At a conference last Thursday, Edmonton Police Detective Calvin Mah announced that an organized group of individuals have been arrested for their involvement in large-scale identity theft. There were nine people connected to the scheme.
“The arrest resulted in more than 90 charges total and a large number of those 90 charges are global in nature,” said Detective Mah. Personal items and property, from IDs, and credit cards to mail and resumes were recovered and some of those items belonged to individuals from as far as Ontario.
“The investigation started last year when we had a large number of complaints about mail theft,” explained Detective Mah. It was through stolen mail, mainly in apartment complexes, that these individuals were able to commit fraud and identity theft.
In conjunction with Canada Post, all EPS divisions and other police agencies were able to identify the suspects.
Acting Sergeant Steve Sharpe encourages the public to be aware and be diligent when checking mail to prevent being a victim of fraud and identity theft. Since the investigation, EPS noticed the number of fraud and theft identity crimes have dropped steadily.
