I am wondering what the general state of mail and identity theft is in the US? Is it much of a problem? It is a HUGE problem here in Canada. Canada Post basically washes their hands of the problem and does absolutely nothing.

Recently, my home delivery method (in a rural area) was moved to a community mailbox about 1/4 mile away, along with other neighbors delivery. The box is in a bad location, and I complained to Canada Post about it at the time, but got NO response. Well, sure enough, the boxes got broken into last week. The community mailboxes are the old fashioned type that are not anchored to the ground, are light and easy to pick up, and have very flimsy latches. When I looked into the problem at this location, the boxes have been broken into over 10 times now. Luckily, I had picked up my mail the day before. I called a local TV station and they came out and did a story. Many neighbors have complained to Canada Post. So what did they do? They just repaired all the broken hasps. We might as well just hang our keys on the side of the boxes.... This would at least save Canada Post the c ost of repairs!

They caught the kids who broke into these particular boxes, but in true Canadian fashion, they will probably get a slap on the wrist and be doing this again next month.

Identity theft and forging credit cards is BIG, BIG business here. I do not understand why Canada Post and government authorities do nothing here. I can't even get a rental post box at my nearest post office becasue the demand for them is so high due to mail theft. Canada Post has slashed what they pay to local post offices (agencies) so they refuse to add more post boxes as there is NO profit in having them. What a lovely system we have here. Canada Post simply does not give a flying fig about the problem. Our Postmaster General said recently, when asked about the problem, that residents should simply wait at their boxes for the mail carrier to drop their mail off. WTF????

I don't get it. I, along with many others, would gladly pay more for our mail delivery to make it secure. For the time being, I have to drive about 5 miles to the Mail Plant to pick up my mail until I figure out what to do. Even if I could rent a box, I'd have to pay for it AND notify everyone who sends me mail of the new box number (I can't use my address in that case). WTF? All because Canada Post takes NO responsibity for the problem? A guy behind me at the local post office overheard me talking to the lady, and he says that he gets mail to his house for his home business and that he loses $2K - $3K in stolen cheques from his mailbox every year. He says it is now just the cost of dong business. Yikes! A friend of mine was a recent victim of credit card info. theft, and money was being spent in another province. Last month, nearby, cops busted a mega credit card duplicating operation. Scary stuff.

What is it like in the US? I hear that if you steal mail there, it is considered a serious crime and the FBI even gets called in. Canada Post makes it waaaay to easy here to steal mail, and the courts and government agencies do nothing either. It's because of things like this, sometimes I either want to move to the US or let the US take over Canada.... What a bunch of dim bulbs we have in government and government (crown) corporations.

If anyone in the US wants to send something that you consider important, ,make sure it is insured. If you can't afford to have it stolen, use an independent courier service. And don't use Purolator, 'cuz it is owned by Canada Post.

I'd appreciate any comments on this!

Gil