skimmers, whether identity theft was involved, and whether the defendant sold or trafficked the data on dark‑web markets — all elements that increase the likelihood of felony counts and harsher sentences [2] [8]. Simple, low‑value unauthorized charges may be treated as misdemeanor theft in some jurisdictions, while possession of multiple stolen cards or use of counterfeit/cloned cards commonly elevates charges to felony level [2] [9].
3. Typical penalties: prison, fines, restitution, and forfeiture
Penalties reported across legal summaries include incarceration (ranging from short jail terms for misdemeanors to multi‑year federal sentences for sophisticated schemes), significant fines (federal fines cited up to six figures and state fines varying by statute), court‑ordered restitution to victims, and forfeiture of items or money obtained through fraud [6] [1] [2]. Legal guides emphasize that federal exposure often carries the most severe numerical penalties; one practitioner summary lists prison terms in the range of years and fines up to $250,000 in some federal prosecutions [6].
4. Trafficking or selling stolen data invites additional counts
Selling or offering stolen card data to others — the dark‑web marketplaces and “carding” ecosystems described by legal commentators — is itself criminal and often charged as conspiracy, trafficking in access devices, or multiple counts of fraud, magnifying potential exposure compared with a single unauthorized purchase [8] [10]. Prosecutors view distribution as aggravating because it multiplies victim harm and can demonstrate organized or repeated criminality [8].
5. Defenses and mitigating circumstances noted in legal commentary
Legal overviews note defenses such as lack of intent (e.g., receiving a card or gift card without knowledge it was stolen), entrapment, or factual disputes about who controlled the card or data — these can affect whether prosecutors pursue felony or misdemeanor charges and influence sentencing outcomes [1] [6]. Available sources do not provide exhaustive case law on how those defenses fare in court; readers should consult counsel for specifics [1].
6. Civil and regulatory consequences for businesses and indirect costs
Beyond criminal prosecution of individuals, businesses that fail to secure cardholder data face civil suits, multistate settlements and regulatory enforcement; past large data breach settlements, bank recoveries and regulator fines illustrate that consequences can exceed criminal penalties in dollar terms — for example, major breach settlements and regulator fines have reached millions of dollars [3] [11]. State breach‑notification and consumer‑protection statutes may impose per‑incident or per‑resident penalties and permit attorneys general to seek civil penalties and restitution [5] [4].
7. What the reporting does not answer and next steps
The provided reporting summarizes statutes and typical penalties but does not list every state’s sentencing ranges, nor does it provide the precise federal sentencing guidelines calculations that would apply to a particular case — readers should seek jurisdiction‑specific statutes and counsel for exact exposure (available sources do not mention every state penalty table or guideline calculation) [2] [1]. For a concrete risk estimate in a specific fact pattern, consult a criminal defense attorney or state statutes and federal code cited above [1] [2].
Sources cited in this briefing: FindLaw coverage of credit/debit card fraud and state examples [2]; CSO Online on breach settlements [3]; Embroker guide to state breach laws [5]; WalletHub and LifeLock overviews of penalties and distinctions between misdemeanors and felonies [7] [9]; federal statute summaries and practitioner pages on 18 U.S.C. § 1029 and related penalties [1] [6]; Leppard Law and other legal commentary on online card theft and dark‑web trafficking [8] [10]; Kaufman advisory on state AG civil penalties for breaches [4].