Protecting yourself from porch pirates during the holiday season is a wise decision

Fox Business

The SafeWise 2024 Package Theft Report found that $16 billion worth of packages were stolen in 2023.
He projected that there will be an uptick over the next few weeks given the surge in online orders from Cyber Monday.
For $10 a month, his company automatically reimburses a consumer’s debit or credit card within hours of the package being reported stolen.
For instance, Cyr said shoppers can ask a trusted neighbor to take in their packages or sign for them.
They can also update their shipping preferences to require a signature upon delivery, which will ensure that packages aren’t left unattended.

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Customers still face a serious issue with porch piracy. In 2023, package thefts totaling billions of dollars were committed.

According to SafeWise, a home safety and security consulting firm, 260,000 package theft incidents happen daily; however, considering the volume of packages that are stolen at once, it is anticipated that the daily total may exceed 325,000.

Package theft in 2023 totaled $16 billion, according to the SafeWise 2024 Package Theft Report.

As evidence of the severity of the issue, multiple reports claim that some of the thieves have even tracked packages containing AT&T iPhones using cellular data, snatching them as soon as they are delivered.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GROWING NUMBER OF SHOPPERS FACING FRAUD.

Tomasz Borys, vice president of marketing for Deep Sentinel, stated, “The volume of packages increases as the holiday shopping season picks up, and thieves, feeling the economic pressures of the season, are more motivated to seize the opportunity.”. Given the spike in online orders following Cyber Monday, he predicted that there would be an increase over the coming weeks.

Although the thieves may be caught on camera, James Moore, co-founder of Porch Pals, a package insurance company, claimed that cameras don’t fully address the issue, including the inconvenience of having to replace an item and receive reimbursement.

After a package is reported stolen, his company automatically reimburses a customer’s debit or credit card within hours for $10 per month.

Instead of having customers pick up their packages at home, some online brands are using technology to send packages to retailers for pickup, which experts say may help ease some of the problems.

When AI retail “catfishes” infiltrate the internet, shoppers are urged to think before clicking: “Too Good to be True.”.

For example, Via. With Delivery’s Buy Online Pickup Anywhere (BOPA) technology, online shoppers can choose from more than 36,000 pickup locations across the country, including well-known retail chains. Customers’ orders will be shipped and delivered by the business to the designated BOPA locations.

Additional strategies used by consumers to deter package theft are as follows.

Consumers should also make use of their neighbors by creating a package buddy system, says Stephanie Cyr, a personal safety expert and faculty lecturer of personal defense at San Francisco State University. For example, Cyr advised customers to ask a reliable neighbor to sign for or accept their packages. Customers may offer to do the same for them in exchange.

Additionally, Cyr suggested sending a package to a trusted neighbor or to a place of employment. In order to prevent packages from being left unattended, they can also change their shipping preferences to demand a signature upon delivery.

To avoid home deliveries, customers can also use services like Amazon package lockers or USPS. According to Cyr, consumers in some cities can also use services like Go Locker, City CoPilot, or gopost to safeguard their packages, though these might be more expensive.

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