Fraud and Cybercrime Squad detectives have established direct links between international identity thieves and the large-scale theft of residential mail in New South Wales, NSW Police say.
The theft of credit cards and identity documents from suburban letter boxes has long been an issue for police but NSW detectives now have determined that in many cases, the offences are being directed by organised crime figures overseas.
The head of the State Crime Command Fraud and Cybercrime Squad, Arthur Katsogiannis, says on the surface it might seem like petty crime but local criminals, known as "boxers," are selling the stolen identity documents to international syndicates.
"Information from documents such as bank statements and utility bills is then used by the overseas criminals to apply for large loans in the names of their unwitting victims, thereby defrauding financial institutions," Detective Superintendent Katsogiannis said.
"Often the street-level thieves are equipped with specially-modified tools to pry open apartment block letter boxes, robbing scores of victims at once," he added.
"Others are using master keys that open dozens of letter boxes at a time.
"The low level thieves tend to keep any credit cards they find to fraudulently purchase goods for later re-sale whilst the identity documents are provided to the international identity theft operations for the larger frauds," Det. Supt Katsogiannis said.
The revelation comes as NSW Police joins forces with a range of other crime prevention partners, including Crime Stoppers.
