-New hours, security measures coming to post office-

OSOYOOS TIMES-April 16, 2008-

By Chad Ingram and Paul EverestrnOsoyoos Times

An Osoyoos man is grateful to local police for making an arrest in relation to last month's Canada Post office break in after he learned from investigators that the suspect was allegedly building an identity theft profile on him.
He was starting a file and he had my social insurance number and other pieces of mail, said the man, who asked not to be identified. It looked like he was building a data information sheet.
It could have been huge.rnThe man said he was told the suspect also allegedly had his passport information and financial documents belonging to his son, who lives in another part of the province but sometimes has important mail sent to his father's home.
I know he had a credit card, the man said. And probably my driver's licence number.rnOn April 2, Osoyoos RCMP arrested Aaron Moore, 26, at a residence on Hwy. 97. The suspect was allegedly in possession of roughly 50 pieces of other people's mail.
Moore will appear in Penticton provincial court on April 28 via video conference as he is still in police custody.
The arrest came just days after someone broke in to about 20 mail boxes in the foyer at the Osoyoos post office on 78th Avenue. The foyer is open 24 hours a day and is not monitored by a security camera.
The man also said he believes that his GST number may have been accessed as he was expecting it in the mail at the end of March.
I don't have that.rnAfter they informed him that his private information had been potentially compromised and that they were looking into a possible situation of identity theft, police told the man to call Phone Busters to flag all of his credit and financial information. Investigators still have his mail.
Following discussions with several financial and credit information agencies, the man said any transactions that go through using his personal information now must be verified by him.
He also spoke with personnel at a government passport office who told him to hold off on flagging his passport. They said once that document is flagged the flag cannot be removed without getting a new passport.
But that doesn't dismiss the feeling of being violated, he said.
It's certainly a personal invasion. It's an invasion of my privacy.rnThe man added that he doesn't check his mail on a regular basis.
I think that it's a freak and a fluke breaking into Canada Post, he said. But I was surprised there was no security camera.
I would think in this day and age, something that's open 24/7 should have more security features.rnIn light of the post office thefts, Canada Post will be introducing new security measures at the Osoyoos facility.
Canada Post spokeswoman Sandra Sobko said that new lobby hours of 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. would come into effect sometime soon.
She said a specific date couldn't be named yet, but that customers would be notified with both letters and signs posted at the office.
I hope customers will understand, Sobko said.
Cpl. Mike Field of the Oliver RCMP said people should make a habit of checking their mail every day in order to reduce their chances of becoming a victim of mail theft.
He added that identity theft is making a comeback in the Southern Interior.
It hasn't been a big issue for a number of years now, Field said. It's becoming more common across the province in general.
Field said cheques made out to businesses are often a popular target for fraudsters.
As soon as we're notified a client has had their cheques stolen, their account is shut down, put to a halt, said Leslie Anderson, branch manager of the Osoyoos Bank of Montreal. It happens on a regular basis.
Anderson, who lived for years in Port Coquitlam, said in her opinion Osoyoos is sill relatively sheltered from major identity theft crimes.
Down there, identity theft is rampant, she said.
Anderson said she was a victim of identity theft a few years ago when someone began stealing mail from the mailboxes of the townhouse building where she and her husband lived.
They would systematically steal certain things, she said, adding that bank statements and credit cards were often targeted.
Anderson said her husband's credit card was stolen and that the thieves racked up $11,000 worth of debt in just 24 hours.
She said identity thefts can even lead to customer impersonations in banks, though she added she's never had problems with impersonations at her branch.
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