California Penal Code
529. Every person who falsely personates another in either his
private or official capacity, and in such assumed character either:
1. Becomes bail or surety for any party in any proceeding
whatever, before any court or officer authorized to take such bail or
surety;
2. Verifies, publishes, acknowledges, or proves, in the name of
another person, any written instrument, with intent that the same may
be recorded, delivered, or used as true; or,
3. Does any other act whereby, if done by the person falsely
personated, he might, in any event, become liable to any suit or
prosecution, or to pay any sum of money, or to incur any charge,
forfeiture, or penalty, or whereby any benefit might accrue to the
party personating, or to any other person;
Is punishable by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars
($10,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county
jail not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
529a. Every person who manufactures, produces, sells, offers, or
transfers to another any document purporting to be either a
certificate of birth or certificate of baptism, knowing such document
to be false or counterfeit and with the intent to deceive, is guilty
of a crime, and upon conviction therefor, shall be punished by
imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by
imprisonment in the state prison. Every person who offers, displays,
or has in his or her possession any false or counterfeit certificate
of birth or certificate of baptism, or any genuine certificate of
birth which describes a person then living or deceased, with intent
to represent himself or herself as another or to conceal his or her
true identity, is guilty of a crime, and upon conviction therefor,
shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed
one year.
529.5. (a) Every person who manufactures, sells, offers for sale,
or transfers any document, not amounting to counterfeit, purporting
to be a government-issued identification card or driver's license,
which by virtue of the wording or appearance thereon could reasonably
deceive an ordinary person into believing that it is issued by a
government agency, and who knows that the document is not a
government-issued document, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine
not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both the fine and
imprisonment.
(b) Any person who, having been convicted of a violation of
subdivision (a), is subsequently convicted of a violation of
subdivision (a), is punishable for the subsequent conviction by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine
not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both the fine and
imprisonment.
(c) Any person who possesses a document described in subdivision
(a) and who knows that the document is not a government-issued
document is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less
than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and not more than two thousand
five hundred dollars ($2,500). The misdemeanor fine shall be imposed
except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would be
served. The court may allow an offender to work off the fine by
doing community service. If community service work is not available,
the misdemeanor shall be punishable by a fine of up to one thousand
dollars ($1,000), based on the person's ability to pay.
(d) If an offense specified in this section is committed by a
person when he or she is under 21 years of age, but is 13 years of
age or older, the court also may suspend the person's driving
privilege for one year, pursuant to Section 13202.5 of the Vehicle
Code.
529.7. Any person who obtains, or assists another person in
obtaining, a driver's license, identification card, vehicle
registration certificate, or any other official document issued by
the Department of Motor Vehicles, with knowledge that the person
obtaining the document is not entitled to the document, is guilty of
a misdemeanor, and is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for
up to one year, or a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000), or
both.
530. Every person who falsely personates another, in either his
private or official capacity, and in such assumed character receives
any money or property, knowing that it is intended to be delivered to
the individual so personated, with intent to convert the same to his
own use, or to that of another person, or to deprive the true owner
thereof, is punishable in the same manner and to the same extent as
for larceny of the money or property so received.
530.5. (a) Every person who willfully obtains personal identifying
information, as defined in subdivision (b), of another person, and
uses that information for any unlawful purpose, including to obtain,
or attempt to obtain, credit, goods, services, or medical information
in the name of the other person without the consent of that person,
is guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction therefor, shall be
punished either by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one
year, a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both
that imprisonment and fine, or by imprisonment in the state prison, a
fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or both that
imprisonment and fine.
(b) "Personal identifying information," as used in this section,
means the name, address, telephone number, health insurance
identification number, taxpayer identification number, school
identification number, state or federal driver's license number, or
identification number, social security number, place of employment,
employee identification number, mother's maiden name, demand deposit
account number, savings account number, checking account number, PIN
(personal identification number) or password, alien registration
number, government passport number, date of birth, unique biometric
data including fingerprint, facial scan identifiers, voice print,
retina or iris image, or other unique physical representation, unique
electronic data including identification number, address, or routing
code, telecommunication identifying information or access device,
information contained in a birth or death certificate, or credit card
number of an individual person.
(c) In any case in which a person willfully obtains personal
identifying information of another person, uses that information to
commit a crime in addition to a violation of subdivision (a), and is
convicted of that crime, the court records shall reflect that the
person whose identity was falsely used to commit the crime did not
commit the crime.
(d) Every person who, with the intent to defraud, acquires,
transfers, or retains possession of the personal identifying
information, as defined in subdivision (b), of another person is
guilty of a public offense, and upon conviction therefor, shall be
punished by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or
a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that
imprisonment and fine.
