From: Darren D. MacDonald, thenorthbaybay.ca
NORTH BAY — Identity theft is a serious issue. With over 20 000 Canadians a year suffering from some form of identity theft, the crime is not one to take lightly.
No one knows this better than North Bay local William Boissoin.
It was a usual day for Boissoin: he woke up, poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at his computer. After the usual check-in on Facebook, he turned to one of the local news sites. What he saw terrified him. His identity had been stolen.
And it was being used to run for mayor.
“I don’t know how it happened. I’m just a retired taxidermist,” says Boissoin. “Maybe I opened a email I shouldn’t have, or clicked the wrong ad, but next thing I know there’s a man on my computer screen running for mayor with my name. And what’s worse is he’s talking about hosting Shakespeare at Memorial Gardens or something.”
To find out more about identity theft, we sat down with veteran Digital Crime Specialist Justin Trudeau.
“This is a very serious thing,” says Trudeau. “I know it’s hard to be aware of everything you do, not only out in the real world, but online as well. I encourage people to question everything. Even your own kids. You never know when one will up and steal your identity to buy $2000 worth of Pokemon cards.”
“I mean, what the hell does someone do with 300 Zubat cards?!”
“It’s hard,” says Boissoin about the theft. “I spent my whole life building this… life, and it was all taken away from me by some guy in a dumb hat and a yellow suit t-shirt.”
“I mean, I guess I hope he wins. You know, so it’ll be worth it in the end. Maybe I can even get in on it a bit, use his Mayoral power to get something done or let my feelings be known. I’ve got a lot of opinions, you know? And most of them are about the police.”
Boissoin snorts.
“Yeah, I’ve got a lot to say about the police.”