Connecticut's New Larceny Crimes: Deepfakes, Gift Card Fraud And Selling Stolen Goods

Since October 1, 2026, Connecticut's larceny law reaches three kinds of conduct it did not name before: making and sharing a deepfake meant to cause someone financial loss, helping sell goods you know or believe are stolen, and gift card fraud. Two 2026 laws made those changes. One of them, Public Act 26-130, also widened the rule on organized retail theft and raised what a store can collect from a shoplifter in a civil case.

Our guide to new Connecticut laws taking effect October 1, 2026 lists these changes. Here is what each one requires.

Digital Defrauding: Deepfakes Meant To Cause Financial Loss

Public Act 26-119 adds a crime called digital defrauding to Connecticut's larceny statute. A person commits it when, with intent to cause financial injury to another person, they create and disseminate an image, video or audio recording they know or should have known is a "digitally forged likeness."

The law defines that term in three parts, and all three must be met. The image or recording must be at least partly computer generated, or not wholly captured by a camera or recorder. It must be virtually indistinguishable from what a reasonable person would believe is the real image or voice of an identifiable person. And it must have been made without that person's consent.

In practical terms, the law can reach scams like a recorded message in a grandson's cloned voice asking for bail money, or a fake video of a company executive telling an employee to wire funds. "Disseminate" is broad. It includes selling, sending, posting, presenting or otherwise offering the recording.

Several limits matter for anyone accused:

• Intent. The prosecution must prove intent to cause financial injury. A deepfake made without that intent, such as a parody made only to entertain, does not fit this crime, although other laws may still apply.
• Knowledge. The person must have known, or should have known, that the recording was forged.
• Creating and sharing. The statute's text speaks of a person who "creates and disseminates" the forgery. Whether someone who only forwards a recording made by another person falls within this crime is a question the text does not answer directly, and other laws may apply.
• Notice defense. It is an affirmative defense that the person took reasonable action to tell viewers or listeners that the recording was a digital forgery. Under C.G.S. § 53a-12, the accused must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence, which means showing it is more likely true than not. The state does not have to disprove this defense.

The act also says it does not make internet, information or telecommunications providers liable under this crime for creating content at someone else's request or sharing content others provide, as long as the provider did not know the content was being created or shared in violation of this law.

Fostering The Sale Of Stolen Property, Including Online

Public Act 26-130 adds a second new form of larceny: fostering the sale of stolen property. A person commits it by hosting, advertising or otherwise helping sell stolen property, including through an online platform, while knowing or believing the property was stolen, unless the property is received, kept or disposed of in order to return it to its owner.

That knowledge requirement is likely to be the central question in many of these cases. Someone who lists a friend's power tools on a resale site, or runs a weekend booth for someone else's goods, is not guilty of this crime simply because the goods turn out to be stolen. The question is what that person knew or believed. Prosecutors may try to prove it through circumstances, such as prices far below retail, new items still in packaging, or messages about where the goods came from. The older crime of larceny by receiving stolen property can also apply to someone who sells goods they believed had probably been stolen, unless they handled the goods for the purpose of returning them to their owner.

If you sell items for other people, keep a record of who supplied each item, what you paid or agreed to pay, and what you were told about where it came from. Those records can help show what you knew.

Gift Card Crime: Tampered Cards And Phone Scams

The same act creates a crime called gift card crime. A person commits it when, with intent to defraud, they do any of the following:

• get or keep a gift card, or the numbers and codes needed to use it, without the consent of the cardholder, the company that issued it, or the store that sold it
• alter or tamper with a gift card or its packaging
• devise a scheme to get a gift card or its information from a cardholder, issuer or seller through false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises

The definitions are broad. They cover physical and digital cards, cards good at one store or a group of affiliated stores, and network cards usable at many merchants, whether or not the card has been activated.

Examples may include tampering with cards on a store rack to take the funds after a customer activates them, or falsely telling someone by phone that they owe money, in order to get gift cards or the numbers on them. Intent to defraud still has to be proven.

How The Value Sets The Charge

When value alone determines the degree, Connecticut grades larceny, including these new crimes, this way:

• Sixth degree ($500 or less): class C misdemeanor, up to three months in jail
• Fifth degree (over $500 through $1,000): class B misdemeanor, up to six months
• Fourth degree (over $1,000 through $2,000): class A misdemeanor, up to 364 days
• Third degree (over $2,000 through $10,000): class D felony
• Second degree (over $10,000 through $20,000): class C felony
• First degree (over $20,000): class B felony

Those thresholds come from C.G.S. §§ 53a-122 through 53a-125b, and the misdemeanor jail limits from § 53a-36 and § 53a-36a. Some degrees are triggered by other circumstances regardless of value, such as property taken directly from another person. How value is counted in a deepfake, gift card or online resale case, and whether separate transactions can be added together, can be contested.

Organized Retail Theft: A Longer Window

Connecticut already treated certain group shoplifting as organized retail theft under C.G.S. § 53-142k. As amended by Public Act 26-130, the offense covers shoplifting for financial gain, together with one or more other people, of retail property worth more than $2,000 in total, when the property is either:

• taken within a 365-day period, up from 180 days, or
• transferred to a "retail property fence," a buyer who knows or should know the property is stolen and intends to distribute it unlawfully or support the scheme

Value means the advertised retail price, including tax. Organized retail theft is a class D felony, or a class C felony if the person gains $10,000 or more. A separate accessory offense covers people who receive, store or sell the goods, including online, to keep the scheme going.

The Store's Civil Claim For Shoplifting

Under C.G.S. § 52-564a, a store can sue an adult or emancipated minor who takes goods without the owner's consent, intending to keep them without paying. It can recover its costs and a reasonable attorney's fee, punitive damages, and the retail value of any goods that were not recovered by the time the lawsuit began or were recovered unsellable. Effective October 1, 2026, Public Act 26-130 raised the punitive amount to as much as $1,000, from $300.

A criminal conviction is not required, and the store has two years from the alleged act to sue. If the store sues and loses, the court may award the person sued their costs and reasonable attorney's fees. The old version also let that person recover up to $300 in damages; the new version removed it.

If a store sends you a letter demanding payment, that letter is not a court judgment, and paying it does not by itself resolve a criminal charge. Have a lawyer look at it before you pay or respond, especially if you also have a court date.

When The Conduct Happened Matters

These changes took effect October 1, 2026. Under C.G.S. § 55-3, a new law that imposes a new obligation is generally not applied retroactively. For conduct before October 1, the earlier version of the law generally controls, although older larceny and fraud statutes may still apply to the same facts.

If You Are Charged Or Contacted By Police

1. Do not explain yourself to the police, the store or the other side. Be polite, and ask to speak with a lawyer.
2. Keep your records. Save listings, messages, receipts and payment records. They may show what you knew and when.
3. Do not post about the case or contact the person who reported it.
4. Ask about programs. Some first-time defendants may be eligible for accelerated rehabilitation, which can lead to dismissal, though eligibility depends on the charge and your record. A misdemeanor or class D felony conviction may later be erased automatically under Connecticut's Clean Slate law after a waiting period, but class B and C felonies, including first and second degree larceny, do not qualify.

If you have been charged with larceny or contacted by police about a deepfake, gift card or resale case in the New Haven area, contact our office for a free consultation. Our New Haven criminal defense attorneys can review the charge and explain your options before you make a statement.