Our view: A quick fix for fraud

Opinion

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January 18, 2013

Our view: A quick fix for fraud

Anonymous The Salem News The Salem News Fri Jan 18, 2013, 04:30 AM EST

If ever a problem called for a quick legislative solution, it’s one that cropped up in court this week, where a judge dismissed credit card fraud charges against a student because the card he was using was a debit card, not a credit card.

The Salem State student was charged after he tried to purchase items at the campus store with a “Clipper Card” that had been reported lost. The judge determined that the card was not a credit card, but a debit card, and that the credit card fraud laws don’t say anything about debit cards.

Prosecutors are appealing, but in the meantime, this one should be a quick fix for one of our local legislators.

Add “debit cards” to the statutes that forbid using other people’s lost or stolen credit cards.

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