Colorado § 18-5-902 - Identity theft.

§ 18-5-902. Identity theft.

(1) A person commits identity theft if he or she:

(a) Knowingly uses the personal identifying information, financial identifying information, or financial device of another without permission or lawful authority with the intent to obtain cash, credit, property, services, or any other thing of value or to make a financial payment;

(b) Knowingly possesses the personal identifying information, financial identifying information, or financial device of another without permission or lawful authority, with the intent to use or to aid or permit some other person to use such information or device to obtain cash, credit, property, services, or any other thing of value or to make a financial payment;

(c) With the intent to defraud, falsely makes, completes, alters, or utters a written instrument or financial device containing any personal identifying information or financial identifying information of another;

(d) Knowingly possesses the personal identifying information or financial identifying information of another without permission or lawful authority to use in applying for or completing an application for a financial device or other extension of credit; or

(e) Knowingly uses or possesses the personal identifying information of another without permission or lawful authority with the intent to obtain a government-issued document.

(f) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2009, (SB 09-093), ch. 326, p. 1737, § 1, effective July 1, 2009.)

(2) (a) Identity theft in violation of subsection (1)(a) or (1)(c) of this section is a class 4 felony.

(b) Identity theft in violation of subsection (1)(b), (1)(d), or (1)(e) of this section is a class 2 misdemeanor; except that it is a class 5 felony if the person possesses three or more financial devices or the personal or financial identifying information of three or more persons.

(3) Repealed.

Source: L. 2006: Entire part added, p. 1322, § 8, effective July 1. L. 2009: (1)(a), (1)(f), and (3) amended, (SB 09-093), ch. 326, p. 1737, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2021: (1)(d), (1)(e), and (2) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3190, § 253, effective March 1, 2022. L. 2023: (2)(b) amended and (3) repealed, (HB 23-1293), ch. 298, p. 1787, § 22, effective October 1.

ANNOTATION

Defendant's equal protection rights not violated by defendant's identity theft conviction. The unauthorized use of a financial transaction device statute and the identity theft statute do not prohibit identical conduct while imposing different penalties. Unlike the unauthorized use of a financial transaction device statute, the conviction for identity theft required the jury to find that the credit card belonged to the victim and not the defendant. People v. Jauch, 2013 COA 127, 411 P.3d 53; People v. Trujillo, 2015 COA 22, 369 P.3d 693.

To convict a defendant of identity theft under subsection (1)(a), the prosecution must prove that the defendant knew that the personal identifying information, financial identifying information, or financial device he or she used was, in fact, the information or device of another person. People v. Perez, 2013 COA 65, 488 P.3d 18, aff'd, 2016 CO 12, 367 P.3d 695; People v. Molina, 2017 CO 7, 388 P.3d 894.

Neither this statute nor the unauthorized use of a financial transaction device statute imposes an affirmative duty that the defendant obtain the victim's consent before using the victim's financial device. People v. Brennan, 2025 COA 68, 577 P.3d 62.

The crime of identity theft under subsection (1)(a) is not a continuing course of conduct, and each discrete use of another's identity is a separate chargeable offense. People v. Allman, 2017 COA 108, 454 P.3d 289, aff'd, 2019 CO 78, 451 P.3d 826.

Criminal possession of a financial device, such as a credit or debit card, is not a lesser included offense of identity theft. People v. Poot-Baca, 2023 COA 112, 544 P.3d 683.

Section 18-1-901 (3)(r)'s definition of "thing of value" applies to subsection (1)(a) of this section. People v. Molina, 2017 CO 7, 388 P.3d 894 (overruling People v. Beck, 187 P.3d 1125 (Colo. App. 2008), to the extent that the court held that § 18-1-901's definitions do not apply to subsection (1) of this section).

Definition of "thing of value" in identity theft statute is narrower than definition contained in § 18-1-901 (3)(r). The term does not include nonpecuniary benefits of misleading and influencing actions of police officer by obtaining use of another person's driving record. People v. Beck, 187 P.3d 1125 (Colo. App. 2008), overruled in People v. Molina, 2017 CO 7, 388 P.3d 894, to the extent that the court held that § 18-1-901's definitions do not apply to subsection (1) of this section.

Employment is a "thing of value" for purposes of this section where defendant used a victim's social security number to obtain employment. People v. Campos, 2015 COA 47, 351 P.3d 553; People v. Molina, 2017 CO 7, 388 P.3d 894.

An apartment lease is a "thing of value" for purposes of this section and § 18-1-901 (3)(r). An apartment lease is both a "contract right" and a "right of use" of "real property". People v. Molina, 2017 CO 7, 388 P.3d 894.

When defendant used the last name and social security number of another person to obtain a lease, she committed identity theft. People v. Molina, 2017 CO 7, 388 P.3d 894.

Defendant providing false name at traffic stop could not be charged with using false information to obtain a "thing of value" under identity theft statute. People v. Beck, 187 P.3d 1125 (Colo. App. 2008).

The state lacked subject matter jurisdiction over defendant's prosecution because none of defendant's conduct forming a material element of either unauthorized use of a financial transaction device or identity theft occurred in the state, and the unauthorized use and identity theft statutes do not include a result element. People v. Brennan, 2025 COA 68, 577 P.3d 62.

Knowledge that the victim lives in the state is a circumstantial element, and is not a conduct or result element of the crime of unauthorized use of a financial transaction device or of identity theft and therefore should not be considered when determining jurisdiction. People v. Brennan, 2025 COA 68, 577 P.3d 62.