Credit Card Fraud
CREDIT CARD FRAUD AND THE LAW
By
A.L.R. JOSEPH
SUBJECT: Banking, Criminal Law
Malaysia
[1993] 2 CLJ xii (Apr)
Introduction
To most consumers, credit cards are pieces of plastic - issued to them by their bank or retail shop which allow payment for goods or services - which give them prestige and flexibility. Further, they also provide a convenient avenue of obtaining on-the-spot cash. The credit card is a phenomenally successful development of modern banking and retailing based on technological advancement and the increase in individual wealth and spending power. It is a significant forerunner towards and harbinger of a cashless society - argued by some to be an important indicia of an Utopian society. The credit card business is big business, to say the least. Thus we see in the media frequent and competitive credit card advertisements, intended to recruit the maximum number of customers and to encourage the maximum use of the easy credit facilities, that each of these friendly banks have to offer.
It was not always like this though. It was not too long ago when credit was seen as a bad thing, to which a negative stigma was attached. But over the last decade, the public’s perception has changed. Nowadays, credit is an acceptable part of modern day living and the stigma of the past has given way to social status and prestige. A credit card is a status symbol in today’s world. It is argued, whether rightly or wrongly, that credit is a good thing because it provides a boost to the economy by increasing consumer spending, and the credit card business has contributed greatly to the considerable expansion in the financial and related services.
Accordingly, there is a significant need to understand the law that relates to credit cards, both civil and criminal, especially, in the context of ever increasing credit card frauds, and the way in which the civil law has contributed to it, and the insufficient way in which the criminal law has sought to
By
A.L.R. JOSEPH
SUBJECT: Banking, Criminal Law
Malaysia
[1993] 2 CLJ xii (Apr)
Introduction
To most consumers, credit cards are pieces of plastic - issued to them by their bank or retail shop which allow payment for goods or services - which give them prestige and flexibility. Further, they also provide a convenient avenue of obtaining on-the-spot cash. The credit card is a phenomenally successful development of modern banking and retailing based on technological advancement and the increase in individual wealth and spending power. It is a significant forerunner towards and harbinger of a cashless society - argued by some to be an important indicia of an Utopian society. The credit card business is big business, to say the least. Thus we see in the media frequent and competitive credit card advertisements, intended to recruit the maximum number of customers and to encourage the maximum use of the easy credit facilities, that each of these friendly banks have to offer.
It was not always like this though. It was not too long ago when credit was seen as a bad thing, to which a negative stigma was attached. But over the last decade, the public’s perception has changed. Nowadays, credit is an acceptable part of modern day living and the stigma of the past has given way to social status and prestige. A credit card is a status symbol in today’s world. It is argued, whether rightly or wrongly, that credit is a good thing because it provides a boost to the economy by increasing consumer spending, and the credit card business has contributed greatly to the considerable expansion in the financial and related services.
Accordingly, there is a significant need to understand the law that relates to credit cards, both civil and criminal, especially, in the context of ever increasing credit card frauds, and the way in which the civil law has contributed to it, and the insufficient way in which the criminal law has sought to