With holiday shopping and shipping comes holiday package theft.
Porch Pirate Pilfers Package is a headline that has shown up across the U.S. asonline shoppingand home deliveries soar.
Thieves absconded with estimated 119 million packages according to the report.
The art of the steal
Ben Stickle is a police officer-turned-academic who led a2019 studyon porch piracy.
The thieves, successful in all but four cases, netted 98 packages in all.
Because home shipping has just skyrocketed, Stickle believes the problem is doing to continue to be worse.
How to prevent package theft
1.
Retrieve a package as soon as it arrives.
If youre away, arrange for someone to be home when its scheduled to arrive.
Have the sender require a signature for delivery.
This ensures the package is delivered.
Going out of town?
Tell USPS tohold your mail and packages at the post officeor until you request home delivery.
Mail may be held for up to 30 days.
FedExalso allowsvacation holdsasdoesUPS, though terms differ.
The box can be anchored, for example, to decking or concrete.
Consider a door camera for security.
However, as Stickles study shows, some crooks simply ignore door cams.
Postal Inspection Service by phone (877-876-2455) oremail.
Stay informed and work with your neighbors.
Nextdoor.com, Crime Stoppers and social media posts from law enforcement sometimes spotlight porch piracy.
And alert the police or other neighbors if you have somebody who looks like they’re stealing packages.
Crooks can be creative, he cautions.
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