Torrance Identity Theft Defense Lawyers

McGregor & Ernenwein is an accomplished criminal defense law firm located in the South Bay area of California. For almost two decades, our California identity theft defense lawyers have been successfully defending clients accused of serious misdemeanor and felony charges, including identity theft, credit card identity theft, and internet identity theft. If you are facing identity theft charges in California, please contact a South Bay identity theft attorney at McGregor & Ernenwein to begin protecting your rights.

In 2002, over 161,000 reports of identity theft were received by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Government agencies are taking all accusations of identity theft extremely seriously and are cracking down on all people suspected of identity theft. If you have been accused of or arrested for identity theft, please contact an identity theft attorney at McGregor & Ernenwein immediately to discuss your case.

California Penal Code section 529.7. states that "any person who obtains, or assists another person in obtaining, a driver's license, identification card, vehicle registration certificate, or any other official document issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, with knowledge that the person obtaining the document is not entitled to the document, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, or a fine of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both."

The following are some examples of scenarios which are considered identity theft in the State of California:

• Opening an account, such as a bank account or cell phone account, in another person's name without that person's permission.
• Using another person's driver's license, Social Security card, or identification card without their knowledge.
• Using another person's personal information without their consent, such as name and credit card number, to commit fraud.
• Obtaining an individual's personal information form the internet and using it to commit fraud.
• Obtaining a person's credit card receipt and accessing that person's account without his or her knowledge or permission.

There have been a variety of recent State and Federal laws which have been established to stop identity theft in the United States and California. The following are a few of these recent laws:

The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act was enacted in 1998 to discourage people from committing identity theft by enacting stringent punishments for all identity theft convictions. As a result of the Identity Theft Act, any person who knowingly commits or assists in committing identity fraud has violated Federal law and may be convicted of a felony.

In order to provide students with privacy and prevent identity theft from occurring on school campuses, the public posting of Social Security numbers will soon be prohibited in public universities and colleges, as a result of California Civil Code Section 1798.85.

If you have been arrested for identity theft in California's South Bay, contact a Torrance Identity Theft Defense Attorney at McGregor & Ernenwein today!