Some St. Albert residents say they are worried about their personal information being stolen, after a string of community mailbox break-ins.
Canada Post has refused to release any statistics on reported break-ins to their community mailboxes, but a spokesperson confirmed they are “aware of the recent vandalism incidents” and takes “these matters and the security of the mail very seriously.”
Residents have posted on community Facebook pages about vandalism in their neighbourhoods, along with some pictures of wide-open mailboxes. Locations talked about mostly centre around Deer Ridge, but others mentioned include Lacombe Park, Pineview and Sturgeon County.
Deer Ridge resident Jim Asprey said he knows he is missing some unpaid bills and worries some tax information slips containing sensitive information may have been taken.
“(Canada Post) could have at least done me the courtesy of telling me, ‘your mail's not secure’, and offering me an alternate way of picking it up,” Asprey said. “It's the 21st century; I know I didn't get my flying car, but they should be able to close my mailbox.”
Canada Post media relations officer Hayley Magermans said in a Feb. 14 email if a community mailbox has been compromised and delivery cannot continue, Canada Post “secures all mail and notifies customers that mail is available for pick-up at the post office temporarily until the mailbox is repaired.”
Asprey said he has never been contacted by Canada Post.
In addition, last week Asprey said his neighbours collected his mail for him from the wide-open community mailbox across the street from his home and delivered it to him.
“Anybody who wants has access to my mail,” Asprey said.
“It’s worrisome.”
Another Deer Ridge resident, Ben Curley, said he went out to check his mail around midday two weeks ago and both doors of his community mailbox were “wide-open, swinging in the wind.”
Curley is not sure if he is missing mail, “but the whole box was empty; it was cleaned right out.”
“It just makes you realize it’s not as secure as one would think; (Canada Post) maybe sacrificed security for convenience,” he said, about the mail delivery service switching to community mailboxes.
St. Albert RCMP Const. M-J Burroughs said in a Feb. 13 interview the detachment is not “seeing great numbers” of reports but those figures may not reflect reality.
“But I don't know if that reflects what's going on there, because ... we feel that possibly residents might be reporting to one agency, being Canada Post and we're not getting the information or vice versa. Or some residents just aren't reporting in general,” she said.
When asked to share numbers of reported vandalisms in February, Canada Post replied that “for security reasons” it does not share security, measures, procedures or metrics of incidents involving mail theft or mailbox vandalism.
After becoming aware of the posts on social media, Burroughs said RCMP arranged a meeting with Canada Post. On Feb. 19 Burroughs said she had “no new information” to share, regarding what came out of that meeting.
In December, RCMP warned residents about an increase in mail and parcel thefts, as residents were ramping up to their holiday festivities.
Burroughs said she would encourage anyone who thinks they are missing mail to file a report with the RCMP.
“For us to be able to know everything that's going on, we need to have people report to the RCMP,” she said.
Magermans said customers who have not received a specific piece of mail should inform the sender and initiate a claim with Canada Post Customer Service.
“Customers concerned about identity fraud should contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501. We encourage anyone who witnesses any suspicious activity to immediately inform the authorities and Canada Post Customer Service at 1-800-267-1177,” she said.
Canada Post did not respond when asked how they are working to address the issue.
