By Mr. Tisei, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 233) of Richard R. Tisei, Bradley H. Jones, Jr., Bruce
E. Tarr, Paul J.Loscocco and other members of the General
Court for legislation to protect victims of identity
theft. Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 266 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out Section 37E and inserting in place thereof the following:-
Section 37E. Use of personal identification of another; identity fraud; penalty; restitution
(a) For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:--
“Harass”, willfully and maliciously engage in an act directed at a specific person or persons, or at a specific organization or organizations, which act seriously alarms or annoys such person or persons or any person or persons employed by or associated with such organization or organizations, and would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress.
“Identifying information”, any name or number that may be used, alone or in conjunction with any other information, to assume the identity of an individual or organization including any name, address, telephone number, driver's license number, social security number, place of employment, employee identification number, tax identification number, mother's maiden name, demand deposit account number, savings account number, credit card number, computer password identification or other identifying information.
“Organization”, any corporation, partnership, joint venture, firm, sole proprietorship, association of individuals, or any other professional or business entity.
“Person with a disability”, a person who is mentally retarded, as defined by section one of chapter one hundred and twenty-three B or who is otherwise mentally or physically disabled and as a result of such mental or physical disability is wholly or partially dependent on another person or persons to meet his daily living needs.
“Pose”, to falsely represent oneself, directly or indirectly, as another person, persons, or organization.
“Victim”, any person who, or organization that, has suffered financial loss or any entity that provided money, credit, goods, services or anything of value and has suffered financial loss as a direct result of the commission or attempted commission of a violation of this section.
(b) Whoever, with fraudulent intent, knowingly and intentionally poses as another person, living or dead, as a representative of an organization, or as being authorized to act on behalf of an organization, and uses such person's or organization’s identifying information to obtain or to attempt to obtain money, credit, goods, services, anything of value, any identification card or other evidence of such person's or organization’s identity, to harass another person or organization, to commit an illegal act, or to avoid identification, apprehension or prosecution for a crime shall be guilty of the crime of identity fraud and shall be punished for an initial offense by a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment and for a second and subsequent offense by a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or a house of correction for not more than two and one half years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(c) Whoever, with fraudulent intent, knowingly and intentionally obtains identifying information about another person, living or dead, or an organization, with the intent to pose as such person, or as a representative of such organization, or as being authorized to act on behalf of an organization in order to obtain money, credit, goods, services, anything of value, any identification card or other evidence of such person's or organization’s identity, to harass another person or organization, or to avoid identification, apprehension or prosecution for a crime shall be guilty of the crime of identity fraud and shall be punished for an initial offense by a fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than two and one-half years, or by both such fine and imprisonment and for a second and subsequent offense by a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years or a house of correction for not more than two and one half years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(d) Whoever commits an offense described in this section by using the identifying information of a person sixty-five years or older or a person with a disability shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or in jail for not more than two and one half years, or both and for a second and subsequent offense by a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or a house of correction for not more than two and one half years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(e) Whoever knowingly and intentionally manufactures, sells, purchases, transfers, gives, trades, loans, delivers, or possesses five or more items containing the identifying information of the same person or organization, or the identifying information of five or more separate persons or organizations with the intent to commit an offense described in this section or to assist another to commit an offense described in this section shall be guilty of the crime of trafficking in stolen identities and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for not more than five years, or in jail for not more than two and one half years, or both and for a second and subsequent offense by a fine of not more than $50,000 or imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years or a house of correction for not more than two and one half years, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(f) The knowledge or intent of the person alleged to have committed any of the crimes within this section may be proved by direct or circumstantial evidence and the testimony of the individual or a representative on behalf of the organization whose identifying information or item containing identifying information was obtained or used to commit any of the crimes within this section shall not be required to find a person guilty of those crimes.
(g) An offense under this section may be prosecuted in any county in which an element of the offense was committed or in the county of residence of the person or organization whose identifying information was allegedly used in the commission of the crimes of identity fraud or of trafficking in stolen identities as defined in this section.
(h) A person found guilty of violating any provisions of this section shall, in addition to any other punishment, be ordered to make restitution for financial loss sustained by a victim as a result of such violation. Financial loss may include any costs incurred by such victim in correcting the credit history of such victim or any costs incurred in connection with any civil or administrative proceeding to satisfy any debt or other obligation of such victim, including lost wages and attorney's fees.
(i) A law enforcement officer may arrest without warrant any person he has probable cause to believe has committed the offense of identity fraud or trafficking in stolen identities as defined in this section.
