ARREST REVEALS DANGERS OF IDENTITY THEFT
OSOYOOS TIMES-April 16, 2008
A tip of the hat goes to local police for making a quick arrest in relation to the March 25 break-in at the Osoyoos Canada Post office where roughly 20 mailboxes were violated and a good deal of mail stolen.
On the morning of the break-in, a number of post office customers who were locked out of the building while police investigated the pried-open boxes joked that they hoped whoever broke in took their bills.
It would appear, however, that the person who stole the mail, allegedly a 26-year-old Osoyoos man found with more than 50 pieces of other people's mail, had more in mind than just robbing area residents of personal correspondence and monthly bills.
One Osoyoos man informed the Osoyoos Times he was told by police that the suspect was building an identity theft profile on him which included credit card information, his social insurance number and even passport information.
Had an arrest not been made, it's possible that the post office break in, along with other recent thefts in the area that are also allegedly linked to this suspect, could have had far more dire consequences.
The police said the suspect had already attempted to cash a fraudulent cheque and, if he was collecting personal information about Osoyoos residents from the mail that was stolen for his own purposes, or possibly an organization he was working for, a number of people could have found their financial and personal security compromised.
Stealing mail from rural mailboxes, and now a post office, and other scams where criminals are targeting people in an attempt to acquire private or financial information is becoming more common in rural communities such as Osoyoos.
Earlier this month, the Keremeos RCMP advised people in that community to pick up their mail from rural boxes daily and before dark and report any suspicious activity in and around any mail facilities in response to thefts from newly installed mail boxes there.
In other parts of the province it has been reported that Canada Post employees have been attacked for their keys which opens up the possibility of criminals having access to a number of mail outlets.
Identity theft is nothing new and hopefully most of us have an idea of the seriousness of someone gaining access to our personal information. As with any crime, if the perpetrator really wants to get what we have, he or she will.
But it's not a bad idea to be more careful with banking and credit information, pick up the mail more often and maybe ask local banks and Canada Post what security measures they're putting in place to protect us.
