What do thieves do with stolen packages?

Published Sat, Jan 11 2020 9:01 AM ESTUpdated Sat, Jan 11 2020 1:44 PM EST

Package theft is at an all-time high, with 1.7 million packages stolen or lost every day in the U.S., according to researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As Amazon drives more shopping online, Prime members say they receive on average 51 packages a year, and one in three Americans report having at least one package stolen, resulting in $25 million of lost goods and services every day, according to C+R Research.

In response, Amazon has installed secure locker locations in 900 U.S. cities and now offers Amazon Key, which allows customers to give remote access to delivery drivers so they can leave packages inside the home, garage or car trunk. UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service also offer a growing number of storefronts where packages can be picked up. Other solutions include video doorbells by companies like Google, start-ups experimenting with advanced package tracking, and lockboxes for individual homes.

Watch the video to see why package theft is on the rise and how Amazon and others are working to keep your packages safe.

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UPS has different policies for lost or stolen packages depending on whether your package was shipped in the US or internationally.

Domestic shipping: if you order something domestically and it's missing, you can’t file a missing package claim until 24 hours after it was supposed to be delivered.

International shipping: Claims for internationally purchased products are trickier. For these, you won’t be able to file a claim, and it could be difficult to get a refund or replacement.

All claims: Once you file a missing package claim, UPS will investigate. It’s difficult to find out if a package was lost or stolen. Regardless, all missing packages—for whatever reason—are handled this way. If you ordered the product, you should get in contact with the seller, since UPS will issue the refund to them.

Packages Are in Plain Sight
Package thieves or “porch pirates” will tell you that package theft is the perfect crime of opportunity. They can clearly see when a package is sitting on a porch or doorstep. When they are planning to steal packages, the visibility of the packages makes it easy for them to determine which homes to target. In other instances, the criminals were not planning on stealing a package but they could clearly see the box, carton, or envelope, so the opportunity presented itself – and they took it, literally.

Package Theft is Quick
No package thief wants to get caught. They will spend time determining if people are home, checking for neighbors, watching for cars, etc. But, once they decide to steal a particular package, they attempt to minimize the time they spend on the porch, doorstep, or sidewalk. They know that being seen leads to being caught, so they avoid anything that could slow them down.

Porches, Doors and Landings are Easy to Access
In many homes, both in the suburbs and in urban settings, it is only a few feet or a few yards from the street to the doorstep. Often, there are no gates, fences or barriers of any kind. Anything that makes packages harder to access is a deterrent to package thieves.

Packages are Easy to Carry and Hide
Thieves and porch pirates like the fact that once they steal the package it is easy to carry and easy to conceal. When they can grab a package and put it in a backpack, or even under their shirt, it makes them less likely to be caught. They don’t want to be seen carrying anything.

The Potential Value is Worth the Risk
What’s in the package? Actually, thieves don’t know. They are gambling on the fact that high-end items are often shipped to people’s homes. They perceive the potential reward is greater than the risk. When the risk factor is increased, like attempting to access a delivery box, they begin to gamble less often.

No Entry or Breaking In is Necessary
Some thieves will walk past an open garage or open car window without taking anything. Why is that? Many believe that the act of entering a space or breaking into a space will mean far harsher penalties if they get caught. To them, an unprotected package on a porch is not only an easy thing to steal, but a less risky thing to steal if they get caught.

An estimated 23 million Americans have had a package stolen. 11 million last year alone.
Three out of four package thefts occur when the homeowner is away, but one out of four happen when someone is home.
The average value of a stolen package is $140.
There are an average of 17 incidents per 1,000 people in metro areas.
Police make arrests in less than 10% of reported theft cases.

“Why me?” is likely exclaimed by many Americans who are a victim of package theft. It is a frustrating experience to have a parcel picked from the porch, leading to a series of steps to replace it or get the money back. And, a whole lot of questions like:

Do I report it?
Who do I call--the delivery company or the retailer?
Will I be able to get it replaced or get my money back?
Who stole it?

Ultimately, the question is: Who is responsible for package theft and what is being done about it? Although there isn’t a clear answer, taking a closer look at some of the key aspects might help.

Who is Responsible?

The key parties involved in getting a package to a consumer are the Seller, the Delivery Company, and the Buyer. Unfortunately, if the package cannot be retrieved, there are no clear laws that put the onus on any one party.

UPS Says Contact the Seller

Although UPS has a great way to track packages almost up to the minute, they do not take responsibility once it is delivered. It recommends that the consumer contact the sender of the package if it cannot be located. This help article on their site states:

DeliverySafe Protects Your Package and Food Deliveries from Theft, Weather, and Spoilage

If you still cannot locate the package, contact the sender of the package to initiate a trace process with UPS. The sender will then follow up with you on the progress of your shipment.

According to an article by wusa9.com, UPS clearly states it is not financially responsible:

"If a package has been successfully delivered, UPS would not be responsible for the reimbursement," Dawn Wotapka, a UPS spokesperson, said. "We suggest the consumer file a police report that can be submitted to the retailer for potential reimbursement."

USPS Says No Fault after Delivery

Here’s what Michael Hotovy, a spokesperson for USPS had to say in the same article:

"If loss, damage or missing contents occur to any parcel after delivery by the Postal Service, indemnity will not be paid. This includes insured mail — including Priority Mail Express and Priority Mail, Registered Mail, COD — and Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express."

Amazon is in a Slightly Different Boat

As a retailer, a middleman, and a delivery service, Amazon is in a slightly different category. It has more involved agreements with the original seller to cover items through its A-Z Guarantee. In fact, according to valuepenguin.com, Amazon covers most stolen packages under their guarantee.

This being said, Amazon certainly puts a lot of the onus on the buyer and seller. It’s recommendation is to contact the seller if it is a third party--which is most of the sellers on Amazon.

Burden is Primarily the Buyer

Take as a whole, the Buyer is largely put in the position to resolve the issue by reaching out to the Seller or making a claim with the Delivery Company. The Buyer is also responsible for reporting the crime to the local police.

So the trade-off question is: Is it worth it? This will likely depend on how expensive the item is and how many forms and follow-ups are involved.

By the Legislation & Police

The rise in porch piracy has triggered a legal movement to enact tougher laws and punishments for these offenses. In 2019, the state legislation in Texas increased the potential jail time for convicted package thieves to 10 years and raised the fines to the $4,000 to $10,000 range.

In December of the same year, a law in Michigan went into effect that has three steps. A first offense is still a misdemeanor, a repeat offense can lead to felony charges and a five year prison sentence, and it makes it a five-year felony to steal mail if the offending party has intent to commit fraud.

In 2020, during the pandemic when home deliveries and therefore porch piracy were both on the rise, Oklahoma passed HB 2777, a bill meant to combat package theft. While a first offense is still a misdemeanor under the Act, multiple offenders could see either or both two to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.

As Tulsa Police Department spokeswoman Officer Jeanne Pierce told local TV station KTUL. “It’s really good that we have that felony aspect of the law because we are seeing a lot of the same people committing this crime over and over again. So if we can take several package thefts and charge them, we can turn that into a felony and they can get a more severe punishment for the crimes they’re committing.”

Following in the footsteps of these states are California, Utah, New Jersey and Georgia, which all have had legislation introduced that would strengthen package theft laws in variety of ways. This includes making porch piracy a distinct crime (separate from petty theft), requiring jail time, allowing prosecutors to charge porch pirates with felonies or higher degree crimes, and increasing the fines for such offenses to $15,000.

By Delivery Companies

Although delivery companies are not taking legal responsibility, it certainly is a “black eye” for the industry if they can’t ensure packages will be received. Much of their response is to help with preventative measures, such as:

FedEx Delivery Manager. Arranges for packages to be delivered to a nearby location like Walgreens or a FedEx office.
Amazon Locker. Allows consumers to have parcels delivered to nearby Amazon lockers for pickup.
UPS Access Point Lockers. Provides self-service lockers for businesses to pick up delivered packages.

By Consumers

Many buyers who see the inconvenience and financial loss of package theft are beginning to take preventative measures. In this report by ValuePenguin and lendingtree, it shows that consumers are doing several things to combat porch piracy, including

Setting up tracking notifications
Installing a doorbell camera
Requiring a signature
Purchasing package insurance
Changing the delivery time and place

Lockable Delivery Boxes Emerging as the Best Option

Although home security measures like doorbell cameras can help and consumers certainly see that as a preventative measure, they do not actually stop porch pirates from stealing. As a result, an emerging trend is to buy a lockable package box. It’s kind of like a mailbox for your delivered goods. You’ll see a handful of these in the market, but the clear market leader in terms of quality and ease-of-use is DeliverySafe.