Although the quantity of folks getting accused of credit card fraud is rising, defending clients in these kinds of circumstances is hardly ever easy. The term “credit card fraud” can mean a number of different items-from stealing someone’s credit card outright to copying someone’s credit card number during a small business transaction to stealing someone’s identity as a complete.
Have a Contract in Writing
One particular thing that I hear fairly often is stories about contractors who use their clients’ credit cards to purchase supplies for ongoing jobs. These contractors may have been undertaking this for years devoid of a issue, but then if all of a sudden one particular client turns around and says that the purchases on his card weren’t authorized, then the contractor could end up in critical problems. I know that a lot of builders get charged with credit card fraud, which is one of the factors why I constantly advise my clientele to have a contract with an individual or have a statement from them authorizing any purchases they make on the cards.
In most instances, however, credit card fraud is sort of an open and shut sort of case. If you get a thing with somebody else’s credit card and you can’t show a contract that proves that you had been authorized to make the buy, then you are very probably to drop your case. With ATM SelfServ fraud , there is usually a big paper trail that proves the case for the plaintiff.
Maintain Records of All the things
In order to protect your self from being accused of credit card fraud-specially if you function in an market exactly where it is frequent to use other people’s cards to acquire supplies for a job-you should really make certain to retain records of anything. First and foremost, hold records of anytime you were authorized to make a purchase. I propose that individuals hold any bills, records, receipts, or other documentation that proves that the acquire was not illegal or unauthorized.
When an individual calls the cops and says that charges created on his credit card had been not authorized, he is going to have a lot of documentation of his own-normally in the form of credit card statements proving what was bought and where the obtain was created. So the only way that a defendant in a credit card fraud case can prove that the acquire he produced was not illegal is to have it in writing.
Hire a Competent Lawyer
In addition, I advise persons who have been charged with credit card fraud to not necessarily give up all hope. Hiring a competent criminal defense lawyer who understands the federal technique can frequently help defendants get their charges lowered, if not dropped entirely. An attorney should be able to work with a defendant to have a judge lower the crime from a felony to a misdemeanor, which will not only decrease the maximum prison sentence but also make it so that, if convicted, the defendant could possibly get the crime expunged from his record at a later date.
Fraudulent credit card charges that have been created in higher dollar amounts are additional likely to be taken to federal court, particularly if any of the purchases have been produced across state lines. When numerous states are involved and a person’s credit card was used to acquire items across state lines, then the case turns into a federal offense. In federal instances, defendants would be searching at mandatory prison time, as opposed to “just a slap on the wrist” for these facing sentencing in state court. That is however another purpose why hiring a defense lawyer with practical experience in the federal criminal method is so important for defendants.
An lawyer dealing with this type of case would most probably try to negotiate a deal exactly where the defendant could be allowed to spend back some of the dollars that he had stolen in exchange for the crime being lowered from a felony to a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor version of a credit card fraud crime would be standard credit card theft, whereas a felony version would incorporate employing the card to make purchases in numerous states.
If you are hoping to have your charges dropped or decreased, then it is needed to have an attorney who knows how to negotiate with prosecutors. For anyone getting charged with this sort of case in Charleston, I advocate calling the Law Office of Stephen Harris and asking to make an initial consultation with a lawyer who will listen.
This article is for informational purposes only. You must not rely on this report as a legal opinion on any particular facts or situations, and you should not act upon this data without seeking expert counsel. Publication of this short article and your receipt of this post does not develop an attorney-client relationship.
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