Alaska Identity Theft Laws: Criminal Impersonation and Your Rights

Unlike most states, Alaska has no criminal statute literally titled identity theft. The state's own Department of Law directs identity theft victims to a two-track framework instead: AS 45.48, the Personal Information Protection Act, which provides a security freeze and a court declaration of factual innocence, and AS 11.46.565, Criminal Impersonation in the First Degree, which is the actual criminal charge prosecutors use for identity-theft-type conduct.

This page walks through both tracks, the police-report right built into AS 45.48, and the federal recovery rights every identity theft victim has regardless of state. For the broader picture, see our identity theft laws hub and our guide to reporting identity theft.

Why Alaska Has No Statute Called "Identity Theft"

Alaska's own Department of Law page on identity theft is direct about the framework the state actually uses. It describes the Personal Information Protection Act as the mechanism that "allows you to place a security freeze on your credit report, and allows you to petition the court for a declaration of factual innocence after identity theft," and it points readers to the statute at AS 45.48 rather than to a Title 11 criminal section named identity theft, because no such section exists. The operative criminal charge instead lives in Alaska's impersonation statutes, AS 11.46.565 and AS 11.46.570, discussed next. This is a real structural difference from most states, not a labeling quirk, so a search for "Alaska identity theft statute" by section number alone will not turn up the right law.

The Criminal Charge: Criminal Impersonation in the First Degree

Alaska's operative criminal charge for identity-theft-type conduct is AS 11.46.565, Criminal Impersonation in the First Degree. Based on corroborating secondary legal sources, a person commits this offense by possessing another person's access device or identification document and, without authorization, using it to obtain a false identification document, open a financial account, obtain an access device, or obtain property or services, while recklessly damaging the other person's financial reputation. AS 11.46.565 is commonly described as a class B felony. A related, lesser offense, AS 11.46.570, Criminal Impersonation in the Second Degree, is commonly described as a class A misdemeanor. Neither statute's exact text was independently retrieved from a primary source this session, because Alaska's own legislative site blocked automated access and a secondary legal-text mirror had an expired security certificate, so treat the specific elements above as a reliable summary rather than a verbatim quote, and confirm the current text directly with the Alaska Department of Law or a licensed Alaska attorney before relying on it for a specific legal question.

Security Freeze and the Declaration of Factual Innocence

AS 45.48, the Personal Information Protection Act, gives Alaska residents two confirmed rights that matter most after identity theft. First, it allows you to place a security freeze on your credit report, which prevents a lender from viewing your file to open new credit. Second, it lets you petition the Alaska Superior Court for a declaration of factual innocence after identity theft, a process the Department of Law describes as available once the perpetrator has been arrested, cited, or convicted. A court finding of factual innocence gives you an official record you can use to counter any confusion between you and the person who misused your identity.

Filing a Police Report

Alaska law is reported to give identity theft victims the right to file a police report with their local law enforcement agency even if that agency does not have jurisdiction over the underlying theft, with the agency able to refer the report to whichever jurisdiction does have authority, and to receive a copy of the report. This provision is commonly cited as AS 45.48.680. Its exact statutory language was not independently retrieved from a primary source this session, so treat the description above as a reliable summary of the right rather than a verbatim quote.

Credit Freezes for Minors in Alaska

The Department of Law's page confirms AS 45.48 provides a general security-freeze right, but it does not specify a separate age threshold or a minor-specific sub-provision, and this page could not independently confirm whether AS 45.48 contains a distinct protected-consumer freeze mechanism versus a single freeze right available to any consumer, including a parent or guardian acting for a minor. Either way, Alaska families are not without a right here: federal law, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1(j), requires all three nationwide credit bureaus to let a parent or guardian freeze a child's credit file for free, even before the child has a credit file at all. See our credit freeze vs. fraud alert page for how the freeze right works generally.

Restitution and Civil Remedies

This page could not confirm Alaska's general restitution framework, or any identity-theft-specific mandatory-restitution language, this session. On the civil side, AS 45.48's declaration-of-factual-innocence petition is the only confirmed civil-track mechanism, and it is a post-exoneration remedy that clears your record rather than a damages action. No separate private civil cause of action for identity theft damages was located this session; confirm with a licensed Alaska attorney whether general tort remedies apply to your situation.

Reporting to the Alaska Department of Law

The Alaska Department of Law's Consumer Protection Unit is the state's identity theft resource. Reach it at 907-269-5200 in Anchorage, 1-888-576-2529 statewide toll-free, or by email at consumerprotection@alaska.gov, and use the "File a Complaint" link on its identity theft page. The unit also lists federal backstops, including the FTC Consumer Helpline at 877-382-4357, reportfraud.ftc.gov, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455, for identity theft involving mail fraud.

Federal Rights That Apply in Every State

On top of Alaska's own two-track framework, every identity theft victim also has federal rights that do not depend on state law. IdentityTheft.gov, run by the FTC, is a free national recovery site that builds a personal recovery plan once you describe what happened. Once you have an FTC Identity Theft Report, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-2 (FCRA § 605B) requires a credit bureau to block fraudulent information from your report within 4 business days of receiving your documentation. Federal law has also made both credit freezes and fraud alerts free at all three bureaus since 2018, under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1. See our guides to reporting identity theft and credit freeze vs. fraud alert for the full mechanics of both.

No 2025-26 amendment to AS 45.48, AS 11.46.565, or the Department of Law's identity theft program surfaced during this page's research, though Alaska's own legislative bill-tracking tools could not be checked directly this session, so treat this as a partial check rather than an exhaustive one.

Information last verified on 2026-08-13, drawn directly from the Alaska Department of Law's identity theft page and from federal law under 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681c-1 and 1681c-2. The verbatim text of AS 11.46.565 and AS 45.48.680 could not be independently confirmed this session; confirm current statutory language with the Department of Law or a licensed Alaska attorney before relying on this page for a specific legal question. 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

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Last updated: 2026-08-13.