(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person is guilty of a public offense punishable pursuant to subdivision (d).
(b)For purposes of this section, an impersonation is credible if another person would reasonably believe, or did reasonably believe, that the defendant was or is the person who was impersonated.
(c)For purposes of this section, “electronic means” shall include opening an e-mail account or an
account or profile on a social networking Internet Web site in another person’s name.
(d)A violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
(e)In addition to any other civil remedy available, a person who suffers damage or loss by reason of a violation of subdivision (a) may bring a civil action against the violator for compensatory damages and injunctive relief or other equitable relief pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), (4), and (5) of subdivision (e) and subdivision (g) of Section 502.
(f)This section shall not preclude prosecution under any other law.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
6
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 2015–2024 · leading case:
Collier v. Harris, 240 Cal. App. 4th 41 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).
Collier v. Harris, 240 Cal. App. 4th 41 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).
· cites it 2× “The operative second amended complaint alleges causes of action for invasion of privacy, false impersonation (Pen. Code, § 528.5), and illegal use of a domain name (Bus.”
State v. Abigail Marie Stubbs, 502 S.W.3d 218 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2016).
“5 (a) ("any person who knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates anoth *233 er actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person is guilty of a public…”
Zilberstein v. Petersen, No. B301779 (Cal. Ct. App. Oct. 23, 2020).
· cites it 4× “Zilberstein sued Petersen for false impersonation (Pen. Code, § 528.5) and bad faith registration or use of another’s personal name in a website domain name (Bus.”
Zilberstein v. Petersen, No. B311978 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr. 13, 2022).
· cites it 2× “____________________________ Plaintiff and appellant Ahron Zilberstein sued Michael Petersen for false impersonation (Pen. Code, § 528.5) and cyberpiracy (Bus.”
Zehia v. Super. Ct., 45 Cal. App. 5th 543 (Cal. Ct. App. 2020).
“Resident Nicholas Nadhir sued nonresident defendant, Yousef Zehia, for defamation, violation of the online impersonation law (Pen. Code, § 528.5), appropriation of name or likeness, and intentional infliction of emotional distress based on the conduct just described.”
A.F. v. M.R. Ca3, No. C096071 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 23, 2024).
“’s married name with 4 Penal Code section 528.5 provides in relevant part: “(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person who knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.