Life is hard enough dealing with strangers trying to swindle you.
People have told me about getting strange phone calls claiming to be from Canada Revenue Agency or that they have won a prize and just need to pony up a fee to claim it.
Scammers to the left of us, jokers to the right – stuck in the middle with you.
Now imagine that you got swindled by people you know. People you pass every day in the hallways or chat with in the lobby.
Imagine that they helped lead to an “inside job crime spree” that turned your underground parking into a gangsters’ paradise.
That’s what happened to Sarah, who lives in a condo building in Metrotown, the crime capital of Burnaby.
Monthly crime numbers consistently show that Metrotown is where criminals feast. But that’s usually on the street, with thefts inside vehicles or business break-ins.
No, this time the thieves had access to the underground parking in Sarah’s building.
“The way our building’s security is set up, the only way for these thieves to have access to all of our vehicles is for someone to have deliberately let the thieves in,” she said. “It was an inside job crime spree with dozens of vehicles broken into. People had all sorts of stuff taken from their cars. Lots of windows broken. My neighbours betrayed us. They probably get a cut of the proceeds. I don’t know who they are, which makes seeing people in the building unnerving because it could be any one of them.”
Some vehicles have previously been stolen from the lot, which would require a FOB so the thieves can drive the vehicle out of the building. On that subject, there’s new data showing what vehicles are the most stolen in our community.
The dubious winner is the 2018 Honda CR-V 4DR AWD, according to data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada. In 2019, it was the 2007 Ford F350 SD 4WD that was the most-stolen in the nation.
Second on the list is the 2017 Lexus RX350.
The revelation was made in a new study that says British Columbia had the third-highest number of auto thefts.
The study, conducted by Hellosafe.ca determined that 87,006 cars were stolen in Canada in 2019. This figure increased by 1.01% in one year, with 874 more car thefts reported than in 2018.
Ontario, with almost 24,000 car thefts in 2019, ranks first among Canadian provinces in this regard, followed closely by Alberta (23,535). With 13,352 auto thefts, B.C. came third followed by Quebec (11,961).
In British Columbia and Alberta, the 2006 Ford F350 SD 4WD was the most stolen vehicle of 2020.
- With files from Elana Shepert, Vancouver is Awesome
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44
