SafeWise looked at larceny-theft rates and Google Trends data to identify the most and least risky places for package theft. They compared year-round data with incidents during the holiday season to identify the best and worst metro areas for porch piracy.
- Austin
- Salt Lake City
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale
- Atlanta
- Raleigh-Durham
- Seattle-Tacoma
- Houston
- Dallas-Fort Worth
- Tampa-St. Petersburg
- Boston
How to Prevent Porch Theft
Here are some tools and best practices to protect your Black Friday purchases and make those porch pirates walk the plank:
- Use package delivery tracking
- Add insurance and require a signature for delivery
- Use a package locker (Amazon Lockers, PO Box)
- Install security cameras or a doorbell camera
- Send your goodies to the office or pick them up in person (UPS, FedEx)
What to Do If a Package Is Stolen
Precautions are a must, but sometimes packages get purloined anyway. If you’re a victim of package theft, here are some things you can do to minimize the damage:
- Contact the carrier and the retailer
- File a report with insurance, police, the carrier, etc.
- Alert your credit card company
- Check your video footage
- Check your neighbor’s video footage