Selling CVV codes is illegal. A CVV is the 3 or 4 digit security code on a payment card, and trading it for money is card fraud, not commerce. There is no legitimate marketplace where a CVV can be sold, and every buyer advertising for one is running a scam, a sting, or a criminal operation.
What is a CVV?
The CVV, or card verification value, is the short code printed on a payment card that proves the payer physically holds the card. Online and phone merchants ask for it to confirm card-not-present transactions.
Because the code exists to stop fraud, it is the one piece of card data that is never meant to be traded, stored, or shared.
Is it illegal to sell CVV numbers?
Yes. In the United States, 18 U.S.C. Section 1029 criminalizes trafficking in stolen card credentials and carries prison terms measured in years, not fines alone. The UK Fraud Act 2006, Canada's Criminal Code, and EU directives treat the same conduct as serious fraud.
Buying a CVV is also a crime in most jurisdictions, so there is no side of this transaction that is safe.
What actually happens to people who try to sell a CVV?
- Buyers on forums and chat apps rarely pay. They take the code and disappear.
- Escrow services for card data are almost always run by the same group scamming the seller.
- Posting card numbers or codes leaves a permanent record that prosecutors can use.
- Payment apps freeze accounts tied to suspected fraud, including funds that were yours.
I run a greeting card or gift shop. How should I handle CVVs?
Never store them. PCI DSS forbids retaining sensitive authentication data such as the CVV after a transaction is authorized, even if you encrypt it.
Use a PCI-validated payment processor so the code never touches your own systems, and train staff to never write a code onto an order slip.
What can you do instead to earn money from cards and gifts?
Legitimate options exist, and they do not carry prison risk.
- Sell your own greeting card designs, gift bundles, or printables through a marketplace.
- Resell unused gift cards through established exchanges that verify the balance first.
- Offer gift wrapping, personalization, or local delivery as a paid add-on service.
Someone asked you to sell or buy a CVV. What now?
Do not respond, do not send any code, and screenshot the request. Report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and to the FTC, and contact your bank immediately if your own card details were exposed.
If a charge appears that you did not make, dispute it in writing and keep the confirmation number.