UCMJ Article 121a: Fraudulent Use of Credit Cards, Debit Cards, and Other Access Devices
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Article 121a punishes knowingly using a stolen, invalid, or unauthorized credit card, debit card, or other access device, with intent to defraud, to obtain money, property, services, or anything else of value. Its maximums are higher than for larceny of the same amount: a bad-conduct discharge and 10 years for $1,000 or less, and a dishonorable discharge and 15 years when the total obtained over any 1-year period exceeds $1,000.
Stolen, invalid, or unauthorized devices
Under 10 U.S.C. § 921a(a), a person subject to the UCMJ commits the offense who, “knowingly and with intent to defraud,” uses:
- “a stolen credit card, debit card, or other access device”;
- “a revoked, cancelled, or otherwise invalid credit card, debit card, or other access device”; or
- “a credit card, debit card, or other access device without the authorization of a person whose authorization is required for such use”;
“to obtain money, property, services, or anything else of value.”
What counts as an access device
Section 921a(b) adopts the definition in 18 U.S.C. § 1029. Under § 1029(e)(1), an access device is “any card, plate, code, account number, electronic serial number, mobile identification number, personal identification number, or other telecommunications service, equipment, or instrument identifier, or other means of account access” that can be used to obtain money, goods, services, or anything of value, or to initiate a transfer of funds, other than a transfer “originated solely by paper instrument.”
A card number typed into a website, or a PIN, can be an access device without any physical card. A transfer originated solely by a paper instrument, such as a check, is excluded; writing a check without sufficient funds is addressed by Article 123a.
Using without authority, or beyond it
The third form, use without authorization, “applies to situations where an accused has no authorization to use the access device from a person whose authorization is required for such use, as well as situations where an accused exceeds the authorization” (Manual for Courts-Martial (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 65.c(4)). Someone given a card for one purchase who uses it for others falls within it.
Knowledge and intent to defraud
The use must be knowing, and it must be with intent to defraud. The Manual borrows the definition from ¶ 70.c(14): intent to defraud means “an intent to obtain, through a misrepresentation, an article or thing of value and to apply it to one’s own use and benefit or to the use and benefit of another, either permanently or temporarily.” It may be proved by circumstantial evidence (¶ 65.c(3)).
10 years, or 15 when a year’s total passes $1,000
From ¶ 65.d:
| Offense | Maximum |
|---|---|
| Fraudulent use to obtain property worth $1,000 or less | Bad-conduct discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 10 years |
| Fraudulent use during any 1-year period to obtain property with an aggregate value of more than $1,000 | Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, 15 years |
The higher tier is measured by the total over any 1-year period, so a series of small charges can reach it together.
Choosing between 121a and larceny
The larceny paragraph directs that wrongfully engaging in a credit, debit, or electronic transaction to obtain goods or money “ordinarily should be charged” under this paragraph rather than as larceny under Article 121 (¶ 64.c(1)(i)(v)). Obtaining services by false pretenses without an access device falls under Article 121b. Accessing a Government computer with an unauthorized purpose and obtaining classified or other protected information is Article 123.
Sources
- 10 U.S.C. § 921a, Article 121a, Fraudulent use of credit cards, debit cards, and other access devices (Cornell LII)
- 18 U.S.C. § 1029, Fraud and related activity in connection with access devices (Cornell LII)
- Manual for Courts-Martial, United States (2024 ed.), Part IV, ¶ 64.c(1)(i), ¶ 65, and ¶ 70.c(14)
General information about military law, not legal advice for any individual case.