Stronger punishment is coming.
For most people, gift cards are signs of celebration. For criminals who misuse them, they’ll be a magnet for steeper punishment under a new law effective Oct. 1.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed SB 1198, which would define gift card fraud in Florida Statutes and establish it as a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines.
Gift card fraud, as described in the legislation, includes acquiring or retaining gift card or gift card redemption information without proper consent, tampering with a gift card or its packaging and illegally using a card or its info to obtain goods, services or money.
If the value of the ill-gotten goods or services exceeds $750, the crime would become a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. Law enforcement may aggregate the value of fraudulently obtained goods to determine the degree of offense.
Lawmakers in April unanimously passed the measure, sponsored by Pinellas Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie. Republican Rep. Sam Greco of St. Augustine and Democratic Rep. Dan Daley of Coral Springs carried its House analog (HB 1007).
“Gift card fraud can occur through various means, including altering bar codes, manipulating physical cards or stealing account pin numbers,” Greco said ahead of a House floor vote April 29. “These schemes have resulted in meaningful financial losses for both consumers and businesses, while our law enforcement and prosecutors currently lack the necessary tools to combat this misconduct effectively.”
He said the legislation would empower investigators to bring fraudsters to account.
In 2023 alone, gift card-related fraud accounted for $217 million of the record $10 billion lost in scams across the U.S., according to Federal Trade Commission data.
There is no shortage of news reports about gift card fraudsters getting caught across the Sunshine State.
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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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