Title 4 — Fraud, Financial, and Cyber Offenses
Chapter 4A — Deception, forgery, and financial crime
For value-based offenses in this Title, related transactions within one scheme may be aggregated.
| Section | Offense | Grade | Elements |
|---|---|---|---|
| § 4.01 | Fraud — under $1,500 | M2 | Through a material false statement, concealment, impersonation, or deceptive device, obtains or attempts to obtain property, services, credit, or legal benefit valued below $1,500. |
| § 4.02 | Felony fraud — $1,500 to $24,999 | F5 | Commits fraud involving $1,500 through $24,999. |
| § 4.03 | Major fraud — $25,000 or more | F4 | Commits fraud involving $25,000 or more. F3 at $100,000 or when five or more victims are targeted. |
| § 4.04 | Forgery | F5 | With intent to defraud, falsely makes, completes, alters, authenticates, issues, or transfers a writing, signature, credential, prescription, title, or official record. |
| § 4.05 | Possession of a forged instrument | M1 | Knowingly possesses or presents a forged instrument with intent that it be accepted as genuine. F5 for a government credential, court order, vehicle title, or financial instrument. |
| § 4.06 | Counterfeiting currency | F4 | Knowingly makes, alters, possesses with intent to pass, or distributes counterfeit currency or government-backed payment instruments. Manufacturing at scale is F3. |
| § 4.07 | Criminal simulation | M1 | With intent to defraud, makes or alters an object to appear to have an antiquity, rarity, source, quality, authorship, or value it does not possess. |
| § 4.08 | Issuing a bad payment | M2 | Knowingly issues a check, transfer, or payment instruction without sufficient funds or authority and fails to make good after notice. Grade follows value for a planned scheme. |
| § 4.09 | Payment-card fraud | F5 | Uses, possesses, sells, or transfers a stolen, forged, revoked, or unauthorized payment card or account credential with intent to obtain value. F4 at $25,000 aggregate. |
| § 4.10 | Skimming or payment-device tampering | F4 | Installs, possesses, or uses a device or malicious code to capture payment credentials without authorization. |
| § 4.11 | Identity theft | F4 | Knowingly uses another person’s identifying information without consent to obtain value, avoid process, create liability, or impersonate that person. F3 for five or more identities or $25,000 aggregate. |
| § 4.12 | Possession of identity information with fraudulent intent | F5 | Possesses personal identifying information of three or more persons without lawful purpose and with intent to commit fraud. |
| § 4.13 | Impersonation of a private professional | M1 | Falsely represents oneself as a licensed attorney, physician, paramedic, contractor, financial professional, or other regulated professional to obtain value or trust. Injury or major loss is F4. |
| § 4.14 | Insurance fraud | F5 | Knowingly presents or causes a materially false insurance application, claim, loss statement, medical bill, or proof of damage. F4 at $25,000. |
| § 4.15 | Benefits or public-assistance fraud | F5 | Knowingly conceals a material fact or makes a false statement to obtain public benefits, grants, disaster aid, or compensation. |
| § 4.16 | Tax evasion | F5 | Willfully evades a tax known to be due through concealment, false records, sham transactions, or failure to remit collected taxes. F4 at $25,000. |
| § 4.17 | Filing a false government record | F5 | Knowingly makes, presents, or causes filing of a materially false statement or document in an official record. |
| § 4.18 | Fraudulent lien or claim | F4 | Knowingly files a false lien, encumbrance, financing statement, or legal claim against a person or property to harass, coerce, or defraud. |
| § 4.19 | Securities or investment fraud | F3 | In connection with an investment or ownership interest, knowingly employs a deceptive scheme, material misstatement, market manipulation, or misappropriation. |
| § 4.20 | Pyramid or Ponzi scheme | F3 | Operates an investment or sales program in which returns are primarily paid from later participants rather than legitimate revenue, while concealing that fact. |
| § 4.21 | Money laundering | F3 | Conducts, conceals, transports, or structures a transaction knowing property represents criminal proceeds and intending to promote crime or disguise source, ownership, or control. |
| § 4.22 | Structuring transactions | F4 | Intentionally divides, layers, or routes transactions to evade a lawful reporting, seizure, or anti-money-laundering requirement. |
| § 4.23 | Extortion | F3 | Obtains or attempts to obtain property, services, official action, or advantage by threatening injury, accusation, exposure of private information, property damage, or abuse of office. |
| § 4.24 | Blackmail | F4 | Demands value or action in exchange for withholding damaging, embarrassing, or private information, when the demand is not a lawful claim for restitution or settlement. |
| § 4.25 | Commercial bribery | F4 | Offers, gives, solicits, or accepts an undisclosed benefit to influence an employee, agent, fiduciary, or professional in breach of duty. |
| § 4.26 | Bid rigging or procurement fraud | F3 | Colludes, submits a sham bid, shares protected bid information, or deceives a public or private purchaser to corrupt a competitive procurement. |
| § 4.27 | Racketeering | F2 | Directs, finances, or knowingly participates in an enterprise through a pattern of at least three qualifying felonies committed for profit, control, or influence. |
| § 4.28 | Criminal profiteering | F3 | Knowingly derives substantial income from an ongoing pattern of felony conduct and invests, conceals, or controls those proceeds. |
Chapter 4B — Computer, communications, and data offenses
| Section | Offense | Grade | Elements |
|---|---|---|---|
| § 4.40 | Unauthorized computer access | M1 | Knowingly accesses a computer, network, account, vehicle system, or service without authorization or beyond authorized access. |
| § 4.41 | Unauthorized access causing loss | F5 | Violates § 4.40 and obtains protected data, causes $1,500 or more in loss, or materially disrupts a service. Critical-system access is F3. |
| § 4.42 | Data theft | F4 | Knowingly copies, transfers, sells, or retains confidential data, credentials, source code, medical records, or government information without authority and with intent to benefit or harm. |
| § 4.43 | Computer fraud | Same grade as fraud by value | Uses a computer, automated system, malicious link, or electronic impersonation to execute a fraudulent scheme. |
| § 4.44 | Malware deployment | F4 | Knowingly creates, deploys, or transmits malicious code to damage, spy upon, encrypt, control, or disrupt a device or system without authority. Critical infrastructure or mass deployment is F2. |
| § 4.45 | Ransomware or cyber extortion | F3 | Uses unauthorized access, encryption, data theft, or threatened disruption to demand value or compel action. Critical infrastructure is F2. |
| § 4.46 | Denial-of-service attack | F5 | Intentionally impairs availability of a computer or communications service through unauthorized traffic, commands, or resource exhaustion. Emergency or critical systems make the offense F3. |
| § 4.47 | Credential trafficking | F4 | Knowingly sells, transfers, purchases, or possesses with fraudulent intent passwords, access tokens, authentication devices, or account credentials of another. |
| § 4.48 | Device or account cloning | F4 | Clones or duplicates a communications device, subscriber identity, access badge, key fob, or account identity to obtain access or avoid charges. |
| § 4.49 | Unlawful interception | F4 | Intentionally intercepts or records a private wire, oral, radio, or electronic communication without consent or legal authority. One-party recording made by a participant is lawful unless prohibited by server rule. |
| § 4.50 | Trafficking in interception devices | F5 | Manufactures, sells, or possesses a device primarily designed for unlawful interception, with criminal intent. |
| § 4.51 | Unlawful tracking | M1 | Installs or uses a tracking device, spyware, or location service to monitor another person or vehicle without consent or lawful authority. Stalking purpose is F5. |
| § 4.52 | Destruction or alteration of electronic evidence | F4 | Knowingly deletes, alters, encrypts, fabricates, or conceals digital evidence to impair an investigation or proceeding. |
| § 4.53 | Unauthorized disclosure of protected government data | F3 | A person with authorized access knowingly discloses protected law-enforcement, court, medical, witness, or emergency data without lawful purpose. |
| § 4.54 | Electronic impersonation | M1 | Uses an electronic account, number, profile, or identifier to impersonate another with intent to harm, defraud, threaten, or obtain a benefit. |
| § 4.55 | Swatting | F3 | Knowingly makes a false report through electronic or other means intending to cause an armed or emergency response to a person or location. Injury is F2; death may support homicide. |
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