Here is a surprising story.

Three times more money is lost to identity theft where the thieves just make up an identity than when they use someone else's.

Gartner Group figures $50 billion is lost from such "victimless fraud" every year, against $15 billion from identity theft.

The problem is U.S. banks don't check identities closely. Crooks can get a pay-as-you-go mobile phone with no credit check, open up a bank account in the name of that "person," pay bills on that account for a while, then use the account to get credit cards.

Banks in Europe share identity information and aren't subject to the same fraud to the same degree. Gartner said.

For that money you'd think they could at least give some forbearance to those declaring bankruptcy after Katrina, don't you think?

No, I didn't think so either.