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States Criminalize Internet Identity Theft

By Jonathan Bick

Last year, CNN reported that more than 80 million fake/impostor Facebook profiles were in use. Among them was a New Jersey Facebook user who was prosecuted for identity theft after creating a fake profile that depicted her ex-boyfriend as a criminal. Another Facebook user in California was prosecuted for accessing and altering another's Facebook account without consent. These unlawful actions typify the two most common forms of Internet identity theft: e-impersonation by fraudulently creating a fake account or by deceptively using an existing account.

Both types of impersonation result in criminal liability for perpetrators of Internet impersonation. Some state statutes have specifically criminalized such Internet activity. For example, New York Penal Law '190.25(4)'states that a person is guilty of criminal impersonation when said person impersonates another by communication by Internet website or electronic means with intent to obtain a benefit or injure or defraud another. The California Penal Code '528.5 states that any person who knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another actual person through or on an Internet website or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening or defrauding another person is guilty of a public offense.

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