Indiana Identity Theft Laws

Indiana criminalizes identity theft under a statute titled identity deception, Indiana Code 35-43-5-3.5. A person who, with intent to harm or defraud another person, knowingly or intentionally obtains, possesses, transfers, or uses identifying information to profess to be another person commits identity deception, a Level 6 felony. The offense rises to a Level 5 felony when it involves the identifying information of more than 100 people, when the fair market value of the fraud or harm is at least $50,000, or when the victim is under 18 and is the offender's son or daughter, dependent, ward, or a person for whom the offender is guardian.

This page covers Indiana's own statute and the Indiana Attorney General's identity theft resources, plus the federal identity theft framework under 18 U.S.C. § 1028 and the Fair Credit Reporting Act. For the full federal picture, including IdentityTheft.gov's recovery process and the 51-state penalty comparison, see our identity theft laws hub.

Indiana's Identity Deception Statute

Indiana addresses identity theft through a criminal statute titled identity deception, codified at Indiana Code 35-43-5-3.5. The offense has three elements. The person must act with intent to harm or defraud another person, must knowingly or intentionally obtain, possess, transfer, or use identifying information, and must do so to profess to be another person. Meeting all three is a Level 6 felony.

Subsection (b) raises the offense to a Level 5 felony in three situations: the offender obtains, possesses, transfers, or uses the identifying information of more than 100 people; the fair market value of the fraud or harm caused is at least $50,000; or the information belongs to someone under 18 who is the offender's son or daughter, a dependent of the offender, a ward of the offender, or an individual for whom the offender is a guardian. That last category exists because a large share of child identity theft is committed by a parent or guardian with ready access to the child's Social Security number.

Subsection (c) carves out conduct the statute does not reach. It does not apply to a person under 21 who uses identifying information to acquire an alcoholic beverage, to a minor who uses identifying information to acquire cigarettes, an electronic cigarette, or a tobacco product, material containing or depicting nudity, admittance to an age-restricted performance, or another item the law prohibits a minor from using or consuming, or to any person who uses identifying information for a lawful purpose. Underage drinking and tobacco fake-ID cases are handled under other statutes rather than as identity deception.

Subsection (d) closes an argument defendants would otherwise raise: it is not a defense that no person was actually harmed or defrauded. The intent to harm or defraud is what the state must prove, not a completed loss.

On sentencing, Indiana Code 35-50-2-7 sets a Level 6 felony at a fixed term between six months and two and a half years, with an advisory sentence of one year and a fine up to $10,000. Indiana Code 35-50-2-6 sets a Level 5 felony at between one and six years, with an advisory sentence of three years and the same maximum fine. Indiana Code 35-50-2-7(c) also allows a court, in defined circumstances, to enter judgment of conviction on a Level 6 felony as a Class A misdemeanor, so a first-time, low-value case may end in a misdemeanor judgment even though the offense is charged as a felony.

Reporting Identity Theft to the Indiana Attorney General

The Indiana Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division operates an Identity Theft Unit specifically for this purpose. The office states that victims of identity theft can seek assistance from the unit, which provides investigative services to help in the prosecution of identity thieves. The Attorney General's identity theft page also offers educational speakers on identity-theft prevention for civic and nonprofit organizations, and features prominent credit-freeze guidance alongside a separate resource section on security breaches.

Indiana's Attorney General also runs the state's Do Not Call registry and a related telephone-privacy complaint portal. Those programs are adjacent to identity theft rather than part of it, but the same office can point a caller toward the right resource if unwanted calls are part of what led to a suspected identity theft.

Minor and Protected-Consumer Credit Freezes in Indiana

Indiana has its own protected-consumer security freeze law, at Indiana Code 24-5-24.5. Section 4 of that chapter defines a protected consumer as an individual who is under 16, or an incapacitated person for whom a court has appointed a guardian. A representative can ask a consumer reporting agency to place a freeze on that person's file, and under section 12 the agency has 30 days from a qualifying request to put the freeze in place. Section 16 gives the agency the same 30-day window to remove a freeze once it receives a valid removal request.

On fees, section 17 bars a consumer reporting agency from charging for services under the chapter, but permits a reasonable fee of up to $5 for each placement or removal, and then forbids any fee at all where the representative supplies a police report or affidavit of alleged identity fraud, or where the request concerns a protected consumer under 16 for whom the agency already holds a consumer report. In practice the federal free-freeze right described below is broader, since federal law requires placements and removals to be free nationwide.

The Federal Layer: Rights That Apply No Matter Where You Live

Federal law fills in strong, well-documented protections for every identity theft victim, including Indiana residents. Since 2018, federal law has required consumer reporting agencies to let any consumer, and a minor's representative, place and lift a credit freeze for free. A fraud alert placed with one credit bureau must be shared with the other two, lasts one year by default, and can be extended to seven years once you have filed an FTC Identity Theft Report. Under FCRA § 605B (15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2), a victim who submits an identity theft report can also get specific fraudulent information blocked from appearing on a credit report altogether.

IdentityTheft.gov, the Federal Trade Commission's free recovery site, asks what happened, builds a personalized recovery plan, and, for account holders, pre-fills the letters and forms most victims need while tracking progress through each step. See our guide to reporting identity theft for exactly how that process works, and our comparison of credit freezes versus fraud alerts for which tool fits a given situation.

If You Are a Victim of Identity Theft in Indiana

Start with IdentityTheft.gov to generate a free federal recovery plan and report. File a police report with your local Indiana law enforcement agency, since some creditors and processes require one. Contact the Indiana Attorney General's Identity Theft Unit directly for state-level assistance. Place a freeze with all three major credit bureaus, which is free by federal law. If the theft involves your child's information, our guide to child identity theft covers the federal minor-freeze right and the warning signs specific to that situation, and Indiana's own protected-consumer freeze under Indiana Code 24-5-24.5 applies alongside it.

Information last verified on 2026-09-02 against the current text of the Indiana Code published by the Indiana General Assembly. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Related Resources

• Identity Theft Laws: Federal Rules and State Penalties
• How to Report Identity Theft
• Credit Freeze vs. Fraud Alert
• Child Identity Theft: Warning Signs, Credit Checks, and the Minor Freeze Right

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Last updated: 2026-09-02.