Economy down, Identity Theft up.

As economic woes continue, new indicators point to an increase in certain criminal activity. A new AP article looks at a few trends:

• In 2008, the number of identity theft cases jumped 22 percent to 9.9 million;

• Crimes of opportunity, such as stolen wallets, were linked to 43 percent of cases last year, up from 33 percent in 2007;

• More than 10 percent of victims knew their identity thieves.

Desperate times result in desperate actions. Unfortunately, this is all too common when when the economy fails in the manner it has.