2012 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 13 - FORGERY, LARCENY, EMBEZZLEMENT, FALSE PRETENSES AND CHEATS
Section 16-13-510 - "Financial identity fraud" and "identifying information" defined; penalty and restitution.

(A) It is unlawful for a person to commit the offense of financial identity fraud or identity fraud.

(B) A person is guilty of financial identity fraud when he, without the authorization or permission of another person and with the intent of unlawfully appropriating the financial resources of that person to his own use or the use of a third party knowingly and wilfully:

(1) obtains or records identifying information which would assist in accessing the financial records of the other person; or

(2) accesses or attempts to access the financial resources of the other person through the use of identifying information as defined in subsection (D).

(C) A person is guilty of identity fraud when he uses identifying information, as defined in subsection (D), of another person for the purpose of obtaining employment or avoiding identification by a law enforcement officer, criminal justice agency, or another governmental agency including, but not limited to, law enforcement, detention, and correctional agencies or facilities.

(D) "Personal identifying information" means the first name or first initial and last name in combination with and linked to any one or more of the following data elements that relate to a resident of this State, when the data elements are neither encrypted nor redacted:

(1) social security number;

(2) driver's license number or state identification card number issued instead of a driver's license;

(3) financial account number, or credit card or debit card number in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to a resident's financial account; or

(4) other numbers or information which may be used to access a person's financial accounts or numbers or information issued by a governmental or regulatory entity that uniquely will identify an individual.

The term does not include information that is lawfully obtained from publicly available information, or from federal, state, or local government records lawfully made available to the general public.

(E) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. The court may order restitution to the victim pursuant to the provisions of Section 17-25-322.

HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 305, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 350, Section 2, eff June 12, 2006; 2008 Act No. 190, Section 8, eff December 31, 2008.