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COMPUTER FRAUD
Today, many states have statutes
that relate directly to computer fraud most of which are entitled "computer
fraud," or often the statute will generally proscribe fraudulent
activity, electronic or not, by way of a theft of services statute.
While theft of services statutes
remain applicable to general phone fraud,1 computer
fraud statutes target crimes in which one uses a computer
to perpetuate the fraud. As a general rule, computer fraud involves
access, either authorized or unauthorized, together with the
specific intent to use the computer to perpetuate a fraud. Often
the offense of computer fraud may be brought against an offender
together with a computer trespass or intrusion charge. Moreover,
computer fraud can sometimes include attempts of an offender
to send malicious attachments through email or to execute unauthorized
computer code. In this sense, computer fraud offenses can often
be related to DoS and DDoS attacks and therefore be brought in
conjunction with computer tampering and interruption of computer
services charges.
1 E.g., calling card theft and subsequent
misuse thereof by way of low tech “shoulder
surfing” techniques.
ARKANSAS
§ 5-41-103. Computer fraud
(a) Any person commits computer fraud who intentionally accesses
or causes to be accessed any computer, computer system, computer
network, or any part thereof for the purpose of:
(1) Devising or executing any scheme or artifice to defraud or extort; or
(2) Obtaining money, property, or services with false or fraudulent intent,
representations, or promises.
(b) Computer fraud is a Class D felony.
CALIFORNIA
*
Except from Section 501:
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (h), any person who commits any of the
following acts is guilty of a public offense:
(1) Knowingly accesses and without permission alters, damages,
deletes, destroys, or otherwise uses any data, computer, computer
system, or computer network in order to either (A) devise or
execute any scheme or artifice to defraud, deceive, or extort,
or (B) wrongfully control or obtain money, property, or data.
COLORADO *
Excerpt from Section 18-5.5-102
(1) A person commits computer crime if the person knowingly:
(b) Accesses any computer, computer network, or computer system,
or any part thereof for the purpose of devising or executing
any scheme or artifice to defraud; or
(c) Accesses any computer, computer network, or computer system, or any part
thereof to obtain, by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations,
or promises, money; property; services; passwords or similar information through
which a computer, computer network, or computer system or any part thereof may
be accessed; or other thing of value;
(d) Accesses any computer, computer network, or computer system, or any part
thereof to commit theft; or
HAWAII
§ 708-891.
Computer fraud in the first degree
(1) A person commits the offense of computer fraud in the first
degree if the person knowingly, and with intent to defraud, accesses
a computer without authorization and, by means of such conduct,
obtains or exerts control over the property of another.
(2) In a prosecution for computer fraud in the first degree,
it is a defense that the object of the fraud and the property
obtained consists only of the use of the computer and the value
of such use is not more than $ 300 in any one-year period.
(3) Computer fraud in the first degree is a class B felony.
[§ 708-891.5]. Computer fraud in
the second degree
(1) A person commits the offense of computer fraud in the second
degree if the person knowingly, and with the intent to defraud,
transfers, or otherwise disposes of, to another, or obtains control
of, with the intent to transfer or dispose of, any password or
similar information through which a computer, computer system,
or computer network may be accessed.
(2) Computer fraud in the second degree is a class C felony.
ILLINOIS
§ 720 ILCS 5/16D-5. Computer Fraud
Sec. 16D-5. Computer Fraud. (a) A person commits the offense
of computer fraud when he knowingly:
(1) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or any part
thereof, or a program or data, for the purpose of devising or
executing any scheme, artifice to defraud, or as part of a deception;
(2) Obtains use of, damages, or destroys a computer or any part
thereof, or alters, deletes, or removes any program or data contained
therein, in connection with any scheme, artifice to defraud,
or as part of a deception; or
(3) Accesses or causes to be accessed a computer or any part
thereof, or a program or data, and obtains money or control over
any such money, property, or services of another in connection
with any scheme, artifice to defraud, or as part of a deception.
(b) Sentence. (1) A person who commits the offense of computer
fraud as set forth in subsection (a)(1) of this Section shall
be guilty of a Class 4 felony.
(2) A person who commits the offense of computer fraud as set
forth in subsection (a)(2) of this Section shall be guilty of
a Class 3 felony.
(3) A person who commits the offense of computer fraud as set
forth in subsection (a)(3) of this Section shall:
(i) be guilty of a Class 4 felony if the value of the money, property or services
is $ 1,000 or less; or
(ii) be guilty of a Class 3 felony if the value of the money, property or services
is more than $ 1,000 but less than $ 50,000; or
(iii) be guilty of a Class 2 felony if the value of the money, property or
services is $ 50,000 or more.
LOUISIANA
§ 73.5 Computer fraud
A. Computer fraud is the accessing or causing to be accessed
of any computer, computer system, computer network, or any part
thereof with the intent to:
(1) Defraud; or
(2) Obtain money, property, or services by means of false or
fraudulent conduct, practices, or representations, or through
the fraudulent alteration, deletion, or insertion of programs
or data.
B. Whoever commits computer fraud shall be fined not more than
ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned with or without hard labor
for not more than five years, or both.
MICHIGAN
§ 752.796.
Use of computer program, computer, computer system, or
computer network to
commit crime.
Sec. 6. (1) A person shall not use a computer program,
computer, computer system, or computer network to commit,
attempt to commit, conspire to commit, or solicit another
person to commit a crime.
(2) This section does not prohibit a person from being charged with, convicted
of, or punished for any other violation of law committed by that person while
violating or attempting to violate this section, including the underlying offense
.
(3) This section applies regardless of whether the person is convicted of committing,
attempting to commit, conspiring to commit, or soliciting another person to
commit the underlying offense.
* In
some situations, such as with California, if a state has
dealt directly with
a particular category of
computer crime within the context of a larger encompassing
computer crime statute, we have included in our statutory analysis
a cross reference to the relevant subsection of that state’s
statute. We have denoted states that are also listed in our
general computer crime statute section with a ‘*’.
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