18 U.S.C. § 712
Misuse of names, words, emblems, or insignia
United States · Title 18 — CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE · Status: effective
Cite this
- Citation
- 18 U.S.C. § 712, Misuse of names, words, emblems, or insignia, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/448947
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Full text
Whoever, in the course of collecting or aiding in the collection of private debts or obligations, or being engaged in furnishing private police, investigation, or other private detective services, uses or employs in any communication, correspondence, notice, advertisement, or circular the words “national”, “Federal”, or “United States”, the initials “U.S.”, or any emblem, insignia, or name, for the purpose of conveying and in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the false impression that such communication is from a department, agency, bureau, or instrumentality of the United States or in any manner represents the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
Legislative history
The public laws that enacted or amended this section. Tallies are for the whole bill as it passed each chamber — often an omnibus covering far more than this provision — not a vote on this section alone. The law that originally enacted this section predates the public laws loaded here, so only later amendments are listed.
- A bill to amend section 712 of title 18 of the United States Code, to prohibit persons attempting to collect their own debts from misusing names in order to convey the false impression that any agency of the Federal Government is involved in such collection, and for other purposes.House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994