I’ve joined forces with the Identity Theft Resource Centre (ITRC) to expand the pool of knowledge about identity theft issues. As globally recognised experts in crime detection, we have come up with ten predictions for one can expect in the identity theft in 2010 and beyond.

1. More scams: The recession will lead to more scams. Whenever the US has faced a difficult time, thieves have found a way to use the problem to their advantage. I’ve never seen more variations of old scams and such a wide range of sophistication in newer scams.

2. Job scams: Criminals will take advantage of increasing unemployment rates by tricking desperate people searching for job listings. These fake job listings and work-at-home scams will result in job seeker providing Social Security Number (SSN) and other important details to the criminals.

3. Low-tech desperate identity theft: There will be an increase in the number of individuals – who have no criminal history – beginning to explore the crime of identity theft for financial gain. For these thieves, it will be about quick money. Once desperate people wreck their own credit histories, they will start to use SSN for easy access.

These new identity thieves will take advantage of low-tech methods such as stealing credit card numbers, dumpster diving, making phone calls, or phishing for credit card numbers. These techniques may also include placing ads in auctions to lay their hands on credit card numbers or cash.

4. All-in-the-Family identity theft: Desperation will lead to more ‘all-in-the-family’ cases, as well as the fraudulent use of numbers belonging to close friends, roommates and fellow workers. It has long been documented that a significant percentage of identity theft cases are perpetrated by people close to the victim. We predict that this number will increase during these tough economic times.

5. Child identity theft: The ITRC has noted that nearly 10 percent of its case load, for the past six months, involved child identity theft issues. These cases often involve more varied components of identity theft than ever before. Some people have finally realised that a child’s SSN can be used for more than just opening a line of credit.

6. Medical identity theft: While not a new crime, this will reflect the distress of those who have become unemployed. High insurance premiums, growing individual medical insurance costs and the inability to afford insurance or medical care will cause a spike in this area of identity theft. The Social Security Administration has noted an increase in uninsured people using the coverage of a friend, relative or even a stranger to get medical care.

7. Insider identity theft: In the coming year, identity theft will increase due to the failure to follow simple security protocols in the workplace. This will create opportunities for thieves to gain access to personal identifying information retained in databases or paper files. Additionally, the lack of computer security measures and the increasing skill levels of hackers will lead to larger and more financially harmful breaches. These thieves are also educating young protégées on high-tech methods to access secured information and will likely continue to coordinate malicious attacks from their jail cells.

8. Governmental identity theft: More individuals will discover that they have become identity theft victims as they apply for government schemes. Not only will their own SSN be used, but they may be temporarily denied benefits due to the fraudulent use of their child’s SSN. This type of identity theft will also include complications with the IRS, Social Security Administration, Departments of Motor Vehicles, Medicare and Welfare.

9. Criminal identity theft: The number of cases of criminal identity theft will continue to grow. This type of crime is defined as the use of an individual’s personal information to avoid being tied to their own criminal record. In the current environment, the effects of criminal identity theft on the victims will be more apparent with the loss of employment, loss of benefits and the increased number of arrests of victims ranging from failure to appear warrants for traffic citations all the way to felony level crimes.

10. Social Media identity theft: The meteoric rise in social media use has also created a launch pad for identity thieves. Social media identity theft happens when someone hacks an account via phishing, creates infected short URLs or creates a page using photos and the victims identifying information. My prediction for 2010 is that the increase in social networking activity, along with a user’s failure to implement security and privacy settings and protocols, will lead to an increased exposure of not only the user’s personal information but possibly that of their friends.

Bottom line, there will be an increase in identity theft crimes and the number of victims over the next two years unless significant changes are made in information security. Our most important asset is our identity. And we are functioning under a completely antiquated system of identification. When state governments agree with federal agencies on effective identification and industry comes together, only then will a secure environment will prevail.