Some great identity theft stories come from America, for example at a High School in Wisconsin, Wendy Brown had the miniskirt, the pom-poms and the pool party lifestyle. As far as her teachers were concerned, she was an all-American cheerleader. There was only one small problem: she was 20 years too old to be in high school In fact, the 34-year-old fraudster, was old enough to have a teenage daughter of her own. The real person lived in another state, and it was her identity that the mother stole to fool the education authorities in the town of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. Perhaps too embarrassed to question her mature looks and figure, the teachers at Ashwaubenon High School let Brown take part in classes, join the cheerleading squad and attend social events. Her scheme flopped when she failed to turn up to school one day last August. Truancy officers investigated and were astonished to find that the "cheerleader" was being held in jail, pending unrelated fraud charges. Last week Brown was committed to three years in a psychiatric unit after a court found her not guilty of identity theft because of "mental impairment". She was also ordered to spend three years on probation for the unrelated fraud, which involved her stealing $759 (£520) from a prospective tenant of an apartment from which she had been evicted.