Al Diaz of Rialto, California watched packages his father ordered get ripped off minutes after they have been delivered. This grinch of a porch pirate drove away with over $1,000 price of items in seconds. A pair of pajamas he had bought for his canine and himself, in addition to three Movado watches, stated to be price a mixed $1,000, have been all stolen from his porch in plain sight.

Because of on-line procuring and supply providers, vacation procuring has by no means been simpler.

Fairly than cope with the hustle and bustle of procuring malls and shops, folks are actually in a position to carry out all of their vacation procuring with one click on from the consolation of their very own properties.

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Sadly, the items do not all the time make it to their supposed recipients, as throughout the nation, packages proceed to mysteriously disappear from doorsteps and patios.

No, it is not the devilish Grinch making an attempt to steal Christmas, however quite what has come to be referred to as “porch pirates.”

Near 290 Million packages have been stolen from porches in 2021.

In accordance with a current research by analysis firm Safewise, 260 million packages, collectively price an estimated $19.5 billion have already been stolen from porches throughout the nation within the final 12 months.

This can be a statistic that’s little doubt solely going to develop as the vacation season approaches.

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Armed and harmful

Issues obtained much more scary in Antioch, Tennessee, the place three porch pirates have been noticed following a FedEx supply truck and stealing the packages being delivered.

What’s extra, these males have been noticed carrying loaded weapons.

Fortunately, after the black Dodge Charger they have been driving was reported, the three culprits have been caught, arrested and charged.

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The police are looking out.

With stories of stolen packages persevering with to develop, native authorities are doing their greatest to maintain a watch out for porch pirates.

The police division of Van Alstyne, Texas even got here up with a surefire means of guaranteeing packages make it to their supposed recipients this vacation season.

By permitting residents to have their packages delivered to the police station.

With the station being open 24 hours a day, seven days every week, Van Alstyne residents are permitted to indicate up any time to choose up their presents, solely needing to indicate a sound type of ID.

Ought to your native police division not offer this service, nevertheless, or when you’d quite not should make the trek to the police station to choose up your presents, worry not.

As beforehand reported on a narrative at CyberGuy.com, there are 8 easy strategies to keep away from changing into the sufferer of native porch pirates.

Finest methods to keep away from porch pirate package deal theft

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Put money into a video doorbell

Putting in a video doorbell, corresponding to WYZE, might doubtlessly cease a porch pirate lifeless of their tracks.

Even when it would not deter them from thievery, you’ll nonetheless get an alert that somebody has approached your entrance porch door, whether or not they ring the doorbell or not, catching them red-handed, with their face absolutely seen.

You may even go a step additional and set up cameras on bushes round your driveway, presumably getting a transparent shot of a license plate. Whereas this would possibly not assure you may get again your stolen merchandise, it would enormously assist your native police monitor down the culprits.

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Decide A Supply Date

Most on-line retailers will let you schedule a supply date, supplying you with a day and tough wind of time when the package deal will arrive. This lets you be prepared and ready for its arrival and safely stash your presents away behind locked doorways.

Amazon, UPS and FedEx are additionally in a position to provide you with a warning when you’ve acquired a supply.

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Get To Know Your Supply Drivers

Subsequent time you see your mail provider arrive at your private home, introduce your self, and perhaps ask if he can place your packages in a much less conspicuous place than the entrance porch.

Porch pirates all however solely snatch packages from entrance porches, the place it is easy for them to seize them and even simpler to run away. Having your packages positioned on the again door or one other extra stealth location is sure to maintain them safer.

In choose areas, Amazon even presents a service referred to as Amazon Key, the place with the acquisition of a wise storage controller corresponding to myQ, Amazon supply drivers can depart your packages securely in your storage.

Relaxation assured, drivers are solely granted entry to your storage for the one-time supply.

Lock bins may help preserve your packages protected.
(Architectural Mailboxes)

Lock Bins

One other means to make sure your packages will probably be securely ready for you once you get house is to spend money on safe supply bins, corresponding to The Elephantrunk Parcel Drop.

Deliveries are positioned within the prime of the field, then lowered right into a locked chamber solely accessible by the proprietor.

Shock-absorbing cushions in addition to water resistant coating guarantee your gadgets will probably be protected from thieves and the weather alike.

In fact, when you’d quite not spend money on a lock field of your personal, and do not thoughts making the journey, you’ll be able to all the time have your packages delivered to an Amazon locker.

As soon as your package deal has arrived, you’ll obtain a notification and a supply.

Keep alert for pirates within the neighborhood

By signing up for a neighborhood watch app corresponding to Neighbors or Nextdoor, you’ll be able to preserve monitor of any stolen packages in your neighborhood, the place customers additionally submit any photos of porch pirates they may have caught on their doorbell cameras.

One factor to remember must you occur to identify a porch pirate stealing a package deal, attempt to keep away from “being the hero”.

As a lot as we wish to leap into motion and cease them, one by no means is aware of simply how harmful these porch pirates is perhaps, so greatest to name the police or notify one other neighbor earlier than taking issues into your personal fingers.

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