Keeping Electronic Payment Sent By Mistake May Become Crime In New Jersey 

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NEW JERSEY (CBS) - Person-to-person payment services, like Zelle, Venmo and Cash App, have become a popular way to repay friends, but lawmakers in New Jersey want to pass a bill that would make it a crime to keep an electronic payment that was accidentally sent to you.

Under the bill, refusing to return an erroneous electronic payment to the sender - after being notified it was sent by mistake - is theft.

The proposed bill states, "a person who erroneously receives a person-to-person electronic payment through a payment processor and who was properly notified that the payment was erroneous, and does not return, upon notification, the funds transferred to the sender, shall be guilty of theft."

The bill defines an erroneous payment as either funds sent to the wrong person or delivering the wrong amount of money.

The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee unanimously advanced the bill on Monday by a vote of 13-0. The legislation has not been introduced in the state Senate.

The legislation sponsored by Assemblyman John McKeon will now head to the Assembly speaker for further consideration.