Regulation needed to stamp out courier crime

Rise in thefts, poor protection of customer information raise concerns

Judicial officers have called on parcel courier companies to establish rules to protect the personal information of their customers and place restrictions on who can work as a courier.

The calls are aimed at reducing crime in the industry, which has seen a rise in thefts of goods and information over the past three years. Concern has also been voiced at the rise in cases of criminals gaining access to people's homes while disguised as parcel couriers.

One of the more shocking cases is that of Zhang Kunpeng, who was convicted in March of killing a woman during a burglary in which he disguised himself as an express parcel courier. Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court sentenced him to death and ordered him to pay 35,000 yuan ($5,700) in compensation to the victim's family.

The victim, Fu Li, a 30-year-old singer, had been fond of online shopping, while Zhang had delivered packages to her home several times during his previous employment as a parcel courier. Zhang noticed that she was always alone when he made deliveries and remembered her address, the court heard.

The convict visited Fu's home in Beijing's Chaoyang district on July 30, 2012, posing as a courier on a delivery errand. He robbed her at knifepoint, taking 1,600 yuan. He then attempted to sexually assault her and strangled her to death when she screamed, according to the prosecution case.

Similar cases have been common in recent years, said Zhou Zhijun, prosecutor for the capital's Dongcheng district, who added that some express courier companies have major loopholes in the protection of customer information.

"Such tragedies do not only happened in Beijing, but also other provinces," he said. "Yet there's no mandatory rule requiring express delivery companies to take measures to protect customers' privacy."

In February, a man identified only as Wang was prosecuted in Dongcheng district for stealing seven packages and demanding 2,265 yuan from the customers awaiting the deliveries. He had worked for an express courier company before and only stole those packages that needed cash on delivery, prosecutor Zhou said.

A lack of proper information security allowed him to access information on customers and their deliveries.

"Most residents are not aware of the need to confirm the identities of delivery men, and many don't thoroughly tear bills (containing personal details) into pieces, which also provides opportunities for those with bad intentions to conduct illegal activities," he said.

There has also been an increase in cases of couriers stealing packages in recent years, Beijing prosecutors say.

Since 2010, authorities in Dongcheng have handled 16 cases involving express couriers, of which 30 percent involved delivery staff suspected of stealing packages.

Chaoyang District People's Procuratorate has also tackled more than 20 cases related to delivery men in the past three years, most of them involving parcel thefts.

A suspect identified as Zhang was recently convicted in Dongcheng of stealing more than 40 packages, including a smartphone, a necklace and a laptop, with a total value of over 30,000 yuan, between February and April. "He knew which packages were valuable by using a scanner at work," Zhao said.