Georgia Commons

Official Code of Georgia Annotated

Title 16. CRIMES AND OFFENSES · Chapter 9. FORGERY AND FRAUDULENT PRACTICES · Article 8. IDENTITY FRAUD

16-9-121. Elements of offense.

Active

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

  1. (a)

    A person commits the offense of identity fraud when he or she willfully and fraudulently:#

    1. (1)

      Without authorization or consent, uses or possesses with intent to fraudulently use identifying information concerning a person;#

    2. (2)

      Uses identifying information of an individual under 18 years old over whom he or she exercises custodial authority;#

    3. (3)

      Uses or possesses with intent to fraudulently use identifying information concerning a deceased individual;#

    4. (4)

      Creates, uses, or possesses with intent to fraudulently use any counterfeit or fictitious identifying information concerning a fictitious person with intent to use such counterfeit or fictitious identification information for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of a crime or fraud on another person; or#

    5. (5)

      Without authorization or consent, creates, uses, or possesses with intent to fraudulently use any counterfeit or fictitious identifying information concerning a real person with intent to use such counterfeit or fictitious identification information for the purpose of committing or facilitating the commission of a crime or fraud on another person.#

  2. (b)

    A person commits the offense of identity fraud by receipt of fraudulent identification information when he or she willingly accepts for identification purposes identifying information which he or she knows to be fraudulent, stolen, counterfeit, or fictitious. In any prosecution under this subsection it shall not be necessary to show a conviction of the principal thief, counterfeiter, or fraudulent user.#

  3. (c)

    The offenses created by this Code section shall not merge with any other offense.#

  4. (d)

    This Code section shall not apply to a person under the age of 21 who uses a fraudulent, counterfeit, or other false identification card for the purpose of obtaining entry into a business establishment or for purchasing items which he or she is not of legal age to purchase.#

The notes below are printed with the section but are not enacted law (O.C.G.A. § 1-1-1(c)). They are shown apart from the text.

History

Code 1981, § 16-9-121, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 865, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 81, § 16; Ga. L. 2002, p. 551, § 2; Ga. L. 2007, p. 450, § 4/SB 236; Ga. L. 2010, p. 568, § 1/HB 1016.

Editor's notes

Ga. L. 2007, p. 450, § 1/SB 236, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: ‘‘This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Georgia Personal Identity Protection Act.’’’ Ga. L. 2007, p. 450, § 7/SB 236, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to this Code section shall apply to all offenses occurring on or after May 24, 2007.

Read the official page (the state's PDF, opened at the page this text was read from).

Current through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly.

Text read from t16-ch7-11-(v14a)-2018-pdf.pdf, Volume V14A, 2018 edition, pages 573 to 574; merge action: annotated; file SHA-256 5985d65f23ef.

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