Electronic impersonation

FOX 5 NY - A match.com profile of former Miss New York USA Meaghan Jarensky was a fake but it used a real picture. We can't tell you what the phony profile said because it was too X-rated.

When she had trouble getting the profile removed, Jarensky hired a lawyer and didn't stop there. She launched a campaign called "In Plain Site" to raise awareness.

Someone created a fake Instagram account in the name of City Council Member Ritchie Torres. The posts contained racial slurs and outrageous insults he would never use himself.

Right now, there are few, if any, legal penalties but Senate Bill 5871 proposed by state Sen. Kevin Parker would change that.

The bill would establish a crime of false pretense, for knowingly and without consent impersonating another person online for the purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding such other person.  False pretense is a class D felony in New York State.

Parker says support is building for his bill, and it could become law by June.

We reached out to the press offices at match.com and Instagram for clarification on their policies on fake accounts.  We are still waiting for a reply.