With more people ordering online, porch pirates are having a field day. It’s like hitting the lottery for them since it is so easy to just walk up to a house and take a package away. It doesn’t even matter if they don’t know what’s in it. They can sell it and make money if they don’t want to keep it for themselves.
There are some ways to fight back and prevent them from taking what’s yours. The good news is that it doesn’t take much effort, cost a lot of money or need to get the police involved.
In this article, I will go over several ways you can protect yourself from these brazen thieves.
1 – Install a security or doorbell camera
Things have changed quite a bit in the technology to protect your home. Years ago a camera installed on your porch would have recorded anything happening to be played later. This might work to help track down a thief after the fact, but it couldn’t prevent the theft from happening.
Now, you can see when somebody approaches the door as the camera will activate when it senses motion. Then it alerts you on your phone or other device so you can see what is happening live.
Ring 2017 March Shoot
If it is the Amazon delivery, then you know you need to get there yourself before the thieves arrive, or have somebody else pick the package up. If you don’t make it in time, then you can be alerted to the theft as it’s happening and call the police right away. They will be apprehended a lot faster when you call them as the theft is taking place.
These sound expensive, but you can buy them for much less than you think. Check the Vivint price to see the going rate.
2 – Use a smart lock
A smart lock combined with the doorbell camera is a good way to get your package into the house quickly.
You can lock and unlock your door remotely so if you see that the Amazon delivery person has arrived by way of the doorbell camera, then you can unlock the door so they can put it in the house. Then lock it back up when you see them walk away.
It does take a bit of trust on your part, but people that know they are being watched that closely are not likely to rob you.
3 – Deliver to work
As long as it is allowed, you can have your packages delivered to work. This is convenient on a lot of levels.
First, you know that your package has arrived and nobody is going to steal it from your porch. Secondly, you don’t have to worry about them not delivering the package if there is nobody there to sign. Third, you can also check the package right away to make sure you got the correct item and that it arrived undamaged.
4 – Get an Amazon locker
There are options to have a special pick up location complete with a box for you to pick your package up when it is convenient for you. Similar to a PO box, it is strictly for deliveries from ecommerce stores like Amazon so you don’t have to leave a package sitting where it can be stolen.
The downside is that you have to pay for it, but you are paying for peace of mind and that should be worth something in itself. The other nice thing about the locker is that it is also a drop off in case of a return so you don’t have to be home for them to come and pick it up from you.