Credit card fraud statute treats debit cards as credit cards.

• Steven Topazio wrote this April 24, 2023 at 3:18 pm

Recently, a defendant argued that he couldn’t be convicted of credit card fraud for misusing a victim’s debit card, since proof of debit card misuse is not sufficient to support a conviction of fraudulent use of a credit card under G. L. c. 266, § 37C(e), because the instrument used was a “debit card” rather than a “credit card.” The defendant contended that because the debit card drew upon the victim’s own funds at the bank, the transaction lacked the requisite obtaining of goods or services “on credit” to support conviction. Although there is a clear difference between debit cards and credit cards, the court stated that a debit card transaction does involve an extension of credit at the point of sale and at least until the funds are later deducted from the cardholder’s account by the issuer and credited to the merchant’s account (through acquiring bank intermediaries), a person can be convicted of credit card fraud even if he misuses a debit card.

RYAN, COMMONWEALTH vs., 79 Mass. App. Ct. 179, (2011)

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