Theft of a gift card.

Assembly Member Irwin's legislation addressing gift card fraud establishes new criminal penalties for unauthorized acquisition and misuse of gift cards, creating specific theft and forgery offenses within California's Penal Code.

The measure defines several distinct criminal acts involving gift cards, including fraudulent acquisition, tampering, unauthorized use, and schemes to obtain cards or redemption information through deception. When the value of goods or services obtained through these violations exceeds $950, the offense qualifies as grand theft, punishable as either a misdemeanor or felony. The bill applies to both physical and digital gift cards, encompassing single-merchant "closed-loop" cards as well as "open-loop" cards accepted by multiple unaffiliated merchants.

To facilitate consistent enforcement, the legislation provides detailed definitions of key terms, including "cardholder," "card issuer," and "gift card redemption information." The bill specifies that "value" refers to the maximum potential economic loss, accounting for both fixed-value cards and variable-load cards that can be replenished. While creating these new criminal offenses, the measure includes provisions confirming that no state reimbursement to local agencies is required under California's Constitution, as the changes only involve crime classification and penalties.