Package theft is a growing problem; here’s how homeowners and renters can prevent package theft.
Because most packages are left on a resident’s porch in plain sight, porch pirates don’t need to be particularly cunning in order to commit this common crime.
Fortunately, there are some precautions you can take to secure your front porch in order to ensure safe deliveries. Try these tactics to prevent theft of your packages. Read on!
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10 Ways to Prevent Package Theft
It’s time to take action to prevent package theft if your packages are frequently stolen or lost. These are the top 8 methods for securing package delivery that have been deemed effective by homeowners.
1. Use Smart Package Lockers Or Convenience Store
Smart lockers are the solution if you’re wondering how to stop package theft. For communities interested in preventing package theft, purchasing a parcel locker with a smart lock is the best apartment solution. A secure option for both residents and multifamily community managers, parcel lockers are electronic smart lockers that can accept deliveries from a delivery service, give recipients delivery alerts, and enable quick, easy, and self-service pick-up around-the-clock.
Nobody likes dealing with lost or stolen packages, especially around the holidays, whether they are the property manager or a community resident. Unfortunately, these things sometimes happen and, as a rule of thumb, a seller is responsible for a delivery until it reaches the buyer and the delivery company lists the package as “delivered” or “notice left.”
2. Have Packages Delivered to Your Workplace/Office
Many people have complained about package thieves or bad neighbors skulking down the street robbing drop-off deliveries, careless mailmen or carriers leaving packages on the front door without even knocking or ringing the door, pre-signing your delivery without your consent, or delaying home delivery by sending notifications too early.
It’s so frustrating.
One of the best ways to prevent package theft in the first place is to have your packages delivered to your place of business or to the homes of trusted friends, eliminating any opportunity for porch pirates.
3. Get Amazon Key for Your Package Delivery
Try Amazon Key for package delivery security. It combines a smart lock and security camera to let delivery services deliver packages right inside your front door.
Naturally, if you’re comfortable with letting guests into your home.
Or, to avoid package theft, you could have the package delivered to your car using a service called in-car delivery.
Also Read: How To Report A Amazon Package Missing?
4. Install Security Cameras to Prevent Package Theft
It is preferable to have security cameras than none at all pointed at your front door, hallway, or driveway.
A security camera, especially a visible HD security camera like the RLC-810A bullet security camera on the front door, will act as a great deterrent for criminals and help prevent package theft.
The smart motion detection security camera Argus 3 Pro will start recording as soon as the mailman gets close to your front door and will immediately send push notifications to your phone. Due to the two-way audio, you can hear when your packages arrive and instruct the delivery person to leave your package in an unnoticeable location.
5. Require Signature on Delivery to Stop Package Theft
Many clients complain that the delivery person signs the unapproved packages and leaves them on the porch or doorstep wide open, making them attractive to package snatchers.
Request signature delivery to prevent your package from being stolen off the front porch, side door, back porch, or garage area.
Request a delivery confirmation signature from the recipient if your package is being delivered by UPS, DHL, or FedEx.
Couriers should adhere strictly to the signature-required delivery policy.
Did you know that delivery companies are subject to legal action and that you have the right to a full refund or replacement if a package that requires YOUR signature to be delivered is left unattended or, worse, lost because they disregarded the protocol?
6. Reroute Or Reschedule Delivery to Prevent Package Theft
If you’re not sure if you’ll be home from vacation when the delivery truck arrives at your front door, you can track shipment information using a package tracking app or order information beforehand.
Call the delivery person or ask your neighbors or friends to assist in receiving the packages to avoid the packages being stolen.
Both UPS and FedEx offer web apps to help reroute parcel to another address and reschedule your package delivery at your convenience for a fee, for example, FedEx’s Delivery Manager, and UPS My Choice premium membership for $40 a year.
You can find online shipment tracking information if you use other delivery services. It is comforting to tell the driver when your package is due in advance online.
7. Require Vacation Package Hold to Secure Package Delivery
Finally going away for holiday, you can place a hold on your package to prevent package theft.
Many shipping companies, including USPS and FedEx, provide a free service to hold your package at their terminals or delivery locations for a specified amount of time.
To apply for a package holiday hold online without worrying about lost packages or packages being stolen off the doorstep, check FedEx delivery options for free online and free USPS mail holding service here.
While UPS will charge $5 for each package that is rescheduled or delivered to a UPS retail location through UPS My Choice.
8. Add Home Security Window and Yard Signs to Your Property.
The majority of security systems include yard signs with the business name for homeowners to erect in their yards. But do security signs deter crime?
No matter if the house has a home security system or not, putting stickers on the windows or posting signs in the yard to the effect that they do deters burglars. They’ll believe they’re being recorded and hesitate before approaching the front door.
Of course, this won’t stop every thief, especially if the package is inviting and marked with a brand that promises a large reward, but it might stop them long enough for them to decide to move on. It is suggested to put the signs in plain sight where they can be seen from the street.
Since thieves can easily look up the names of phony security companies online, it is also a good idea to use generic signs indicating that there are cameras on the property.
9. Insure Your Upcoming Packages
After a wonderful vacation, I bet you don’t want to go through all the hassles to get your missing package back.
Insuring your priceless holiday package, such as a Halloween costume, Thanksgiving gifts, or Christmas packages, will ensure that you are compensated in the unfortunate event that your delivery is stolen or lost before you even get a chance to touch it.
10. Team Up With Your Neighbors
One of the best ways to stop porch pirates is to get to know your neighbors. Cooperate to keep an eye out for stray dogs in the area and to watch for deliveries at each other’s houses.
Community apps like Nextdoor and neighborhood social media networks can be useful in this. If you’re at ease, think about having your package delivered to a neighbor if you’ll be away from home, or ask a neighbor to pick up the package from your doorstep if you won’t be home to receive it.
Also Read: What is Route Package Protection?
What to Do If You Suspect Your Package Was Stolen
If you suspect a package thief of pilfering your package you should:
- Look around your house to see if the delivery person hid your package somewhere, like by the garage, on the back porch, or at the back door.
- You should check with your neighbors to see if they witnessed the delivery person leaving your package or if the driver accidentally delivered it to someone else.
- Make contact with the shipping company to confirm that the package was delivered as intended. If it was, you can complain to the delivery service.
- Consult your neighborhood police department about filing a report.
Related: What To Do If Amazon Package Is Stolen?
Package Theft Statistics
Here are the top five scary facts about package mail theft and how to prevent it:
- You probably don’t see it that often. In the United States, porch pirating is a major problem; from March to July 2020, 1 in 5 citizens reported a package being stolen. Additionally, 40% of package theft takes place in apartment complexes or communities. Porch piracy costs victims of package theft $106 on average each time, and 30% of them claim they never got any money back for their losses.
- Consumers will go to great lengths to ensure the safe delivery of their packages. A Shorr Packaging Corp. study from 2017 claims that survey, 53% of respondents said they changed their plans so they could be home to receive a package from a delivery person even though the delivery instructions didn’t require a signature delivery. Additionally, the survey found that 20% of people will leave work early if they anticipate a delivery.
- Some people avoid online shopping entirely out of fear of package theft. In addition, according to a survey by Shorr Packaging, 41% of respondents have shunned some online purchases out of concern for porch piracy or package theft. A popular strategy for completely avoiding the threat of porch pirates is Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPIS).
- Package theft peaks during the holiday season. It is undeniable that the holiday season brings a tremendous increase in deliveries and, consequently, a corresponding rise in package theft. In fact, apartment communities could see as many as 486 package deliveries per week during the holiday season6. Property managers should be aware of this because, on average, they receive 150 packages per week, but during the holidays, that number jumps to 270.
- Neighborhood watches and home security cameras don’t help. While it would be nice to think that having a neighborhood watch, a home security camera on your front porch, or a home security system would deter suspicious activity and holiday package theft, the sad truth is that this simply isn’t the case. Porch pirates may be partially deterred by a video doorbell camera, home security camera, or home security system, but these devices rarely give police leads about porch piracy to pursue when footage of suspicious activity is turned over to law enforcement.
Read More: Will Amazon Replace Stolen Packages?
FAQs
How Common is Package Stealing?
More than 3 in 4 Americans have been a victim of package theft in their lifetime. 79% of 15 points more Americans than last year have experienced package theft in the past 12 months!). In the previous 12 months, multiple packages were stolen from more than half of the victims of porch pirates.
Why Are People Stealing Packages?
Porch pirates likely hope that small packages contain expensive items that can be resold, such as phones, video game systems, sound systems, or computers. Some individuals may merely be driven to steal out of a desire to experience the rush of doing so.
