Mailbox theft on the rise in Canada

Reports state that there have been an increasingly large number of mailbox break-ins in Canada

As continually stressed throughout this blog, identity theft in Canada is becoming more and more prevalent, leading to immense stress for the government, private and public businesses and citizens alike.

Identity thieves have any number of routes to illicitly access the materials needed for fraud. Oftentimes criminals hack into corporate mainframes and lower firewalls to get information. Other times, they resort to stealing physical documents or hard drives from business establishments themselves or from dumpsters when they are improperly disposed of.

However, according to a recent article published by the Vancouver Sun, identity thieves are going right for the source as there have been an alarmingly high number of mailbox break-ins, during which criminals are stealing cheques, credit cards and materials containing Social Insurance numbers, birth dates and more.

According to the article, on April 8, 10 mailboxes were forcibly opened at a West Vancouver apartment complex. The next day, it was reported that an additional 41 mailboxes were broken into at a separate location. Additional areas in British Columbia including Maple Ridge, Surrey, Coquitlam and Mission were reportedly targeted as well.

And with criminal rings hopping between unsuspecting communities, the integrity of Canadian citizens' data is decreasing to dangerous levels.

Considering these criminals' willingness to target citizens directly by breaking into their mailboxes, it would be wise for cautious individuals to put out mail right before it is scheduled to be picked up and to keep track of expected delivery dates so one can determine if documents have been stolen.

Another very smart tactic in the overall battle against identity theft is partnering with a shredding service that can provide residential shredding solutions. These professionals can permanently dispose of sensitive documents that Canadians no longer need to ensure that unnecessary information that is still being held onto does not lead to fraudulent activity. 

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