Picking up someone else's lost bank card, he was obsessed with money for a while, and took out the money inside, but he didn't know that doing so was already suspected of a crime.
Recently, a woman in Jiangsu picked up a bank card and took away more than 40,000 yuan after guessing the password. A few days later, the owner found out and called the police. The procuratorate believes that the woman's behavior constitutes the crime of credit card fraud, and the statutory sentence is up to 5 years imprisonment or criminal detention, and a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan.
In fact, there are many such incidents: in May 2023, a man Li picked up a bank card on the side of the road, found that the password "123456" was written on the back of the card, and was sentenced after withdrawing money, and in April 2022, Niu was sentenced for repeatedly using the social security card he picked up on the side of the road to withdraw money......
Finding other people's property seems to be a "pie in the sky", but if you eat this "free lunch", you may pay a legal price. What is the crime of picking up a credit card and guessing the password correctly and withdrawing cash? What are the situations of credit card fraud? and how to deal with other people's property?
Can the picked up card be "swiped" and does it constitute a crime?
According to Article 196 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, in the definition of the four circumstances of the crime of credit card fraud, the act of picking up a credit card and using a credit card to withdraw cash belongs to the third circumstance of Article 196 of the Criminal Law, that is, fraudulently using another person's credit card and using it.
The term "credit card" under the Criminal Law of the Mainland refers to an electronic payment card issued by a commercial bank or other monetary institution with all or part of the functions of consumer payment, credit loan, transfer and settlement, cash deposit and withdrawal, etc. That is, credit cards in the sense of criminal law, in addition to ordinary credit cards with overdraft functions, also include various bank cards such as savings cards that can be used for consumption payment, cash deposit and withdrawal without overdraft functions.
At the same time, on April 18, 2008, the Supreme People's Procuratorate issued a special reply on how to characterize the act of finding another person's credit card and using it at an ATM. The reply clearly defines that finding another person's credit card and using it at an ATM is a circumstance of fraudulently using another person's credit card under Article 196, Paragraph 1, Item 3 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and constitutes the crime of credit card fraud.
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According to the standards of public security organs for the management of criminal case filing and prosecution, the act of fraudulently using another person's credit card to withdraw cash, and the amount is more than 5,000 yuan, is a criminal case and should be filed and prosecuted as a criminal case. If the withdrawal amount is less than 5,000 yuan, you can refer to the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People's Republic of China", which has corresponding provisions on the handling of fraud, and the card picker may be sentenced to detention of up to 15 days or a fine of less than 1,000 yuan, and must also bear the responsibility of returning the full amount of the stolen goods. Even if you only withdraw one yuan from it, you will be held responsible.
What are the conditions for credit card fraud?
Article 196 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China:
In any of the following circumstances, where credit card fraud is carried out and the amount is relatively large, a sentence of up to five years imprisonment or short-term detention and a concurrent fine of between 20,000 and 200,000 RMB is to be given; where the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, a sentence of between five and ten years imprisonment and a concurrent fine of between 50,000 and 500,000 RMB is to be given; where the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, a sentence of between 10 and 10 years imprisonment or life imprisonment and a concurrent fine of between 50,000 and 500,000 RMB or confiscation of property is to be given:
(1) Using a forged credit card, or using a credit card fraudulently obtained with false identification;
(2) Using an invalid credit card;
(3) Fraudulently using another person's credit card;
(4) Malicious overdraft.
"Malicious overdraft" as used in the preceding paragraph refers to the act of a cardholder who overdraws beyond the prescribed limit or within the prescribed time limit for the purpose of illegal possession, and does not return it after being collected by the card-issuing bank.
Those who steal credit cards and use them are to be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of article 264 of this Law.
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How to characterize the plan to use the card after picking it up but not succeeding?
If the card picker does not use it successfully due to reasons other than his own will, such as being discovered by the bank staff when withdrawing money, and thus failing to withdraw money, etc., this situation also constitutes a corresponding crime, but it is generally handled as an attempted credit card fraud, and the punishment should be mitigated and mitigated in sentencing according to the completed offense.
Is it a crime to ask for a reward without asking for money?
The act of collecting money without asking for a corresponding reward does not generally constitute a crime.
According to Article 317 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, when the right holder receives the lost property, it shall pay the necessary expenses for the custody of the lost property to the finder or the relevant department. Under normal circumstances, the finder of property will incur certain transportation expenses, lost work expenses or courier fees in order to return the property. In order to protect the basic interests of the finder, the laws of the mainland have also made corresponding provisions. However, if the finder threatens not to return the property and extorts an excess of the necessary remuneration, it may constitute the crime of extortion.
The specific situation of the crime of extortion is that if there is a purpose of illegal possession, intimidation, threat, or coercion of the victim to obtain property, it will correspondingly constitute a crime. Therefore, we must limit our remuneration to the necessary expenses, and we cannot ask for excess benefits.
Is I liable for picking up someone else's belongings, placing them elsewhere or discarding them?
There are two definitions of what is found: one is a lost item and the other is a discarded or discarded property of another person. It should be noted that the subjective conjecture of the person who found the property is not based on the subjective conjecture of the person who found it as the criterion for determining whether the property is lost or discarded by others.
For the finder, the casual disposal of the lost property must bear the corresponding responsibility. According to Articles 314 and 316 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the finder has the obligation to keep the lost property properly and to return or deliver it in a timely manner. However, it is also important to note that this rule does not apply if it is a discarded object that has been deliberately discarded by another person.
In addition, if the property is damaged due to improper intentional disposal or gross negligence, it shall bear the corresponding civil liability for compensation. However, if the property is damaged or lost solely due to ordinary negligence or accident, it is not liable.
How to set up a secure bank card password
Many people are Xi using birthdays as their personal bank card passwords. In addition to the date of birth, personal information containing numbers, such as ID card number and mobile phone number, is also a common alternative password for their bank card. The reason for this setting is that "it is easy to remember" is the biggest reason. In fact, setting personal information as a bank card password is easy to be cracked by criminals, which may cause financial losses. How do I set a password to be secure?
Avoid common passwords. Avoid common passwords such as birthdays, phone numbers, home addresses, etc., as these passwords are very easy to guess and crack. Also, don't use consecutive numbers or letters, such as "123456" or "abcdef".
Don't use the same password. Don't use the same password for multiple cards or accounts. If a password is compromised, it will put all bank cards or accounts associated with that password at risk.
Change your password regularly. This helps to maintain security. It is recommended to change your password every 3 to 6 months to ensure that it is not cracked by hackers or bad actors.
(References: Lizhi News Weibo, China Law Popularization WeChat Official Account, Pingbian County Miao Autonomous County People's Court, Yunnan Provincial People's Procuratorate, China Chang'an.com, CCTV.com, @人民日报, Isu.com, etc.)
Reporter Liang Zeming