There were plenty more cases of identity theft in 2008 than the previous year according to the FTC, the authority that enforces identity theft laws. 638 confirmed data breaches occurred in 2008, which is nearly 20% more than in 2007.

These data breaches expose consumer information and occur due to the inadequate security implementations by companies that handle consumer information. They also occur due to employees from these companies simply helping themselves to the available information in their databases and either committing the crime themselves or selling the information to criminal rings.

So what’s the outlook of identity theft in 2009?

Experts predict that the schemes used in identity theft will get more sophisticated in 2009 and occur with more frequency. Conditions are seemingly perfect for scammers right now, we’re in the midst of a really bad economy, with high unemployment and foreclosure rates. So there is a lot of opportunity to expose information from consumers in these predicaments.

Expect more real estate scams that involve bogus mortgage rescue loans targeting home owners facing foreclosure. The same goes to consumers with poor credit or overwhelming credit card debt, plenty of chances there for bogus offers that promise debt consolidation at low rates and claim that poor credit history doesn’t matter.

Unemployed consumers will also run risks by being contacted by scammers with the promise of a job, when in fact all they’re doing is physhing for information.

As consumers continue to tighten up their wallet and cease unnecessary spending, thieves may resort to more conventional methods like check stealing and dumpster diving. Check out our free identity theft prevention guide for tips on how to avoid these.

Online identity theft will continue to rise and it will become the main playground for identity thieves. More websites are popping up that cater to the black market of identity information and credit for thieves.

Data breaches show no sign of slowing down, as more and more companies are not able to keep up with the high costs of implementing information security systems that can properly protect data. 638 cases of data breaches is way too many in a single year and it’s an indication that companies are struggling as much as consumers to keep up with costs.

More scams will be uncovered this year, and more methods will be revealed as well, it’s unfortunate that there aren’t better methods in place to prevent identity theft completely but with availability of information on the internet and through public records it’s nearly impossible to keep up.