While impersonating another person is not illegal per se, but doing the impersonation in order to harm, intimidate, threaten or defraud other people is considered to be a felony. Therefore, people who post fake profiles on social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook could be charged and sentenced if found guilty.

Emails impersonations are illegal under the US CAN-SPAM act, but it can be very difficult to catch the impersonator. Mainly because the impersonator would not receive the reply you send. However, looking at the email address, one can figure out whether it is authentic or not.

When it comes to charging people, many of the impersonators on social networking sites have been sued for defamation by the person who was impersonated. However, these sites usually do not remove the profile unless they receive a court order. Therefore, it is advisable to have an attorney to help you through all the legalities that will present themselves.

In case the imposter true identity is not known, you can still register a case against John Doe and thereafter the court will issue orders to the social networking site to remove the page containing the false information.

However, these laws are not welcomed by people who believe in free speech. They feel that the lawmakers are not technology savvy to propose these laws and hence, do not know the limitations they can impose on people.

Nonetheless, there are laws against posing as someone else on the Internet, and if you are a victim, you can make use of these laws.

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