What circumstances will lead to heavier penalties for stealing, buying, or illegally providing credit card information?

The crime of stealing, buying, or illegally providing credit card information is stipulated in Article 177-1 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. The basic penalty range is fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 100,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, it is fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years, and a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; if the circumstances are especially serious, it is fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and a fine of not less than 50,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan or confiscation of property.

According to the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Disrupting Credit Card Management (2009), the following circumstances will be recognized as "serious" and lead to heavier penalties: First, the number of credit card information sets involved exceeds 5; second, the act causes actual economic losses to the cardholders; third, the actor is a member of an organized criminal group engaged in such activities; fourth, the information is used to commit other crimes such as credit card fraud. For "especially serious" circumstances, it usually includes cases where the number of information sets exceeds 50, or the economic loss caused exceeds 100,000 yuan, or the actor plays a key role in a cross-regional criminal gang.

In your friend's case, since he bought 5 sets and sold 3, the number is already at the threshold of "serious" circumstances. If the information he sold was used to commit fraud and caused losses to cardholders, the penalty will be further increased. It is recommended that he actively cooperates with the police investigation, truthfully confesses his crimes, and returns any illegal gains he obtained. These behaviors can be considered as mitigating factors during sentencing. At the same time, he should immediately consult a professional criminal defense lawyer to protect his legitimate rights and interests in the legal process.