united-states
Can I use my browser to change the prices of things I buy online?
<p>I can use Chrome's inspector tools to modify my local copy of the html on websites I visit. After changing the prices on a page in this way, for some websites I believe I can actually proceed through a checkout process, and buy items at whatever new altered price I want. </p>

<p>What kind of trouble can I get into for this - if any?</p>

<p>You can get arrested for theft and/or fraud. This is not some new way to steal items; changing price tags started approximately the day after price tags were invented. Some state laws handle it explicitly, some implicitly; for instance, Maryland defines &quot;deception&quot; in its <a href="http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/criminal-law/title-7/subtitle-1/7-101/" rel="noreferrer">theft statute</a> to include &quot;(vi) remove or alter a label or price tag;&quot; theft is <a href="http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/criminal-law/title-7/subtitle-1/7-104/" rel="noreferrer">committed</a> if, among other possibilities,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(b)  Unauthorized control over property - By deception.- A person may not obtain control over property by willfully or knowingly using deception, if the person:</p>
<p>(1) intends to deprive the owner of the property;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other states, caselaw says that switching price tags is deception, and doing it for gain is fraud. See <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11855366659164977030" rel="noreferrer">this California case</a> in which switching price tags and buying the item is completed generic &quot;theft by false pretenses&quot; if the cashier didn't know you had switched the tags and relied on the new ones (in that case, the cashier knew so it was just attempted theft); see also this <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11506652602115716945" rel="noreferrer">Nebraska</a> case. Notably, the deception there is not tied to a statute saying &quot;switching physical price tags is deception;&quot; rather, it's deception because it involves knowingly making a false representation of a material fact (i.e. the true price of the goods) with intent to fool the store into thinking the real price is the lower one.</p>
<p>As a general rule, many criminal laws handle new technology by looking at how you're using it. If what you're doing would be flagrantly illegal if not done on a computer, it will likely be illegal if you use a computer.</p>
<p>Because you used the Internet, you might theoretically face further charges. If this is considered to be deception, you could in theory be on the hook for <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1343" rel="noreferrer">wire fraud</a>. This is a federal felony offense. While small-scale offenses would more likely be prosecuted at the state level (and if you are federally prosecuted for one small fraud you'll probably face 0-6 months in jail instead of the 20-year maximum sentence for wire fraud), it is in fact a federal crime to commit wire fraud.</p>

<p>Under the common law, you'd be committing a felony: theft by false pretenses. Each state has probably replaced the common law definition with a statute, and additionally there'd be a federal felony law for fraud via the internet. Even if the retailer noticed it and cancelled the transaction, they could still report you for attempted theft.</p>

<p>It is true that you'd be unlikely to face prosecution with higher priorities in law enforcement. Nevertheless it is a terrible idea to commit multiple felonies just because you are playing the odds that no one will care enough to charge you.</p>

<p>If you do this successfully, then you used your computer's browser to hack into the company's server that handles sales. Computer Fraud Act, &quot;Knowingly accessing a protected computer and causing damage and loss to that computer&quot;.</p>
<p>Now <em>if</em> you are successful, then some software developer should obviously be fired for gross incompetence. If your browser sends a request to buy 100 items at $20 each instead of the correct price at $100 each, that request should very obviously not be allowed. But that's no excuse for you.</p>
