Jacob Ogles
A bill just passed by the Legislature could gift fraudsters with a day in court.
The House passed legislation (SB 1198) that would make gift card fraud a misdemeanor under state law. The bill passed on a 115-0 unanimous vote weeks after the Senate cleared the bill 37-0 in the upper chamber. Now it heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.
Rep. Sam Greco, a St. Augustine Republican, said a growing number of residents in the state fall prey to scams covered under the legislation.
“Gift card fraud can occur through various means, including altering bar codes, manipulating physical cards or stealing account pin numbers,” he said on the House floor. “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.
“First, it establishes clear definitions for gift cards and related terms,” he said. “Second, it explicitly criminalizes fraudulent activities, such as unauthorized possession, tampering, and schemes to fraudulently obtain or use gift cards. And third, it outlines criminal penalties making gift card fraud either a first-degree misdemeanor or a third-degree felony based on the specific nature of the misconduct.”
Under the bill, definitions for fraud would include 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.
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.
Sen. Nick DiCeglie, a Pinellas Republican, carried the bill in the Senate. Greco ran the bipartisan bill in the House with Rep. Dan Daley, a Coral Springs Democrat.
___
Jesse Scheckner of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
