Read any advice on identity theft, and the forbidding warning is always the same: "it can happen to anyone." Agence-France Presse (AFP) recently reported that none other than than the president of the United States had his identity compromised by a twenty-five year old Frenchman, raising the awareness of vigilance on private information.

The French hacker, known by his online moniker "Hacker Croll" has been arrested by French authorities and is scheduled to appear in court June 24. Police told AFP that the arrest came from a tip off from the FBI, who noted that the hacker had compromised numerous Facebook, Twitter, and Google email accounts belonging to several American celebrities, including pop star Britney Spears, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone,  and CNN reporter Rick Sanchez, in addition to President Barack Obama.

While French authorities say the attacks don't seem motivated by financial gain, Hacker Croll stole many confidential documents related to Twitter development, which he distributed on the web. The Frenchman also sent numerous offensive messages via email and social media using the compromised accounts.

This is also not his first offense. AFP reported that the man is known to local authorities in his hometown of Clermont-Ferrand for what local police called "minor scams" totaling $20,000.

For more about Identity Theft and how to prevent it, please read Ian During's piece, About Identity Theft.