BALTIMORE — The holiday shopping season is dominated by online purchases with millions of packages shipping across the country.
Some will make it to their destination, but not to the person who ordered it because of porch pirates.
"Package theft, unfortunately, is a crime of opportunity so maybe just the more packages sitting outside the more opportunity there is for someone to come and steal them," said
Corie Wagner, Sr. Editor, research analyst at Centerfield.
Corie Wagner, the senior editor of industry research at Centerfield, which focuses on e-commerce, says their research shows about a third of Marylanders are highly concerned with package theft this holiday season.
"At least 1 in 4 American adults has had a package stolen at some point and millions of people have had things stolen from right out from of their homes or from the mailroom in their apartment buildings just in the last three months," said Wagner.
There are ways to help yourself avoid becoming a victim of package theft.
"Generally what you're going to want to do is reduce the amount of time that these items are outside or other people outside of your household may have access to them," said Wagner.
You can also have a neighbor grab the package, schedule it at time you know you'll be home, have a lock box, even putting up cameras and adding adequate lighting can help reduce your risk.
America's largest online retailer, Amazon, says the majority of their packages make it to their destination but does have guidance online of what to do if yours is taken by someone else.
"If you do find yourself being a victim of porch piracy we do recommend that everyone call police and report the issue and also reach out to our customer service team who will be able to assist as much as possible," said Sharyn Ghacham with Amazon.
With about 40% of the country's online shopping coming from amazon the company has created some features to cut down on package theft.
Packages can be ordered to a hidden drop off location on your property to hide it from people passing by.
You can also track your order in their map tracking feature.
"This allows customers to track their packages in real time that way they know when the package is going to get to their front door and they can collect it before there's an opportunity for theft," said Ghacham.
You can also have your items delivered to a drop off location.
If you're really concerned there's always the option to have it shipped to a store or buying the item in person.