Identity fraud: artificial intelligence and deepfake representations
MD AI Deepfake Identity Fraud Law
Artificial intelligence · Other
Enacted by 2026 Md. Laws ch. 445 (SB 8), this amendment to Maryland's identity fraud statute makes it a crime to knowingly and fraudulently use AI or a deepfake to impersonate or falsely depict someone to cause harm, or to create false records to cause harm, obtain personal identifying information, or obtain something of value. It also lets victims sue for injunctive relief.
- Where
- Maryland
- Citation
- Md. Code, Crim. Law § 8-301(f)(2), (h) (as amended by 2026 Md. Laws ch. 445)
- Status
- Enacted, not yet in force
- In force since
- 2026-10-01
- Enforced by
- State's Attorneys (criminal); victims (civil action)
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Criminal penalties scale with the value involved under 8-301(g); per the bill synopsis, up to 5 years and $10,000 for one victim and up to 10 years and $15,000 for two or more victims in the harm-based offense. Victims of the AI and deepfake offense may sue for an injunction and other appropriate relief (8-301(h)).
- Applies to
- Any person who uses AI or a deepfake representation (realistic image, video, or audio indistinguishable from an actual, identifiable person) with fraudulent intent
Practices it requires
- Do not knowingly, willfully, and with fraudulent intent use AI or a deepfake representation to impersonate, falsely depict, or claim to represent another person to cause harm.Crim. Law 8-301(f)(2)(i) (2026 ch. 445) · From 2026-10-01
- Do not use AI or deepfakes to create or distribute false records intended to cause harm, induce someone to provide personal identifying information, or obtain a benefit or thing of value.Crim. Law 8-301(f)(2)(ii) (2026 ch. 445) · From 2026-10-01
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: Codified text not yet online; subsection letters (f)(2) and (h) are from the chapter law, whose strike-through markup was lost in extraction, so the final wording of (f)(2)(i) is uncertain. Penalty amounts are from the bill synopsis in the General Assembly's legislation data, not the statute text.
Research reference, not legal advice.