Package theft is a phenomenon that has entered the lexicon in the past few years. Contactless delivery is a new term we learned in 2020, too. With many people at work or school or otherwise out of the home during the day, deliveries still need to take place even if you’re not at home.
How to prevent package theft is an increasingly important subject given the prevalence of packages left at the front door by delivery companies while people aren’t home. Amazingly, porch piracy has increased even with people at home as thieves become more brazen.
A study by Comcast’s home security service Xfinity Home suggests that up to 30% of Americans have experienced porch piracy although other reports state that it may be as high as 40%. National statistics on package theft are not (yet) being compiled so we largely have anecdotal evidence and funny videos of thieves getting busted for trying to steal packages.
Package Theft And COVID
While 2020 was a crazy year due to COVID and many people were either working from home, doing school from home or were out of work and at home, you might think package theft was one crime that decreased.
You would be wrong.
2020 began with a record and growing numbers of package theft claims. Because it’s a relatively new phenomenon that isn’t centrally tracked, it’s difficult to get a real sense of how bad porch piracy is. So one organization decided to research the next best thing:
US Packaging and Wrapping LLC researched online search volumes for various terms like Amazon package stolen, package stolen, UPS package stolen, etc and compared research across the country. What they found was that between April and June (various lockdowns had started back in March) package theft online searches jumped significantly over the same months in 2019. People are searching as to what to do when they experience package theft far more frequently in 2020 than in 2019 when COVID-19 wasn’t even a buzzword any of us were aware about.
Full results from this eye-opening research are available on the US Packaging and Wrapping LLC
website.
Worst States For Porch Piracy
Since we have no actual package theft statistics to refer to, the next best thing is to look at which states’ residents search the most online for various stolen package searches and compare it to the population size.
The table below shows the Top 10 states and the average number of stolen package online searches per 100,000 people. One would assume this would indicate which states search the most as to what to do when package theft occurs. Based on this criteria the worst states for package theft are:
| State | Searches Per 100,000 People |
| Wyoming | 8.64 |
| New York | 8.64 |
| Massachusetts | 8.49 |
| Vermont | 8.01 |
| Rhode Island | 7.55 |
| California | 7.52 |
| Delaware | 7.19 |
| Illinois | 7.18 |
| Alaska | 6.83 |
| Maryland | 6.78 |
And in case you think this is a one-off year, you can compare these 2020 results to 2019 because US Packaging and Wrapping LLC tabulated those, too.
Stop Package Theft
There are a number of steps you can take and options to choose from to ensure your package is delivered safely when you’re not home.
Arrange Delivery With A Trusted Neighbor: I’ve worked from home for years so I’m typically home during the day except when picking up my kids from school or food shopping. I often sign for packages for my neighbors too. I know that I have at least 2 neighbors who can (and have) signed for packages for me, too.
Arrange for alternative delivery options: Deliver the parcel to a friend or relative who lives in town. Delivery the package to your office or place of business. Check if the Ship to Store option is available for you to then pick up from that location. If you’re shipping with a company that offers delivery to a local automated pick up box, use that option.
Use the sign for delivery option: Sometimes delivery firms will offer this option so they may try to deliver your package several times for you or a neighbor to sign for your package instead. It may cost a bit more but the signature ensures someone is physically receiving the delivery.
Try to plan delivery: Do you live in an area where couriers deliver 7 days per week? And you’re typically home on certain days (ie. weekends)? Order your package so that delivery may fall on a day when you’re guaranteed to be home. These days, Prime and other delivery options guarantee or at least specify delivery dates so you order your package for a delivery to coincide with your schedule. I’ve ordered a product on one day knowing that the delivery will be on a day that I’m guaranteed to be home. May not work 100% of the time but in my experience, it has worked.
Ship expedited: If same day or evening service is available and you know you’ll be home, you can often order in the morning and get the package that night when you’re home.
Get a security box: Drop boxes for deliveries are becoming more common. Your delivery company has access to it but no one else does other than you so the package isn’t left on the doorstop where everyone can see it.
Get a security camera: This probably seems obvious and doesn’t always work if the thief knows how to hide their appearance but it may at least offer a clue as to who stole your package. If they see the camera or there is a sign alerting them to a camera once they get to your front door, they may turn around and leave. Also, if you get a camera with an app, you can monitor it live from your cellphone.
Package Thief Trap
Here’s a famous viral video that made the rounds in 2018 when an engineer got tired of having his packages stolen and came up with a very high tech way to get some revenge.