TITLE 16 CRIMES AND OFFENSES

Section 9. Forgery and Fraudulent Practices, 16-9-1 through 16-9-157.

ARTICLE 8 IDENTITY FRAUD

16-9-120. Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

"Attorney General" means the Attorney General or his or her designee.
"Business victim" means any individual or entity that provided money, credit, goods, services, or anything of value to someone other than the intended recipient where the intended recipient has not given permission for the actual recipient to receive it and the individual or entity that provided money, credit, goods, services, or anything of value has suffered financial loss as a direct result of the commission or attempted commission of a violation of this article.
"Consumer victim" means any individual whose personal identifying information has been obtained, compromised, used, or recorded in any manner without the permission of that individual.
"Health care records" means records however maintained and in whatever form regarding an individual's health, including, but not limited to, doctors' and nurses' examinations and other notes, examination notes of other medical professionals, hospital records, rehabilitation facility records, nursing home records, assisted living facility records, results of medical tests, X-rays, CT scans, MRI scans, vision examinations, pharmacy records, prescriptions, hospital charts, surgical records, mental health treatments and counseling, dental records, and physical therapy notes and evaluations.
"Identifying information" shall include, but not be limited to:
1. Current or former names;
2. Social security numbers;
3. Driver's license numbers;
4. Checking account numbers;
5. Savings account numbers;
6. Credit and other financial transaction card numbers;
7. Debit card numbers;
8. Personal identification numbers;
9. Electronic identification numbers;
10. Digital or electronic signatures;
11. Medical identification numbers;
12. Birth dates;
13. Mother's maiden name;
14. Selected personal identification numbers;
15. Tax identification numbers;
16. State identification card numbers issued by state departments;
17. Veteran and military medical identification numbers; and
18. Any other numbers or information which can be used to access a person's or entity's resources or health care records.
"Resources" includes, but is not limited to:
1. A person's or entity's credit, credit history, credit profile, and credit rating;
2. United States currency, securities, real property, and personal property of any kind;
3. Credit, charge, and debit accounts;
4. Loans and lines of credit;
5. Documents of title and other forms of commercial paper recognized under Title 11;
6. Any account, including a safety deposit box, with a financial institution as defined by Code Section 7-1-4, including a national bank, federal savings and loan association, or federal credit union or a securities dealer licensed by the Secretary of State or the federal Securities and Exchange Commission;
7. A person's personal history, including, but not limited to, records of such person's driving records; criminal, medical, or insurance history; education; or employment; and
8. A person's health insurance, health savings accounts, health spending accounts, flexible spending accounts, medicare accounts, Medicaid accounts, dental insurance, vision insurance, and other forms of health insurance and health benefit plans.

(Code 1981, §16-9-120, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 865, § 2; Ga. L. 2002, p. 551, § 2; Ga. L. 2013, p. 1059, § 1/SB 170; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1088, § 13/SB 148.)

Cross references.

- Disposal by business of personal identification data, § 10-15-1 et seq.

Use of personally identifiable data in court documentation, § 15-10-54.

Fraudulent driver's license or identification, § 40-5-125.

Fraudulent identification card for persons with disabilities, § 40-5-179.

Law reviews.

- For article, "The Growing Threat of Identity Theft and Its Implications for Employers," see 11 Ga. St. B.J. 27 (2006). For note on the 2002 amendments of §§ 16-9-120 to16-9-127 and enactment of §§ 16-9-128 to16-9-132 in this article, see 19 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 81 (2002).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 37 C.J.S., Forgery, § 1 et seq.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Resources.

- Evidence was sufficient to convict a defendant of identity fraud because for purposes of O.C.G.A. § 16-9-121, the United States Treasury, the nation's foremost banking institution, fell within the ambit of O.C.G.A. § 16-9-120(5)(F); thus, when the defendant used a victim's social security number to obtain a job, the defendant accessed the victim's Internal Revenue Account, and thereby the United States Treasury, which was an illegal action under O.C.G.A. § 16-9-121. Hernandez v. State, 281 Ga. 559, 639 S.E.2d 473 (2007).

Construction with O.C.G.A. § 16-9-121. - Because the state's evidence failed to demonstrate that the defendant accessed the resources of another by using identifying information to procure a cell phone, and a service contract for the cell phone, and failed to establish that the defendant either knew that a store clerk: (1) could not issue a phone without accessing the resources of a specific individual; (2) would need to use the identifying information of that individual to access such resources; or (3) in fact used such identifying information to access the resources of another for the purpose of providing the defendant with a cell phone, the evidence was insufficient to sustain the defendant's conviction of financial identity fraud. Jones v. State, 285 Ga. App. 822, 648 S.E.2d 133 (2007).

Conviction upheld.

- Defendant's identity fraud conviction was upheld on appeal as: (1) a jury charge under O.C.G.A. § 16-9-120(2) was not supported by the evidence; (2) an additional charge on the dictionary definition of fraud as a false representation of a matter of fact did not result in any prejudice; (3) the indictment was sufficient and plainly tracked the language of the identity fraud statute, laid out the elements of the offense, and allowed the defendant to prepare a defense; (4) the trial court's imposition of the maximum 10-year sentence was not unlawful; and (5) nothing in the record supported the defendant's claim that the state engaged in illegal plea bargaining tactics. Lee v. State, 283 Ga. App. 826, 642 S.E.2d 876 (2007).

Defendant's identity fraud conviction was upheld on appeal because the state presented sufficient evidence that the defendant attempted to open a bank account using the identity of another person, recording that person's social security number in doing so, with the intent to obtain that person's resources in one way or another. Vicks v. State, 289 Ga. App. 495, 657 S.E.2d 876 (2008).

Trial court properly denied a defendant's motion for a directed verdict of acquittal with regard to the defendant's conviction for identity fraud as sufficient evidence supported the conviction based on the state establishing that the defendant used the victim's personal information and credit to purchase a car by having another person use the victim's personal information and represent themselves as the defendant's relative and serve as the defendant's co-signer for the vehicle. Powell v. State, 293 Ga. App. 442, 667 S.E.2d 213 (2008).

Defendant was properly convicted of financial identity fraud in violation of O.C.G.A. § 16-9-120 because the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to authorize a jury to find that the defendant, either directly or as a party to a crime under O.C.G.A. § 16-2-20, committed financial identity fraud by accessing the resources of the victims through the use of identifying information without the authorization or permission of the victims, with the intent to unlawfully appropriate their resources to the defendant's own use; the federal tax identification number of either victim was required as part of the credit card application to obtain temporary charge passes, which the defendant used to purchase thousands of dollars worth of merchandise in a short period of time. Zachery v. State, 312 Ga. App. 418, 718 S.E.2d 332 (2011).

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