Can someone get charged with identity theft for making a fake facebook profile?

[abby1116]

Someone made a fake facebook profile of me and I was wondering if they could get charged with identity theft.

[awsomegirl]

NO! i know alot of people who go by celeb's names or they're friends name or something

[Jay]

That's not identity theft. It's misrepresentation.

If doing so causes you financial loss, you could sue for defamation. If the person making the fake profits from it, it could be considered fraud.

But, otherwise, not much that can be done legally.

[FozzieBear]

It is identity theft. You don't have to be yourself online, but you can't pretend to be someone specific either. While it may be accepted to impersonate celebrities (I mean, no one believes that Brad Pitt is actually friending them and talking about how he's cleaning out the cat's litter box), I can't pretend to be my neighbor, co-worker, classmate, etc.

Report it to Facebook and make them take it down. Just be aware that, if the person is a jerk, they'll just put it up again. If that happens, report it to the police.

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