720 ILCS 5/17-45 – Payment of Charges Without Furnishing Item of Value (Credit Card Fraud)
This law says you cannot charge someone’s credit card through a store if you didn’t actually give them the product or service they paid for.
This law makes it illegal for someone to use a store’s payment system to charge a credit card when no item or service was provided. It also says who is allowed to do this in special cases and lists the punishments for breaking the rule.
(a) A person cannot use a store’s account or payment agreement with a bank or credit card company to process or collect a charge if the store did not actually give or agree to give the item or service that was paid for.
(b) A store cannot let someone use its bank or credit card account to process or collect a payment if the store did not provide or agree to provide the actual item or service being charged.
(c) The rules in (a) and (b) do not apply to these situations:
- A person who sells goods or services inside a general store and uses that store’s account to process payments.
- A general store that allows someone inside their store to use its account for payment processing.
- A franchisee who provides items or services that come from the main company (franchisor) and uses the franchisor’s account to handle payments.
- A franchisor who allows a franchisee to use their account for payments.
- A credit card company, bank, or related business that handles payments.
- A person who uses a store’s account to process less than $500 in total credit card charges during one year. That person must be able to prove it.
- A phone company that includes other companies’ charges on its customers’ bills and those companies whose charges appear on those phone bills.
(d) If someone is harmed because this law was broken, they can sue to get money for damages, other fair relief, and repayment of legal fees and costs.
(e) Sentence: Anyone who breaks this law commits a business offense and must pay a $10,000 fine for each time they do it. Each separate payment or processing attempt that breaks this rule counts as its own offense.
(f) These punishments and remedies are in addition to other penalties allowed by law.
(g) Definitions
“Franchisor” and “franchisee” mean the same as they do in Illinois’ Franchise Disclosure Act.
“Retail seller” means the same as in the Retail Installment Sales Act.
“Telecommunications carrier” means the same as in the Public Utilities Act.
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