502.7
. (a) Any person who, knowingly, willfully, and with intent to
defraud a person providing telephone or telegraph service, avoids or
attempts to avoid, or aids, abets or causes another to avoid the
lawful charge, in whole or in part, for telephone or telegraph
service by any of the following means is guilty of a misdemeanor or a
felony, except as provided in subdivision (g):
(1) By charging the service to an existing telephone number or
credit card number without the authority of the subscriber thereto or
the lawful holder thereof.
(2) By charging the service to a nonexistent telephone number or
credit card number, or to a number associated with telephone service
which is suspended or terminated, or to a revoked or canceled (as
distinguished from expired) credit card number, notice of the
suspension, termination, revocation, or cancellation of the telephone
service or credit card having been given to the subscriber thereto
or the holder thereof.
(3) By use of a code, prearranged scheme, or other similar
stratagem or device whereby the person, in effect, sends or receives
information.
(4) By rearranging, tampering with, or making connection with
telephone or telegraph facilities or equipment, whether physically,
electrically, acoustically, inductively, or otherwise, or by using
telephone or telegraph service with knowledge or reason to believe
that the rearrangement, tampering, or connection existed at the time
of the use.
(5) By using any other deception, false pretense, trick, scheme,
device, conspiracy, or means, including the fraudulent use of false,
altered, or stolen identification.
(b) Any person who does either of the following is guilty of a
misdemeanor or a felony, except as provided in subdivision (g):
(1) Makes, possesses, sells, gives, or otherwise transfers to
another, or offers or advertises any instrument, apparatus, or device
with intent to use it or with knowledge or reason to believe it is
intended to be used to avoid any lawful telephone or telegraph toll
charge or to conceal the existence or place of origin or destination
of any telephone or telegraph message.
(2) Sells, gives, or otherwise transfers to another or offers, or
advertises plans or instructions for making or assembling an
instrument, apparatus, or device described in paragraph (1) of this
subdivision with knowledge or reason to believe that they may be used
to make or assemble the instrument, apparatus, or device.
(c) Any person who publishes the number or code of an existing,
canceled, revoked, expired, or nonexistent credit card, or the
numbering or coding which is employed in the issuance of credit
cards, with the intent that it be used or with knowledge or reason to
believe that it will be used to avoid the payment of any lawful
telephone or telegraph toll charge is guilty of a misdemeanor.
Subdivision (g) shall not apply to this subdivision. As used in this
section, "publishes" means the communication of information to any
one or more persons, either orally, in person or by telephone, radio,
or television, or electronic means, including, but not limited to, a
bulletin board system, or in a writing of any kind, including
without limitation a letter or memorandum, circular or handbill,
newspaper, or magazine article, or book.
(d) Any person who is the issuee of a calling card, credit card,
calling code, or any other means or device for the legal use of
telecommunications services and who receives anything of value for
knowingly allowing another person to use the means or device in order
to fraudulently obtain telecommunications services is guilty of a
misdemeanor or a felony, except as provided in subdivision (g).
(e) Subdivision (a) applies when the telephone or telegraph
communication involved either originates or terminates, or both
originates and terminates, in this state, or when the charges for
service would have been billable, in normal course, by a person
providing telephone or telegraph service in this state, but for the
fact that the charge for service was avoided, or attempted to be
avoided, by one or more of the means set forth in subdivision (a).
(f) Jurisdiction of an offense under this section is in the
jurisdictional territory where the telephone call or telegram
involved in the offense originates or where it terminates, or the
jurisdictional territory to which the bill for the service is sent or
would have been sent but for the fact that the service was obtained
or attempted to be obtained by one or more of the means set forth in
subdivision (a).
(g) Theft of any telephone or telegraph services under this
section by a person who has a prior misdemeanor or felony conviction
for theft of services under this section within the past five years,
is a felony.
(h) Any person or telephone company defrauded by any acts
prohibited under this section shall be entitled to restitution for
the entire amount of the charges avoided from any person or persons
convicted under this section.
(i) Any instrument, apparatus, device, plans, instructions, or
written publication described in subdivision (b) or (c) may be seized
under warrant or incident to a lawful arrest, and, upon the
conviction of a person for a violation of subdivision (a), (b), or
(c), the instrument, apparatus, device, plans, instructions, or
written publication may be destroyed as contraband by the sheriff of
the county in which the person was convicted or turned over to the
person providing telephone or telegraph service in the territory in
which it was seized.
(j) Any computer, computer system, computer network, or any
software or data, owned by the defendant, which is used during the
commission of any public offense described in this section or any
computer, owned by the defendant, which is used as a repository for
the storage of software or data illegally obtained in violation of
this section shall be subject to forfeiture.