Editing Impersonator (section)

==Criminal impersonation==
In England and Wales, the [[English Poor Laws|Poor Law Amendment Act 1851]], section 3, made it an offence to impersonate a "person entitled to vote" at an election. In the case of Whiteley v Chappell (1868), the [[literal rule]] of [[statutory interpretation]] was employed to find that a dead person was not a "person entitled to vote" and consequently a person accused of this offence was [[Acquittal|acquitted]].<ref>The [[Law Commission (England and Wales)|Law Commission]] and the [[Scottish Law Commission]], [https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/228894/0256.pdf The Interpretation of Statutes], footnote 66, page 18, published 9 June 1969, accessed 17 December 2022</ref>

Although in a [[law of Colorado|Colorado]] case, an immigrant was charged with "criminal impersonation" for using another person's [[Social Security number]] when signing up for a job,{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} some courts have ruled that supplying this wrong information may not be criminal.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 28, 2010 |url=http://www.upi.com/Using-false-SS-number-not-impersonation/80121288317800/ |title=Using false S.S. number not impersonation |publisher=UPI}}</ref> The ruling hinges on whether there was harm to the other person.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

=== Impersonation using Deepfake===
{{main|Deepfake}}
[[Audio deepfake]]s have been used as part of [[Social engineering (security)|social engineering]] scams, fooling people into thinking they are receiving instructions from a trusted individual.<ref name="Statt-2019">{{cite news |last=Statt |first=Nick |date=5 Sep 2019 |title=Thieves are now using AI deepfakes to trick companies into sending them money |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/5/20851248/deepfakes-ai-fake-audio-phone-calls-thieves-trick-companies-stealing-money |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915151504/https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/5/20851248/deepfakes-ai-fake-audio-phone-calls-thieves-trick-companies-stealing-money |archive-date=15 September 2019 |access-date=13 Sep 2019}}</ref> In 2019, a U.K.-based energy firm's CEO was scammed over the phone when he was ordered to transfer €220,000 into a Hungarian bank account by an individual who used audio deepfake technology to impersonate the voice of the firm's parent company's chief executive.<ref name="Damiani-2019">{{Cite web |last=Damiani |first=Jesse |title=A Voice Deepfake Was Used To Scam A CEO Out Of $243,000 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessedamiani/2019/09/03/a-voice-deepfake-was-used-to-scam-a-ceo-out-of-243000/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914192455/https://www.forbes.com/sites/jessedamiani/2019/09/03/a-voice-deepfake-was-used-to-scam-a-ceo-out-of-243000/ |archive-date=14 September 2019 |access-date=2019-11-09 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

As of 2023, the combination advances in deepfake technology, which could clone an individual's voice from a recording of a few seconds to a minute, and new [[Generative artificial intelligence|text generation tools]], enabled automated impersonation scams, targeting victims using a convincing digital clone of a friend or relative.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Christopher |last2=Wright |first2=Matthew |date=17 March 2023 |title=Voice deepfakes are calling – here's what they are and how to avoid getting scammed |url=https://theconversation.com/voice-deepfakes-are-calling-heres-what-they-are-and-how-to-avoid-getting-scammed-201449 |website=The Conversation}}</ref>