You are sitting at work when you get the notification that your package has been delivered. The anticipation builds as you can’t wait to get home to get your well awaited order. You pull in the driveway that evening but don’t see your package. You look around to see if maybe the delivery guy put it in a weird spot. You check the tracking number to make sure it was delivered to the right address. Everything looks correct as you start to get the sick feeling in your stomach that someone must have taken your package before you got home.

25.9 million Americans (8%) had a holiday package stolen from their front porch or doorstep in 2018 — up from 23.5 million porch thefts reported in 2015. The facts show that one in every three people are affected by package theft. 51% of all business is being done online and that number is on the rise with more people turning to online shopping.  

Here are a few simple tips and tricks to help prevent this from happening again.

      







 Reroute or Request signature- About 70% of all packages are stolen during the day while people are at work and away from home. You can reschedule to a delivery day that you will be home or if that is not an option requesting to have a signature at drop off will ensure some one is home before they will leave a package. After three attempts the post office will usually leave a note with a receipt and you can pick your package up at the local office.  Another option would be to have the package delivered to your work if your employer will allow it. You can also request a vacation hold on your mail if you will be gone for an extended period of time.

       Smart Lockers-  Companies like Amazon have the option to use their smart locker system. You will receive a notification that your package has been delivered to a smart locker location. You go to the kiosk like you would at a bank, put your pick up code in and one of the lockers will open with your package inside. The downside to this is you can only use this service if there is an available smart locker system in your area. Visit Amazon to see a list of their available smart lockers.

      Video surveillance-  The risk of having your face on some ones camera is enough to keep some thieves away and if angled correctly maybe help identify the get away vehicle. With the help of social media and local neighborhood pages, an image of the thief has been all some needed to identify the person responsible. With today’s technology you no longer have to run wires all through your house to get security cameras set up and most home security setups allow for ease of access with easy to use apps.
Take a look at Brinks Home Security systems for example. They offer a complete do it your self system with a fixed monthly rate. For those of you who value your time you wont have to waste half or even a full day just sitting at home while some one installs your system. With the ability to add an additional 119 smart home devices including additional cameras while being controlled from your phone, Google Home, Alexa, and various others it allows the system to be custom fit to your needs. They also offer a thirty day trial so if you aren't happy with your system just send it back! 

       Home lock box- Most thieves are looking for a quick in and out when it comes to package theft. A lockable delivery box may deter someone from your porch versus a porch with the package just lying there. There are several options for a home based lock box from a standard pad lock, a digital key code that you give your delivery guy, to a smart lock that reads the bar code on the package to allow delivery. If you are a frequent online shopper one of these options may be right for you. Factors to consider are picking an appropriate sized box based on your majority package size. Porch space or lack of space and whether or not you are able to anchor that box down to stop some one from just taking the whole thing. Then comes to question the appeal factor and if you can find a lock box that matches your overall décor.  

                One thing is for certain, package theft is not going to go away with more and more Americans turning to online shopping every day. Its important you take the steps necessary to help prevent from you becoming victim to this crime.