Fake Facebook profile leads to identity theft charges

At the beginning of the school year in September, 2009, several teens from Newbury-Port, Massachusetts got together and created a fake Facebook profile. They pretended to be another student at the school and, in his name, made negative comments about other classmates. They were 13 and 14 years old and one was a former friend of the victim.

The victim did not have a Facebook page but was approached at school by several angry kids he supposedly criticized. Comments like “Lacrosse is weird” and “You smell weird” were made. Nothing particularly cruel or illegal, but the results led to harassment of the victim.

Consequently, after a full investigation through Facebook and Comcast, the creators of the page were identified. The three boys were charged in February, 2010 with identity theft for taking on the identity of the victim without his permission. Two of the boys admitted their participation in the incident, and one of them apologized to the victim. Their penalty is under consideration. The family of the third boy has hired a lawyer to represent their son.

Dana Thornton

Here’s another example involving an adult who created a fake Facebook profile of her ex-boyfriend who happens to be a narcotics detective. She was also charged with identity theft.