If I had someones credit card info, and I ordered something, but then cancled the order, can i be prosecuted?

So this guy put a picture of himself holding up his credit card, and it was on flickr. I was just messing around, so I typed it into a computer site. I ordered an expensive computer, but then canceled after 5 minutes or so. Is it likely I will be prosecuted??

Technically, yes you could be prosecuted. In reality if you indeed cancelled the purchase immediately, nothing will be done. If you received the merchandise you would be prosecuted by the federal authorities since it was over the Internet. Federal penalties are more severe than state penalties.

Well you have illegally made an offer to pay using a card which you had no legal right to use, and knew at the time that you had no such legal right to use. That is a misrepresentation on fact and could very well constitute Fraud, Deception and Identity Fraud under the law.

The moment you submitted the transaction to the computer system of the store the crime was complete, a change of heart does not prevent you being accountable for the crime, however it is quite likely that if you are prosecuted the cancellation of the order will be akin to returning the stolen property and this could reduce your sentence they may possibly even allow you to be convicted for a lesser offense.

So yes you could very well be prosecuted if the account holder or credit card company chooses to pursue it.

If you use any credit card you're not authorized to use, you're committing fraud and can be prosecuted, whether or not you cancelled the order. A crime committed can not be undone by reversing the action; the crime was still committed. Now, in reality, since the order was reversed, you're unlikely to get caught.

If it comes down to it, you can be prosecuted for attempting "identity theft". It's sort of like robbing a store and then bringing the items back.


However, since you cancelled it, I'm sure it charges will be dropped down to something less than a felony.

The crime was complete when you made the order. The charge is unathorized use of the credit card. Cancelling the order does not change that any more than a bank robber can avoid charges by giving the money back.

That was stupid of you. If the person sees on his credit report that there was an unauthorized charge and decides to investigate it, there's a very good chance that they can trace it back to your computer and arrest you for theft.

it depends of the judge, the person the credit card you stole it from (if their nice or mean). but i would get a good laywer

Very likely.

Yes