You may need a consultation if
- You opened the banking app on your parent's phone and transferred money to your own account
- You made several payments at a convenience store with a card you found
- You were accused of making online payments with the card of a partner you lived with
- You are accused of processing points and refunds using your access to the company's computer system
- Your child secretly used your card and the police contacted you
Relevant Laws
Criminal Act (형법) Article 347-2 (Fraud Using Computers, etc.)
Obtaining a financial benefit by entering false information or improper commands into a computer or other information processing device, or by entering or changing information without authority, is punished by up to 20 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 50 million (amended December 23, 2025).
Specialized Credit Finance Business Act (여신전문금융업법) Article 70(1)
Selling or using a lost or stolen credit or debit card, or a card obtained by robbery, embezzlement or deception, is punished by up to 7 years' imprisonment or a fine of up to KRW 50 million.
Criminal Act Articles 354 and 328 (Crimes Between Relatives)
Fraud and computer fraud between relatives can be prosecuted only on the victim's complaint. However, this special rule does not apply if the victim is found to be a financial institution.
Statutes are summarized. The official Korean text is available at the Korea Law Information Center (law.go.kr).
The charge depends on how the money moved
Taking a cash advance from an ATM with a stolen card is theft as well as fraudulent use of a credit card (Supreme Court Decision 95도997, July 28, 1995). If you used the same card to transfer money to your own account, the issue is not theft but computer fraud (컴퓨터등사용사기) (Supreme Court Decision 2008도2440, June 12, 2008).
If you bought something by presenting the card at a shop, fraud against the merchant and fraudulent use of a credit card are both considered, and if you found the card, not returning it is assessed separately as well.
Even between family members, the case may not end
When you used a family member's card or account, if the special rule for relatives applies, the case can be prosecuted only if the family member who is the victim files a complaint. However, in a case where someone used a relative's bankbook to transfer the deposit to their own account at another bank, the Supreme Court treated the financial institution, not the relative, as the victim and did not apply this special rule (Supreme Court Decision 2006도2704, March 15, 2007). This is why the case can continue even if your family does not want you punished.
The issue is how far you were permitted
If you routinely shared passwords and were trusted to pay household expenses, the dispute is over how far you were permitted. Gather conversations and transaction records showing the permitted purposes and amounts and whether you had used it the same way before. In company system cases, the rules setting the scope of your authority and approval records are the standard.
Factors That Affect the Outcome and Sentence
Factors that work against you
- · Split payments or transfers into many transactions
- · Large amounts with no recovery
- · Threw away or hid the card after paying
- · A previous record for the same offense
Factors that work in your favor
- · Signs that you had routinely been allowed to use it
- · Only once and a small amount
- · Returned the card and paid compensation immediately
- · No criminal record
How Jisan Law's Criminal Law Center Responds
- 1
Consultation with the managing partner
For each transaction, we check how you obtained the card or account and how you used it.
- 2
Sorting out the charges
We separate payments, transfers and cash withdrawals, and determine which crime is at issue for each and who the victim is.
- 3
Mock questioning and sitting in
We practice in advance for questions about the scope of permission and how you used it, and go into the questioning with you.
- 4
Written opinion and restitution
We submit a written opinion with records of compensation and materials about permission attached.
Lawyers handling these cases
Hansol Kim Managing Partner
Former prosecutor at the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, the Ansan Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office and the Hongseong Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office
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Bonwoo Koo Managing Partner
Economic criminal cases such as Capital Markets Act violations, investment fraud, embezzlement and breach of trust
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Frequently asked questions
I paid once, a few thousand won, with a card I found. Can I still be punished?
Regardless of the amount, fraudulent use of a credit card and fraud can be at issue. However, if it happened only once, you paid compensation right away and you have no criminal record, those circumstances are considered in the decision. Keep the receipts for compensation paid to the card company or the shop.
My child secretly used my card, and I want to withdraw the report.
If it was used to pay at shops, the special rule for family members comes into play, but if it was a cash withdrawal or transfer and the financial institution is treated as the victim, the case may continue even if you, the parent, don't want it to. If your child is under 14, juvenile protection proceedings, rather than criminal punishment, are at issue.
I had access rights to the company system. Is it still computer fraud?
Even with access rights, it can be computer fraud if you went beyond their scope to enter false information or process things for your own benefit. The first thing to check is how far your authority extended under company rules.