Identity Theft

April 15, 2011 • Rosie B, writer  
Filed under Advice Column, Top Stories

When you accept a friend request on Facebook, Myspace or almost any social networking site, do you look at whom you’re adding? Have you ever thought they weren’t a real person? Many teens add people without thinking, and many people aren’t who they say they are. I wanted to find out if the kids at CFMS were dealing with these problems. To find out I interviewed a few of the students.
When I went out looking for answers, I found that most of the students were misinformed of why they would get in trouble. When I asked a student why they thought you could get in trouble for making a fake account and pretending to be someone they weren’t, they replied, “Because it’s not you.” Well, of course it isn’t you but why does that make it bad?
I searched for more answers online. Finding that while teens are more likely to make a fake account with a name they don’t know and a picture that was randomly chosen to represent their fake account, teens are more likely to get in trouble for making one for a celebrity or famous face! Courts are considering this as identity theft. I guess a common name and a picture of someone else, doesn’t count? What if you make one for someone you know? Using there pictures and names? I found that it is considered identity theft for using someone else’s name and pictures but I didn’t find much about only using peoples pictures.
In my opinion it’s just not a good idea to make a fake account. If you want to make one for a celebrity, make a page! Anyone can do it for anyone else! Just don’t use pictures off other people’s profiles. Stick to the rules, and just have your own profile because even if the chances of getting caught are low it can still happen. Is five years in prison worth it? Probably not!

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