‘Porch pirates’ are finding new ways to steal packages. Here’s how to stop them:
Some of the modern-day thieves known as porch pirates who swipe packages from front doors, side doors, front steps and patios use the tried-and-true method of randomly cruising neighborhoods in search of unattended shipping boxes and delivery pouches.
But some of the sneakier ones resort to what is perhaps a more efficient technique: Following delivery trucks and waiting for UPS, FedEX or Amazon drivers to make their drop-offs and then seizing their ill-gotten booty.
Such bold endeavors — sometimes so swift that the bandits strike before people who are even home already can make it to their doors to collect the packages — make thwarting the lurking larcenists difficult.
“More often than not, we find that they’re actually just following the (delivery) trucks around,” Houston County sheriff’s Lt. Ron Brainard recently told The Telegraph. “The (delivery) driver stops at a certain address and he runs the package up there and the thief sees where the package went ... and he gives the driver a minute or two to get out of the area, scopes that there’s no one around and he runs up and grabs the package.”
Brainard said that for the most part the porch pirates aren’t out to get the packages for themselves, but rather to sell them, often in online marketplaces.
“And of course the buyers, they have no idea,” he said. “We all kind of go off the faith that this person is selling something that belonged to them, and we’re all looking for the deal.”
Bibb County sheriff’s investigator Malcolm Bryant said that when he has talked to porch-theft suspects, they tend to say they’re “looking for what they see as easy opportunities and ways of making quick money. ... They say they saw an opportunity and they took it.”
On the often off chance that the culprits are caught, video cameras or keen-eyed, quick-thinking neighbors are the reason why.
Short of that, odds are that the goods-grabbers get away undetected are in their favor.
But there are, according to Brainard and Bryant, some smart steps consumers can take to at least make things more difficult for thieves.
- Most thefts involving stolen packages happen when people are at work. If possible, have packages delivered there.
- Some delivery services allow package recipients to schedule deliveries for when they will be at home.
- If possible, arrange so that a package, if it is something valuable, must be signed for instead of just dropped off.
- If you’re expecting a package, ask a neighbor to keep an eye out. Some services will text or email customers when a package is dropped off. Neighbors or friends who may live nearby can be asked to pick up the packages.
Amazon Hub Locker
If you’re using Amazon to shop online, the company offers a service called Amazon Hub Locker. When checking out, instead of selecting your own address as the shipping location, you can select a nearby locker (if one is available), where your package will be delivered instead. You can then go pick up your package at the “secure, self-service” kiosk using a code provided at checkout.
There are nine such lockers in Macon, typically open Monday through Saturday from late morning to 6 or 7 p.m. You have three days to pick up your package from a locker. Lockers can also be used as drop-off locations for returns.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM.