(Parts of this column were published in the The Vancouver Province on Feb. 13, 2005)
Identity Theft a Huge Problem
By Leo Knight
Vancouver Police spokesperson Constable Anne Drennan was typically understated in what she was prepared to release about a significant success that police department has had in a new and frightening crime wave - identity theft.
“After a lengthy investigation, police have charged Jonathun Patrick Barber, 21 years old, with 46 separate counts relating to the practice more commonly known as identity theft.”
“A large quantity of property was seized including a machine to emboss plastic cards and several hundred credit cards and related identification items. The investigation is continuing and further charges are being considered,” said Drennan on Friday.
Now, identity theft is one of those smoky, little-understood crimes that the police are seeing more and more of, but the public barely registers a raised eyebrow. Unless of course, it happens to you.
One victim told the investigating detective, “You can get punched and robbed and 10 days later, it’s over. When you have your identity stolen, it never ends.”
And that essentially is the problem and why this crime is so insidious.
VPD Detective Mike Donaghy has spent much of the past couple of years investigating the burgeoning problem of identity theft says the victims are the biggest losers not the faceless, wealthy banks as many people think.
“Their credit rating is destroyed and it takes hundreds of hours and money out of pocket to try and repair it,” said Donaghy.
“They have to spend countless hours trying to convince banks, credit card companies, cell phone companies etc., that they are not the ones responsible. They feel like a criminal and sometimes, they are treated like one,” concluded the detective.
So how does this happen? According to Donaghy, it’s not hackers on the internet or gangsters using sophisticated scanning gear to obtain PIN and credit card information, although that does occasionally happen. No, according to the veteran detective, it is the simple theft of mail that results in the bulk of identity theft that occurs in our fair city.
Like modern-day Fagins, mid-level criminals have organized themselves into a network to profit very handsomely from the ranks of the street people they use to steal for them. The street people, most often “meth-heads”, crystal meth addicts, are given “mail routes” and keys counterfeited to replicate Canada Post building access and box row keys. They visit the same buildings day after day and comb through every piece of mail.
How substantial is the problem? According to Donaghy, every apartment block and condo development in Richmond has been compromised and 80 percent of the apartment, condos and townhouse complexes in Vancouver have been victimised.
Donaghy says the street level mail thieves are given routes to walk much like a Canada Post employee. They steal credit cards, credit card applications, account statements, bank statements, phone bills, Revenue Canada statements, cable bills, medical statements – anything that will assist them in putting together a profile of you.
“Their goal is to develop a personal profile of their victim which will enable them to open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, connect phone service, all in the victim’s name,” said Donaghy.
“Their best targets are people with money,” said the Detective. “For this reason they target high end apartment buildings and residential areas with community mail boxes,” Donaghy said.
Scared yet? You should be.
The mid level identity thieves will earn a not-so-modest $30,000 to $50,000 a month, tax free. And if they are caught, they can only be charged with minor offences the court typically wave away like a summer mosquito.
The law deals with stolen property in terms of tangible value. The charge is possession of stolen property over or under $5000. Well, a bag full of mail isn’t going to add up to much more than a few bucks despite its value in the hands of an identity thief. So what happens when the police bag a mail thief, replete with a ring of all the mail box keys in play in the city of Vancouver? Nada. Bupkiss. It’s a minor crime. Barely worth the court’s attention.
One suspect said to Donaghy in an interview: “You can’t stop us. We recruit people in hospitals, government agencies, private businesses and can obtain any information we need. Why would we stop?”
Donaghy says the new breed of criminals have made a mockery of the privacy laws in this country as well as the justice system. Walk into a bank with a gun and get a few hundred bucks for your efforts. Get caught and you’re going to jail for somewhere between four and 12 years. Impersonate someone at the same bank and steal $100,000 and you likely won’t be caught, but if you are, you will get a severe slap on the wrist.
The criminals have figured out the easier path.
-30-
RELATED: e-mail Scams & Identity theft