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Columbia Business Monthly

One in Five Americans Have Been Victims of Porch Pirates Since Start of Covid-19

Jul 13, 2020 03:51PM ● By David Dykes

The stay-at-home orders that have been implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic have caused an uptick in package deliveries – and thieves have taken notice. 

According to a new survey from ValuePenguin.com by LendingTree - 18 percent of Americans have experienced package theft in the past four months, and the short-term thefts are part of a larger problem that consumers face throughout the course of a normal year. 

Among the key findings:

  • 1 in 5 Americans reported being victims of porch piracy amid the coronavirus crisis with 18 percent having had a package or delivery stolen since March. Also, 54 percent of consumers reported multiple package thefts in the past 12 months. And 33 percent knew someone who's had a package stolen during the quarantine.
  • Americans lost an average of $106 to porch piracy, with respondents reporting losses as high as $4,800 from a single package. About 30 percent of package theft victims did not get all of their money back, and less than half of victims said the thief was caught.
  • Americans 75 years and older lost the most money to porch piracy – an average of $210 in the past 12 months.
  • 40 percent of package thefts happened to residents of apartment buildings. Residents of duplex homes were also likely to experience theft: more than one-quarter of the package thefts during the pandemic happened to residents of duplex homes.
  • Despite the increase in package theft, 33 percent of consumers have taken no action to prevent package thefts within the past year. About 35 percent of all residents who did take precautions opted to receive tracking notifications – the most common preventative measure – while 20 percent installed doorbell cameras. Other measures, like requiring signatures upon delivery, and purchasing package delivery insurance, were not so common.

According to Andrew Hurst, a research analyst at ValuePenguin.com, "The quarantine has become the perfect opportunity for porch pirates, with home delivery orders increasing by nearly 40 percent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic." 

He adds, "It's worrying that a significant number of Americans are not taking the appropriate measures to protect themselves against future thefts."

ValuePenguin.com commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online survey of 1,020 Americans, with the sample base proportioned to represent the overall population. The survey was fielded in June 2020. 

To view the full report, go to: https://www.valuepenguin.com/nearly-one-in-five-consumers-experienced-package-theft-since-start-of-quarantine

ValuePenguin.com, part of LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE), is a personal finance website that conducts in-depth research and analysis to help guide consumers in financial decisions.