6 days ago
Customers' mail stolen in a series of break-ins at Australia Post's Melbourne GPO
Concerns have been raised after Australia Post's Melbourne GPO box room was broken into several times, with one major company warning their clients confidential information may be in the hands of criminals.
Mercer Superannuation has issued a warning to its 1.6 million customers to be aware of the break-ins.
'We do not know the exact number of members that may have been impacted,' Mercer said on its website.
'We can confirm that the potential impact is limited to members who sent mail via post to our Melbourne GPO box in July and have not received an acknowledgment from us.'
The break-ins occurred between July 6 and 17 from the post office boxes in the Melbourne GPO in Bourke St, Melbourne.
On three separate occasions, thieves forcibly gained access to a back-of-house area used for sorting mail however during a fourth attempt, were deterred after increased security measures were introduced.
The offenders left the premises immediately.
Australia Post reported each break-in resulted in significant damage to the facility, which has now been repaired.
But authorities have been unable to confirm what was taken.
Australia Post say they have notified potentially affected customers of the unauthorised access to their PO Boxes but that since unlike parcels, letters are not tracked, they are unable to determine which specific mail items or PO Boxes may have been targeted.
Customers wishing to check the status of tracked items are being urged to use the tracking feature on the Australia Post website or the AusPost App to ensure the status of their mail.
In a statement Australia Post apologised to customers for the disruption caused by the incidents and said they have implemented 'a number of additional security measures, including after-hours security presence in the PO Box Room'.
