New Bill to Fight Digital Identity Theft and Online Fraud

A bill has been presented to the Congress to introduce new provisions to the Argentine Criminal Code. These provisions address the crimes of digital identity theft and fraudulent online activities. The modifications would impact on two critical sections of the Code: Chapter II, "Suppression and Assumption of Civil Status and Identity", under Title IV, "Crimes Against Civil Status"; and Chapter IV, "Frauds and Other Deceptions", under Title VI, "Crimes Against Property".

The bill proposes to incorporate article 139 ter in Chapter II. This article would establish that it is a crime to impersonate, appropriate, create, or use the digital identity of a natural or legal person without their authorization. This crime would include using elements such as names, last names, photographs, images, pseudonyms, usernames, and any other identifying features of the victim.

Further, using the Internet, computer systems, media, or analogous means with the intent to commit crimes or inflict harm will be considered unlawful. The bill provides for more severe penalties if certain conditions are met: impersonating minors, ongoing perpetration of the offense, substantial alteration of the victim's life, or the involvement of public officials.

The bill also proposes to introduce article 173 bis in Chapter IV. This article penalizes those who –without authorization and with unlawful intent design– develop, trade, sell, execute, program, or transmit electronic pages, links, or pop-ups to deceitfully obtain personal data.

The main goal of this bill is to reinforce the protective measures against digital identity theft and online fraud.