Frederick Eugene Wood’s story is a cautionary tale. Never use methamphetamine. Never share needles or engage in unprotected sex. Use caution when making purchases from Craigslist. And–in light of his sentencing this week on ID theft charges–beware of peer-to-peer file-sharing software.

Wood’s elaborate identity theft scam started with Craigslist ad for computers. When prospective buyers responded to his ad, Wood, 34, used LimeWire file-sharing software to access bank, credit card and tax return files on their computers.

To delay detection, Wood met with the buyers to deliver what were ostensibly the promised computers, but were actually computer boxes full of stuff like rocks or books to give them the appropriate heft.

When he was arrested, his computer contained personal and financial files belonging to more than 120 people; his wallet held eight driver’s licenses bearing Wood’s photo, but each having different names, addresses and birth dates. His victims hailed from New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon and California.

“One thing I wish more than anything else is that I could look the victims in the face and apologize to them to their faces,” Wood said at his sentencing hearing.

Addicted to methamphetamine and infected with HIV/AIDS, Woods told U.S. District Judge James Robart he was optimistic the compulsory drug treatment he’ll undergo in prison would restore him to a productive member of society.

Robart wasn’t very optimistic, citing Wood’s history of manipulation and his three failed drug rehab attempts, and sentenced him to 39 months.

Laura Bustamante used her job as an eligibility specialist at the Utah Department of Workforce Services to steal the identities of roughly 100 of the agency’s clients, and giving the information of 33 clients to two other people.

Their victims gave their personal information to the agency while applying for food stamps, financial aid, childcare and Medicaid. The crimes took place between September 2007 and January 2008.

Bustamante and her accomplices opened instant credit lines or obtained credit cards with the stolen information.

Once she had the clients’ addresses, she would determine whether she could access to their mailboxes. If she could, she used their personal information to submit credit card applications and either stole the cards from the victims’ mailboxes when they arrived, or had them sent to her boyfriend’s mother’s address.

Bustamante, 34, pleaded guilty to unlawful access of a protected computer and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to 36 months in a federal prison. She must also make nearly $70,000 in restitution to Workforce Services and her other victims.

Her accomplices also pleaded guilty to using the clients’ identities. Michelle Rae Chapman, 32, received a sentence of 36 months in federal prison. Joshua Smith, 32, will be sentenced next week for his participation in the crimes.

Chapman and Smith were arrested at a hotel January 2008 when Motor Vehicle officers discovered counterfeit state ID cards, a large amount of stolen mail, credit cards, credit card member agreements, credit card PINs, credit reports and two laptops.

Smith and Chapman directed the officers to Bustamante.

“I am a victim. The credit card companies and banks are victims, yet they are looking to me for repayment of the money that Linda David stole…

“I have been forced to relocate my family to live at my offices because I can no longer afford to pay rent. We have an infant son and we are being forced to live in an attic without heat. We are selling off our jewelry, liquidating investments and diluting our savings. This is not a situation of my making. I need help. I need it now.” (From Oreste Speciale’s victim-impact statement.)

Linda Lee David, a former employee, used Speciale’s identity to run up more than $209,000 in credit card debt over a two-year period.

David was sentenced this week to four years in federal prison for aggravated identity theft and violating supervised release terms. She spent three months in prison for stealing the identity of a coworker and running up $11,669 on fraudulent credit cards. She’d been out of prison for less than a year when she began ripping off Speciale.

She took out credit cards from Wells Fargo, WaMu, American Express, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Exxon Mobil, First Equity and Bill Me Later and used them for everyday expenses like gas, groceries and clothing. Occasionally, she made larger purchases like a 42-inch flat screen television and a mini camcorder. She also treated her family to fun-filled Niagara Falls vacation.

Unfortunately for David, that vacation was recorded on the cool little camcorder and shown in court as evidence against her.

Michael Christopher Mills, a registered sex offender and would-be stunt car driver, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of mail theft, aggravated identity theft and being a felon in possession of handgun.

Mills, 38, will return to the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, Virginia for sentencing February 20, 2009. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as 17 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.

Chesapeake police arrested Mills September 9 after a high-speed chase and his unsuccessful James Bond-like attempt to jump the open Gilmerton Bridge. The failed stunt landed him in the Elizabeth River, where a private boater then rescued him.

When police searched another car Mills had driven, they discovered at least 75 pieces of stolen mail, fake IDs printed with Mills’ photo and the identity theft victims’ personal information, two boxes of stolen checks from another person’s bank account and a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson, according to federal court documents.

Most of the mail was reported as having been stolen from local residents’ mailboxes, but Mills is also known to have burglarized at least one home.

According to Virginia’s online sex offender registry, Mills was convicted in 1993 of carnal knowledge of a child between the ages of 13 and 15.

Dallas identity theft ringleader Keasha Antoinette Turner was sentenced to six years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.

Turner worked with two Citibank employees as accomplices. Andrea Renee Harris and Christianna M. Wright, who worked in Citibank’s customer service and collections department, shared their access to account information with Turner. Turner used that information to receive Visa and MasterCard credit cards and make fraudulent purchases.

Turner pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in August. Harris was sentenced to 18 months in prison, and ordered to restitution in the amount of $11,812 after her guilty plea to a bank fraud charge. Wright received a 34-month sentence, and must pay $51,312 in restitution.

The case was investigated by the US Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney David Jarvis.

Senior US District Judge A. Joe Fish said before sentencing Turner that she had been involved in ID theft and fraud for many years causing significant pain and stress for her victims.

Car salesman, hospital employees and credit card companies—we give our personal and financial information out all the time to total strangers. We have to.

But how can you protect yourself from identity theft and credit card fraud? Truthfully, there isn’t much you can do, but LifeLock can sure help you protect yourself and your family.

LifeLock is the industry leader in identity theft protection services. Visit their website at LifeLock.com to see why their innovative and comprehensive program has been the choice for nearly 1.5 million consumers.

Edward Anderton was “Clyde” to Jocelyn Kirsch’s “Bonnie.” He was her lover, her traveling companion and her partner in crime. And, before the new year is rung in, Anderton will be living in federal prison, just like Kirsch.

Anderton was sentenced last week to serve four years in federal prison for his part in the identity theft scam that netted roughly $120,000 for the pair. Kirsch received a prison sentence of five years last month.

Just like the criminal pair of the1930s captured the imagination of the nation, Kirsch and Anderton gained notoriety for stealing the identities of 50 friends, neighbors and coworkers. Photos of the two enjoying the fruits of their labors were viewed by millions on the Internet: here’s a photo of them kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower; here’s another of them on a beach in the Caribbean.

They broke into their victims’ mailboxes and burglarized their homes to finance those trips. When police searched their luxurious Philadelphia condo they found $18,000 in cash, dozens of fraudulent drivers’ licenses and credit cards, a lock-picking tool, software used in identity theft crimes and a machine for printing identification cards.

The original Bonnie and Clyde came from lives of poverty and committed their crimes in the Great Depression-era dustbowl of the central United States. Anderton was an up and coming financial analyst with an Ivy League education. Kirsch was a student at Drexel, a plastic surgeon’s daughter whose breasts and nose were “done” as gifts from her dad.

Ironically, Anderton and Kirsch had lives of privilege and fortune before their crime spree, and will now have to spend years in poverty. At his sentencing, Anderton was given 45 days to surrender to a federal prison, allowing him to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with his family, but forcing him to begin 2009 as a prison inmate. Kirsch was immediately remanded to a federal prison in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma—the center of the Dustbowl where Bonnie and Clyde committed their crimes.