Sometimes, you do everything you can to protect yourself from fraud, and it still happens to you. For example, mail thieves can get lucky by breaking into the right mail boxes at the right time.
Leanne is one of those victims.
It was shortly after Christmas in 2018 when Leanne had returned home after attending a loved one’s funeral. She picked up her mail and noticed three envelopes from various banks that she does not use. Thankfully, Leanne previously worked at a bank, so she knew not to ignore mail coming from financial institutions, even though they weren’t from her bank.
When she opened them, she found one had a debit card for an account she never opened, another had a replacement debit card that had two accounts opened in her name, and the third included a copy of an attempted cashed cheque (which was altered) for over $2000, and a copy of a fraudulent cheque that someone tried to deposit into one of these new accounts.
Follow-up pin numbers arrived in the mail shortly after receiving the debit cards for the fraudulent accounts. Leanne travelled to each bank to report the fraudulent accounts and have them closed. She also went to her own bank and informed them of her apparent identity fraud, so they would watch her accounts in case the fraudster tried to pull the same scam at her institution.
A year later, Leanne had two Walmart Rewards credit cards show up in her mail. Again, she went to the nearest location to report the fraudulent account and have it closed. “Even though I didn’t lose money, my credit was affected,” explains Leanne. “It is so time consuming, and you just constantly worry about it happening again.” Right now, Leanne is still waiting for her T4 to be delivered, and she’s concerned that it may have been taken when her community mailboxes were broken into.
“Some financial institutions and businesses can provide temporary cards for their customer to use for a set time, with a set limit, until their official card is mailed to them,” Detective Linda Herczeg explained. “And if the suspect has assumed someone else’s identity, the institution has no reason to suspect foul play. Unfortunately for innocent victims like Leanne, this has allowed fraudsters to open accounts in her name.”
With federal tax season upon us, the Canada Revenue Agency suggests citizens actively monitor their online CRA accounts for suspicious activity. “To protect yourself against identity theft, you can now sign up for Email Notifications in your online CRA account,” explained TJ Madigan, Communications Manager for the Canada Revenue Agency. “This will trigger an automatic alert if any major changes are made to your file, including notifications if your mailing address is updated or if someone modifies your direct deposit information for refunds and credits.”
EPS also reminds citizens of the importance of picking up your mail regularly. If you are going on vacation, either have your mail forwarded to a Canada Post location, or have a trusted person pick it up for you. You can see your options for secure mail delivery through Canada Post.
Please see our webpage for more fraud prevention and identity theft information.