What You Need to Know About Identity Theft Laws in California
Identify theft laws in California are in place to protect each individual’s privacy and personal information. Here is everything you need to know about identity theft laws in California.
Violation of identity theft laws in California is any offense where an individual willfully takes the personal information of another and uses it to obtain goods, services, credit, or any other benefit in the name of that person. Identity theft can occur in many different circumstances such as credit card fraud or falsely posting bail under another name. Identity theft laws are taken extremely seriously and are punishable as a misdemeanor or felony in California.
Types of Identity Theft in California
California recognizes four different classes of identity theft as described in California Penal Code Section 530.5. Here are the four distinct categories of identity theft in the state:
1. California Penal Code Section 530.5(a): the unauthorized use of another person’s personal identifying information.
2. California Penal Code Section 530.5 (c): the fraudulent possession of another person’s personal identifying information, without active use of such information (such as spending).
3. California Penal Code Section 530.5 (d) (1): the fraudulent sale, transfer, or conveyance of another person’s personal identifying information.
4. California Penal Code Section 530.5 (d) (2): knowingly selling, transferring, or conveying another person’s personal identifying information to facilitate its unauthorized use.
Additionally, personal identifying information includes a broad range of private information. Personal information is considered any information pertaining to one’s privacy such as names, addresses, social security numbers, mother’s maiden names, account numbers, PIN numbers, and passwords. All of these qualify as personal identifying information and are subject to identity theft laws.
What is False Impersonation?
California Penal Code Section 529 designates the crime of false impersonation under identity theft. It is described as a criminal offense that involves the use of someone else’s name in order to cause harm to that other person or to unjustly gain a benefit.
To prove the use of false impersonation under this code, the defendant must be found guilty of false impersonation of another individual through one of the following crimes:
- Posting bail or bond for a party while using someone else’s name
- Verifying, publishing, acknowledging, or proving a document in the name of another person to pass it off as valid
- Committing an act that would cause another individual to be civilly or criminally liable for the defendant’s action, or to falsely blame any other penalty or charge to another individual
What is Credit Card Fraud?
Identity theft also commonly occurs in credit card fraud. California Penal Code Section 484 describes the illegal offenses that are categorized as credit card fraud.
- California Penal Code Section 484 (e) describes any instances involving stolen credit cards. This involves the selling, transferring, obtaining, or otherwise possessing the credit card or credit card information or another person without that person’s consent.
- California Penal Code Section 484 (f) relates to any forging of credit card information. This offense is described as altering an existing credit card, counterfeiting a fake card, or signing someone else’s name in a credit card transaction without their consent.
- California Penal Code Section 484 (g) involves the use of a stolen fake, forged, altered, revoked, or expired credit card to produce cash or goods.
- California Penal Code Section 484 (h) occurs when a retailer either accepts payment by a stolen, expired, revoked, or fake credit card or presents false evidence of a transaction to receive payment for goods when no transaction occurred.
- California Penal Code Section 484 (j) involves manufacturing or possessing counterfeit credit cards or having the equipment to make or traffic counterfeit cards
- California Penal Code Section 484 (i) occurs when an individual intentionally publishes credit card information, including PIN numbers, passwords, or other private information to defraud a person or entity.
Any criminal offense that falls under these categories can be deemed as credit card fraud and punishable by law.
Penalties for Identity Theft in California
Identity theft in California can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor. The charge will depend upon both the defendant’s criminal history as well as the facts of the case at hand.
Any individual convicted of a misdemeanor identity theft can face up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. Any individual convicted of a felony identity theft faces up to three years in California state prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Additionally, under federal law identity theft is more punishable than just by California state law. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998 establishes that any individual convicted of identity theft under federal law faces extremely heavy fines as well as up to 30 years in a California federal prison.
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