720 ILCS 365/ Telephone Charge Fraud Act. - Illinois Statutes

(720 ILCS 365/0.01) (from Ch. 134, par. 15b.9)     Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Telephone Charge Fraud Act. (Source: P.A. 86‑1324.)

    (720 ILCS 365/1)(from Ch. 134, par. 15c)
    Sec. 1. Any individual, corporation, or other person, who, with intent to defraud or to aid and abet another to defraud any individual, corporation, or other person, of the lawful charge, in whole or in part, for any telecommunications service, shall obtain, or attempt to obtain, or aid and abet another to obtain or to attempt to obtain, any telecommunications service:
    (a) by charging such service to an existing telephone number or credit card number without the authority of the subscriber thereto or the legitimate holder thereof, or,
    (b) charging such service to a nonexistent, false, fictitious, or counterfeit telephone number or credit card number or to a suspended, terminated, expired, cancelled, or revoked telephone number or credit card number, or,
    (c) by use of a code, prearranged scheme, or other similar stratagem or device whereby said person, in effect, sends or receives information, or,
    (d) by installing, rearranging, or tampering with any facilities or equipment, whether physically, inductively, acoustically, electronically, or,
    (e) by publishing the number or code of an existing, canceled, revoked or nonexistent telephone number, credit number or other credit device or method of numbering or coding which is employed in the issuance of telephone numbers, credit numbers or other credit devices which may be used to avoid the payment of any lawful telephone toll charge, or,
    (f) by publishing plans, diagrams or methods for the construction, assembly or usage of any device, instrument or gadget which may be used to avoid the payment of any lawful telephone toll charge, or,
    (g) by any other trick, stratagem, impersonation, false pretense, false representation, false statement, contrivance, device, or means, shall be deemed guilty of a Class A Misdemeanor; provided, however, that (a) a second conviction of an offense under this Section, (b) commission of an offense for remuneration, or (c) an offense involving the defrauding of services in excess of $500 is a Class 4 felony.
    As used in this Section "publish" means the communication or dissemination of information to any one or more persons, either orally, in person, or by telephone, radio or television or in writing of any kind, including, without limitation, a letter or memorandum, circular or handbill, newspaper or magazine article or book.
(Source: P.A. 96‑1301, eff. 1‑1‑11.)