§ 530.5 PC – “Identity Theft” – California Law & Penalties

Penal Code § 530.5 PC prohibits identity theft, which is defined as using someone else’s personal identifying information “for any unlawful purpose, including to obtain, or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services, real property, or medical information without that person’s consent.”

In California, identity theft is a wobbler. This means the charges can be filed as either a

• misdemeanor or
• a felony.

A conviction is punishable by three years in jail or prison.

Personal identifying information includes things such as:

• names,
• addresses and telephone numbers, and
• account numbers,
• employee identification numbers,
• driver’s license numbers and passport information.

Examples of Identity Theft:

• signing someone else’s name on a check.
• using another student’s school I.D. to pay for school lunch.
• giving a police officer someone else’s driver’s license information to avoid a ticket.

Common Defenses:

We have had great success in challenging identity theft charges by showing that:

• you had no unlawful purpose when taking the personal information, or
• you did not act willfully to obtain the personal information, or
• you did not intend to defraud anyone, and/or
• someone falsely accused you.

Sentencing:

Identity theft conviction	California penalties
As a misdemeanor	Up to 1 year in jail or misdemeanor (or summary) probation
As a felony	16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in jail or felony (or formal) probation

Below our California criminal defense attorneys discuss what you need to know about the crime of identity theft. Click on a topic to jump to that section.

• 1. Definition
• 2. Defenses
• 3. Penalties
• 4. Immigration consequences
• 5. Expungements
• 6. Gun rights
• 7. Avoiding ID theft
• 8. Remedies
• 9. Related offenses
• Additional resources

1. Definition

Penal Code 530.5 PC makes identity theft a crime in four situations. These include:

1. California Penal Code Section 530.5(a) PC – willfully obtaining another person’s personal identifying information and using that information for any unlawful purpose without that person’s consent.
2. California Penal Code Section 530.5(c) PC – taking another person’s personal identifying information, without that person’s consent, with the intent to commit a fraud,
3. California Penal Code Section 530.5(d)(1) PC – selling, transferring or providing the personal identifying information of another person, without that person’s consent, with the intent to commit a fraud, and
4. California Penal Code Section 530.5(d)(2) PC – selling, transferring or providing the personal identifying information of another person with the actual knowledge that the information will be used to commit a fraud.¹

Questions often arise under this statute on the meaning of:

• personal identifying information,
• willfully obtaining and unlawful purpose, and
• fraud.

Meaning of “personal identifying information”

For purposes of this statute, personal identifying information includes information such as:

• a person’s name, date of birth, address and telephone number,
• tax I.D. and social security numbers on one’s social security card,
• driver’s license numbers with the Department of Motor Vehicles and passport information,
• school I.D. and employee I.D. numbers,
• mother’s maiden name,
• bank account information and/or credit card numbers,
• financial information on IRS tax returns, and
• information contained in birth and death certificates.²

What “willfully obtaining” and “unlawful purpose” mean

PC 530.5 says you cannot:

• willfully obtain someone’s personal identifying information
• for an unlawful purpose.³

You commit an act willfully when you do it willingly or on purpose.⁴

An unlawful purpose includes unlawfully obtaining, or attempting to obtain:

• credit,
• goods,
• services,
• real property, or
• medical information.⁵

Note that a district attorney does not have to prove you acted with an intent to defraud to be guilty under 530.5 PC.⁶

Definition of fraud

The term “fraud” refers to a deliberate act that is designed to:

1. secure an unfair or unlawful gain, or
2. cause another person to suffer a loss.

Note that, for purposes of proving you guilty under this statute, it is not necessary that:

• anyone was actually defrauded, or
• anyone actually suffered a loss.⁷

Example: Marcos steals his neighbor’s bank and credit card information through a phishing email on social media. He plans on using them to purchase a new television for his Los Angeles home. Here, Marcos is guilty of identity theft. He took a deliberate act that was designed to cause his neighbor to suffer a financial loss. He is even guilty of being an identity thief if he does not succeed in his plan.

2. Defenses

Here at Shouse Law Group, we have represented literally thousands of clients accused of fraud, including ID theft. In our experience, the following four defenses are very persuasive with prosecutors, judges and juries.

1. you had no unlawful purpose when taking the personal information, or
2. you did not act willfully to obtain the personal information, or
3. you did not intend to defraud anyone, and/or
4. someone falsely accused you.

You had no unlawful purpose when taking the personal information

Recall that you are only guilty under PC 530.5 if you took personal information for an unlawful purpose. This means it is a defense for you to show that you were not going to break the law.

In past cases, we were able to show that our clients took information to compile a report or at the direction of their employer or for another benign reason.

You did not act willfully to obtain the personal information

Also, recall that you only commit the crime if you took some willful act to take personal information. Therefore, it is a defense to say that you did not take certain information on purpose. Perhaps, for example, you got someone else’s information by accident.

We work to compile all the evidence available to show lack of willfulness. Depending on the case, this could include recorded communications, eyewitness accounts, and surveillance video.

You did not intend to defraud anyone

Depending on the facts of a case, a prosecutor may have to prove you acted with the intent to defraud to show guilt. This means it is a defense for you to say you did not act with this requisite intent.

In our experience, we find that this is often the strongest defense since the D.A. can never definitively show what is inside of your head. As long as we can raise a reasonable doubt as to your intent, the charge should be dismissed.

Someone falsely accused you

We typically see our clients get falsely accused of identity theft when someone else (such as an ex-partner or ex-friend) is trying to get them into trouble out of anger or revenge. In some cases, complete strangers who are trying to get out of their own debts find our clients online and target them.

The best evidence to show you were falsely accused is recorded communications between you and the accuser showing that they have a motivation to lie about you. As long as we can impeach their credibility, the D.A. will have trouble sustaining criminal charges.

3. Penalties

The crime of identity theft is charged as a wobbler offense. A wobbler is a crime that a prosecutor can charge as either a misdemeanor or felony.

If charged as a misdemeanor, the crime is punishable by:

• misdemeanor (or summary) probation,
• custody in county jail for up to one year, and/or
• a maximum fine of $1,000.⁸

If charged as a felony, the offense is punishable by:

• felony (or formal) probation,
• imprisonment in state prison for up to three years, and/or
• a maximum fine of $10,000.⁹

In some cases, we can reach out to prosecutors after your arrest but before charges get filed in attempt to persuade them to bring only misdemeanor charges (or none at all).

4. Immigration consequences

Since ID theft involves fraud, non-citizens convicted of it could be deported for it.¹⁰  Aliens facing any criminal charges should seek legal help as soon as possible in attempt to get the charges dismissed or reduced to a non-deportable offense.

5. Expungements

You can get a criminal record expungement following a conviction for ID theft as long as you successfully complete:

• probation, or
• a jail sentence (whichever is applicable).

An expungement is favorable because you are able to avoid many of the hardships caused by having a conviction on your criminal history.¹¹

6. Gun rights

A felony ID theft conviction under PC 530.5 will cause you to lose your gun rights. That is why we fight to get any felony charges reduced to a misdemeanor or dismissed so there are no gun-related repercussions.

7. Avoiding ID theft

Do the following to help reduce the risk of ID theft:

1. avoid giving out personal information to people/sources that are not trustworthy,
2. destroy or shred documents and old credit cards,
3. invest in and install a mailbox key lock,
4. create smart passwords,
5. frequently check online accounts with financial institutions for unfamiliar withdrawals,
6. frequently check credit reports from the credit bureaus,
7. avoid using a public internet source to view sensitive information,
8. be on the lookout for the latest scam and any other warning signs of ID theft, and
9. change passwords after any reported data breaches

Also see the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website.

8. Remedies

California’s Attorney General’s office has published a checklist as an identity theft resource for victims to follow.

Some of the most important things are for the identity theft victim to:

1. report identity theft to the three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, Transunion) and set up a fraud alert,
2. report the crime to a law enforcement agency (file a police report),
3. call creditors to see if the thief opened any new accounts,
4. request free credit reports from annualcreditreport.com,
5. carefully review credit reports and credit scores,
6. consider a credit freeze,
7. enter his name into the California ID Theft Registry,
8. file a report with identitytheft.gov,
9. check personal computer for malware, and
10. invest in data security- and identity theft protection software

9. Related offenses

There are five crimes our criminal defense lawyers frequently see charged along with ID theft. These are:

1. false personation – PC 529,
2. credit card fraud – PC 484(e),
3. grand theft – PC 487,
4. forgery – PC 470, and
5. mail theft – PC 530.5e.

Note that identity theft is illegal under federal law as well.