VERNON – She was just trying to renew her passport, but now a Vernon woman has to worry about identity theft after her personal documents were lost in the mail.
Sonia Pinheiro Marchuk has been stressed out lately.
The Brazilian citizen sent off her documentation to get her passport renewed ahead of a trip to her home country and now those personal documents have been lost.
As required, she included a pre-paid return envelope with her documents so the Brazilian Consulate could return them and her newly renewed passport.
When it was posted back, her husband says that return envelope would have included a lot of personal information: her new passport, her old passport and a number of personal documents from Brazil.
If you look up the envelope’s tracking number, the Canada Post website says the package was delivered in Vernon on March 7 but the Marchuk’s never received it.
“The post office has done what they can,” says Sonia’s husband, Alan Marchuk. “Whether it has gone into the wrong hands or whether it is just lost nobody knows.”
The consulate contends only one original document, an ID, was lost in the mail along with the recently issued passport.
It also says people are not required to send in original documents. The consulate also accepts notarized copies.
Canada Post searched the Marchuk’s building and visited other apartments along the route but wasn’t able to recover the letter.
In a written statement the postal service apologized saying it takes the delivery of important documents like passports seriously.
However, Pinheiro Marchuk worries about fraud and that whoever has the documents now might be up to no good.
She was able to get another passport issued. It arrived Tuesday saving her upcoming trip to Brazil.
The consulate says it fast tracked the second passport because they knew Pinheiro Marchuk had plans to travel, processing and mailing it on the same day.
Although she can now take her trip, she’s still hoping if someone has her documents, they will return them.