(1) No person may obtain or attempt to obtain, or cause to be disclosed or attempt to cause to be disclosed to any person, financial information from a financial information repository, financial services provider, merchant, corporation, trust, partnership, or unincorporated association:

(a) By knowingly making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial information repository with the intent to deceive the officer, employee, or agent into relying on that statement or representation for purposes of releasing the financial information;

(b) By knowingly making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a customer of a financial information repository, financial services provider, merchant, corporation, trust, partnership, or unincorporated association with the intent to deceive the customer into releasing financial information or authorizing the release of such information;

(c) By knowingly providing any document to an officer, employee, or agent of a financial information repository, financial services provider, merchant, corporation, trust, partnership, or unincorporated association, knowing that the document is forged, counterfeit, lost, or stolen; was fraudulently obtained; or contains a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation, if the document is provided with the intent to deceive the officer, employee, or agent to release the financial information.

(2) No person may request another person to obtain financial information from a financial information repository, financial services provider, merchant, corporation, trust, partnership, or unincorporated association and knows or should have known that the person will obtain or attempt to obtain the information from the financial institution repository, financial services provider, merchant, corporation, trust, partnership, or unincorporated association in any manner described in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) No provision of this section shall be construed so as to prevent any action by a law enforcement agency, or any officer, employee, or agent of such agency, or any action of an agent of the financial information repository, financial services provider, merchant, corporation, trust, partnership, or unincorporated association when working in conjunction with a law enforcement agency.

(4) This section does not apply to:

(a) Efforts by the financial information repository to test security procedures or systems of the financial institution repository for maintaining the confidentiality of customer information;

(b) Investigation of alleged employee misconduct or negligence; or

(c) Efforts to recover financial or personal information of the financial institution obtained or received by another person in any manner described in subsection (1) or (2) of this section.

(5) Violation of this section is a class C felony.

(6) A person who violates this section is liable for five hundred dollars or actual damages, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorneys' fees.

Captions not law—2001 c 217: See note following RCW 9.35.005.