As porch piracy grows, how to keep your package deliveries safe this holiday season

John Yang:

With Christmas and the start of Hanukkah just days away, a lot of us are shopping online to have last minute gifts delivered to our homes. While it can be more convenient than going to a brick and mortar store, it also offers an easy target for thieves. Ali Rogan reports on this growing crime and how you can protect the items on your wish list.

Ali Rogin:

They're known as porch pirates or package thieves, and they're targeting neighborhoods across the country. They surveil homes, watch for delivery trucks, and then steal what gets left outside your front door. In 2023, they swiped nearly $16 billion worth of goods this way. We spoke to people who've experienced these porch pirates firsthand.

Jennifer Barron, Baltimore:

My first encounter with porch pirates was when I just moved into this neighborhood. It's an urban neighborhood and we all have stoops and we don't have front yards. So when delivery drivers come and just throw the packages on the stoop, it's very easy for thieves to sort of follow behind them and just pick things up as they go.

Augustina Elizabeth, Portland, Oregon:

I've had 10 packages in the last year tampered with or stolen completely, including my nephew's 18th birthday present.

Holly Reed, Los Gatos, California:

I get a text Friday morning from a neighbor and he said, holly, we found a package just packaging on the side of the road and it's addressed to you, but there's nothing in it. They take things that could not possibly be of use to them, and they just make life difficult for others. And I don't know how much they gain from it.

Ali Rogin:

Rebecca Edwards is a reporter at SafeWise.com, a research website that focuses on home and community security. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us. Stealing is not a new phenomenon, but these particular types of theft have grown in recent years in popularity. Why is that?

Rebecca Edwards, Reporter, SafeWise.com:

Yeah, we saw a huge boom in package theft around the time of all the lockdowns with the pandemic, because the main way that we could all get things was by having them delivered. And packaged theft is a crime of opportunity. So the more opportunity that's out there, the more chances there are that some bad actor is going to go ahead and swipe your stuff.

Ali Rogin:

And they seem to be also particularly brazen. I mean, they steal things at all times of day, as we heard, and also regardless of whether or not there's a security camera outside the home, as there often is. Why do they seem so reckless?

Rebecca Edwards:

One of the biggest reasons is that it's a low risk crime. It's not even classified in its own category in most states. And there are only 11 states that have laws on the books that specifically address package theft. So I think that people are brazen because they have been getting away with it and they think they're going to be able to continue getting away with it.

Ali Rogin:

You mentioned states that have laws. Do these types of thefts tend to happen in certain parts of the country or in certain types of neighborhoods and communities? What's the geographical breakdown?

Rebecca Edwards:

There's really nowhere that it's not possible that it's going to happen. However, there are certain neighborhoods and setups that are kind of custom made for package thieves. Planned neighborhoods with cul de sacs, places where homes are within 25 feet of the street and it's an easy grab. And get away are places that are most targeted.

Ali Rogin:

And what motivates them to steal things when they don't even know what's inside? There's a high likelihood that it's going to be something that's completely useless and meaningless to them.

Rebecca Edwards:

Yeah, that's one of the biggest mysteries about this crime because you don't know what you're getting unless you see a certain brand on the outside or maybe, you know, a sticker that says there's a lithium battery or something. You know, you might be getting something good that way.

But unfortunately, in the past few years, organized package theft has risen. And so we are seeing people that are working together and they're actually using the bill gotten games for resell online. They're setting up stores on Temu and even Amazon reselling stuff that they've stolen.

Ali Rogin:

Wow. Tell me a little bit more about that. I mean, how did that start and how long did it take for those kinds of operations to get set up?

Rebecca Edwards:

We really saw these starting to emerge within the past two years and we've been putting out warnings and giving people guidance for how to validate. If a website seems legitimate, a store on any of these, you know, quick shopping, you know, websites where you get really super great deals and really fast delivery. Read reviews, see if you can validate them in some way. Because the less you can find about these places, the more odds you have that they're not going to be legit.

Ali Rogin:

So that's consumer vigilance in terms of purchasing products that might have been stolen. What can consumers, what can homeowners or renters do to protect the packages that they're ordering?

Rebecca Edwards:

Yeah, the best thing you can do is anything that will keep those packages from being noticed and seen by package that might be going by. So the best thing is to sign for deliveries if you can. That means that it's going to go into your hands or somebody's hands. It's not just going to get dropped on your porch, have them delivered to a different location. Use a package locker, either a hub in your town or you can have your own private one right on your porch. And again, you would have to have the delivery people willing to do the code and drop your stuff in that package.

Unfortunately, these porch pirates make us have to go out of our way to avoid them. And it just doesn't seem fair. But that seems to be the way it goes when criminals are out there doing their business.

Ali Rogin:

Yeah. And then what about on the side of the companies doing these deliveries? What about Amazon, UPS, FedEx, the post office? Is there anything that they can do to help protect packages against theft?

Rebecca Edwards:

Amazon and UPS have been the most proactive trying to come up with ways to help protect the packages. One of the biggest things that Amazon has done is you can give them a code to your garage and have a delivery put right into your garage. They've done Amazon Key in the past. They also have a program where you can have packages delivered to the trunk of your car.

And UPS has also upped their vigilance with photographing where they're leaving packages, being willing to take directions from customers about better, more hidden places to drop packages, and also using GPS tracking.

Ali Rogin:

Really interesting stuff. Rebecca Edwards, reporter at SafeWise.com. Thank you so much for your expertise on this.

Rebecca Edwards:

Thank you.