Virginia § 18.2-196.1 Unlawful use of payment card scanning devices and re-encoders; penalty

Virginia Statutes

§ 18.2-196.1 — Unlawful use of payment card scanning devices and re-encoders; penalty

Virginia § 18.2-196.1

Title 18.2CRIMES AND OFFENSES GENERALLY

Ch. 6CRIMES INVOLVING FRAUD

Art. 6OFFENSES RELATING TO CREDIT CARDS

This text of Virginia § 18.2-196.1 (Unlawful use of payment card scanning devices and re-encoders; penalty) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-196.1 (2026).

Text

A.Any person who with malicious intent uses a scanning device or a re-encoder on the payment card of another without the permission of the authorized payment card user is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B.Any person who violates this section and sells or distributes such information to another is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

C.Any person who violates this section and uses such information in the commission of another crime is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

D.For the purposes of this section:

1."Authorized payment card user" means any person with the authorization or permission to use any payment card to obtain, purchase, or receive goods, services, money, or anything else of value from a merchant.

2."Merchant" means an owner or operator of any mercantile establishment or any agent,

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A. Any person who with malicious intent uses a scanning device or a re-encoder on the payment card of another without the permission of the authorized payment card user is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. Any person who violates this section and sells or distributes such information to another is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

C. Any person who violates this section and uses such information in the commission of another crime is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

D. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Authorized payment card user" means any person with the authorization or permission to use any payment card to obtain, purchase, or receive goods, services, money, or anything else of value from a merchant.

2. "Merchant" means an owner or operator of any mercantile establishment or any agent, employee, lessee, consignee, officer, director, franchisee, or independent contractor of such owner or operator who receives from an authorized payment card user or someone he believes to be an authorized payment card user, a payment card or information from a payment card, or what he believes to be a payment card or information from a payment card, as the instrument for obtaining, purchasing or receiving goods, services, money, or anything else of value from him.

3. "Payment card" means a credit card, charge card, debit card, hotel key card, stored-value card, white plastic, or any other card containing encoded information that allows an authorized payment card user to obtain, purchase, or receive goods, services, money, or anything else of value from a merchant.

4. "Re-encoder" means an electronic device that transfers encoded information from the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card onto the magnetic strip or stripe of a different payment card.

5. "Scanning device" means a scanner, reader, or any other electronic device that is used to access, read, scan, obtain, memorize, temporarily store, or permanently store encoded information on the magnetic strip or stripe of a payment card.