The hot new arena of identity theft is the elderly. A good example can be found here. Two caretakers overmedicated the man they were taking care of, and then stole goods and racked up several thousand dollars on his credit cards. They also applied for another credit card in his name, using his social security number. As if all that is not outrageous enough, they pleaded guilty at their trial and got off essentially scott free:

Facing seven charges related to identity theft, both women pleaded guilty to felony theft, theft of a credit card and use of the card to impersonate someone, court records show. Howard Leiner died before the sentencing a month later, but at that hearing, Benson and her brother-in-law appealed to the judge. "Our only request was that we asked that these women not be allowed to do to other people's parents what they did to ours," Benson says.

District Court Judge Louis Harrington sentenced Ortiz to 18 months and Aguilera to 11 months. Then he suspended both sentences and put the women on probation for a year. The women did not have to spend a day behind bars. The judge even returned Aguilera's passport. When Benson asked if the women could be required to pay restitution, she remembers Harrington suggesting the losses might be covered by insurance.

There are ways to protect against this. For starters, if you are responsible for elderly parents in a full care facility or who have home care attendants, cancel all credit cards they are not using and keep close tabs on the ones they are using. Always secure all checkbooks and social security numbers. Keep heirlooms and valuables in a home safe or a safe deposit box.