Vondran Legal® - Social Media Litigation, Online Impersonation and Fake Account Profiles.  Have a dispute involving Facebook/Meta, Twitter ("X"), Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, YouTube or other platform call us at (877) 276-5084.  We represent Plaintiff and Defendants.

Introduction

Here is the general scenario.  Someone is out to get you.  They know you are on social media (ex. Facebook (Meta) Instagram, or Twitter (X) or many other social media websites that allow for profile pictures and other stored media and social interactions.  This person has a "bone to pick" with you, or is angry for some reason and wants to either personally injury you (online threats) or to defame you by making false statements of fact, and so they set up a fake account profile, and may even steal your images to make the fake account look legitimate.  Then, typically, they may embark in an ongoing campaign of cyberbullying, making personal threats, or taking other actions that may harm your reputation.  Obviously, these types of things will violate the terms of service for most social media platforms, but believe it or not, the platforms may not always delete the account forcing you to wonder what you can do to take legal action to (a) take the account down and (b) seek compensation for damages inflicted.  This law discusses a unique California law that address this precise situation and provides tips on how to use this law to your advantage.

California Penal Code § 528.5 (Social media impersonation)

Here is the text of Cal. Penal Code section 528.5.

(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.

This section makes clear that if you are attempting to impersonate another person online, via creating a fake account that looks like them, uses their name or image, and/or taking images, photographs and videos from their site and putting it on your site, and potentially purchasing "followers" "fans" or "likes" to try to mimic their popularity so people reasonably believe it is the account of the other person, in California, this can be a crime and also lead to a civil action.

California Penal Code § 502 (taking images from a computer)

Creating fake imposter accounts and stealing photos and videos on the computer network may also create further legal liability.

Under California Penal code section 502 it is against the law in California:

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to expand the degree of protection afforded to individuals, businesses, and governmental agencies from tampering, interference, damage, and unauthorized access to lawfully created computer data and computer systems. The Legislature finds and declares that the proliferation of computer technology has resulted in a concomitant proliferation of computer crime and other forms of unauthorized access to computers, computer systems, and computer data.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (h), any person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of a public offense:

(1) Knowingly accesses and without permission alters, damages, deletes, destroys, or otherwise uses any data, computer, computer system, or computer network in order to either (A) devise or execute any scheme or artifice to defraud, deceive, or extort, or (B) wrongfully control or obtain money, property, or data.

(2) Knowingly accesses and without permission takes, copies, or makes use of any data from a computer, computer system, or computer network, or takes or copies any supporting documentation, whether existing or residing internal or external to a computer, computer system, or computer network.

(3) Knowingly and without permission uses or causes to be used computer services.

(4) Knowingly accesses and without permission adds, alters, damages, deletes, or destroys any data, computer software, or computer programs which reside or exist internal or external to a computer, computer system, or computer network.

(5) Knowingly and without permission disrupts or causes the disruption of computer services or denies or causes the denial of computer services to an authorized user of a computer, computer system, or computer network.

(6) Knowingly and without permission provides or assists in providing a means of accessing a computer, computer system, or computer network in violation of this section.

(7) Knowingly and without permission accesses or causes to be accessed any computer, computer system, or computer network.

(8) Knowingly introduces any computer contaminant into any computer, computer system, or computer network.

(9) Knowingly and without permission uses the internet domain name or profile of another individual, corporation, or entity in connection with the sending of one or more electronic mail messages or posts and thereby damages or causes damage to a computer, computer data, computer system, or computer network.

(10) Knowingly and without permission disrupts or causes the disruption of government computer services or denies or causes the denial of government computer services to an authorized user of a government computer, computer system, or computer network.

(11) Knowingly accesses and without permission adds, alters, damages, deletes, or destroys any data, computer software, or computer programs which reside or exist internal or external to a public safety infrastructure computer system computer, computer system, or computer network.

(12) Knowingly and without permission disrupts or causes the disruption of public safety infrastructure computer system computer services or denies or causes the denial of computer services to an authorized user of a public safety infrastructure computer system computer, computer system, or computer network.

(13) Knowingly and without permission provides or assists in providing a means of accessing a computer, computer system, or public safety infrastructure computer system computer, computer system, or computer network in violation of this section.

(14) Knowingly introduces any computer contaminant into any public safety infrastructure computer system computer, computer system, or computer network.

(d) (1) Any person who violates any of the provisions of paragraph (1), (2), (4), (5), (10), (11), or (12) of subdivision (c) is guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for 16 months, or two or three years and a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(e) (1) In addition to any other civil remedy available, the owner or lessee of the computer, computer system, computer network, computer program, or data who suffers damage or loss by reason of a violation of any of the provisions of subdivision (c) may bring a civil action against the violator for compensatory damages and injunctive relief or other equitable relief. Compensatory damages shall include any expenditure reasonably and necessarily incurred by the owner or lessee to verify that a computer system, computer network, computer program, or data was or was not altered, damaged, or deleted by the access. For the purposes of actions authorized by this subdivision, the conduct of an unemancipated minor shall be imputed to the parent or legal guardian having control or custody of the minor, pursuant to the provisions of Section 1714.1 of the Civil Code.

(2) In any action brought pursuant to this subdivision the court may award reasonable attorney's fees.

(3) A community college, state university, or academic institution accredited in this state is required to include computer-related crimes as a specific violation of college or university student conduct policies and regulations that may subject a student to disciplinary sanctions up to and including dismissal from the academic institution. This paragraph shall not apply to the University of California unless the Board of Regents adopts a resolution to that effect.

(4) In any action brought pursuant to this subdivision for a willful violation of the provisions of subdivision (c), where it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 3294 of the Civil Code, the court may additionally award punitive or exemplary damages.

Statute of limitations:

(5) No action may be brought pursuant to this subdivision unless it is initiated within three years of the date of the act complained of, or the date of the discovery of the damage, whichever is later.

Online Defamation

Using a fake account to defame someone can also lead to a civil lawsuit for defamation (false statements of fact that injure ones reputation). Since this would be in writing, it would be deemed "libel."

To learn more about defamation click here.

Potential damages and remedies to seek for various legal violations

Here are some types of damages and/or remedies that may be available depending upon the facts of the case:

-Compensatory damages

-Exemplary and punitive damages pursuant to California Civil Code §3294 and Penal Code §§528.5 and Cal Penal Code 502 (see above) in the maximum amount permitted by law;

-Attorney's fees, including, without limitation, pursuant to Penal Code §§528.5 and 502 and costs of the action;

-Injunction

- Pre and post-judgment Interest

- Copyright infringement damages (if images were copied and used on the fake website) $30,000 to $150,000 for "willful copyright infringement."

Under California Penal Code § 528.5, online impersonation is an internet crime that involves the act of assuming another person's identity online with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, threaten, or deceive others

Tips to responding to fake account impersonation and personal attacks

1. Contact the social media site at issue and report the community violation. You will need specific evidence and the infringing URL
   
   
2. Call the local police to report this to pursue the CRIMINAL violation, however, you might want to discuss this with an IP attorney first to avoid any potential issues of making a false police report
   
   
3. If there are copyrighted images at issue (for example, they copied images from your image or video library onto the imposter account) this can raise a copyright violation and a DMCA takedown letter can be used.
   
   
4. The same is true if there are any trademarks at issue (for example, an imposter account of a doctor using the doctor's trademarked tagline "The broken bone doctor.")
   
   
5. If there are no intellectual property law issues involved (ex., no copyright or trademark issues), and/or you need to find a way to identify the imposter to take further legal action, you may want to consider filing a "John Doe" lawsuit and seeking early discovery, under CCP 2025.210(b), to serve a depostion subpoena for business records on:
   
    (a) the social media platform at issue and then once you receive information from the platform;
   
   (b) the ISP for the user to try to further identify the user, and seek a subpoena for any  email service providers, cable operators, or telephone corporations. 
   
   NOTE:  The Stored Communications Act may apply so you can typically only seek non-communication information, for example account history, name and address, email addresses, etc.  However, these can be fake as well.
   
   
6. If you are a victim of identity theft, you can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call 1-877-ID-THEFT for further assitance

Documents to request:

• Documents to identify individuals who created, controlled or maintained the accounts at issue
• Names, email addresses, phone numbers
• Account history information
• Account updates
• Communication "header information"
• Other writings available under California Evidence Code section 250

Contact a Social Media Litigation Law Firm

Since 2004 Vondran Legal® has been an established leader in social media and intellectual property dispute resolution.  We handle DMCA takedown claims, copyright, trademark, and trade secret litigation, right of publicity and social media influencer disputes and online defamation claims.  Contact us at (877) 276-5084 for more information or email us through our contact form.