Fraud Alert Firms' Days May Be Numbered (E-Commerce Times)
Companies that sell "identity-theft protection" present an alluring but questionable proposition. For as much as about $100 per year, the main thing they do is set fraud alerts that force banks to call people before new lines of credit are opened in their names. The alerts can be useful -- but people can set them themselves, for free.

Man gets 6 years in prison for bank fraud (KOMO Seattle)
A Lynnwood man has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and Social Security number fraud.

Not Guilty Plea For Man Accused Of Stealing Dead Mother's Checks (Channel 8 San Diego)
A man whose mother's remains were found buried in the backyard of her Clairemont home in January pleaded not guilty today to charges he cashed $304,000 worth of her Social Security and pension checks over a 15-year period.