# Have You Had a Package Stolen?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 18, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347 "2018-12-18T22:50:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/1 "2018-12-18T22:50:22Z")
Once again, I am unable to figure out how to put in a poll.
But there is a lot of discussion around the web right now about people having packages stolen from the front of their house. How common is that? Has it happened to you?
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### Author:  [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/2 "2018-12-18T22:56:25Z")
I order a lot of stuff. I mean A LOT. I’ve had a few shipments that never made it to me. Whether they were stolen or lost in transit, I’ll never know. (Some did say “delivered” according to the deliverers website.) But the percentage of my total orders that do not get to me is small.
So I guess it happens, but not a lot.
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/3 "2018-12-18T23:10:53Z")
Many order, no losses.
We have cameras in the complex.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/4 "2018-12-18T23:11:30Z")
I live in a “safe” area - UPS and FEDEX will leave packages on my porch and they’ve never been touched. I was especially surprised when I’d ordered a monitor and it was delivered in its brightly colored box spelling out exactly what it was, and left on the doorstep.
My sister used to live in Baltimore City in a row house. Anything left on a front stoop would disappear in short order.
As in real estate, it’s location, location, location.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/5 "2018-12-18T23:19:02Z")
Since I started my online resale business, I’ve had two packages stolen from my building’s outgoing mailbox, and both items made their way back to me when the thief opened the envelope, didn’t like what they found inside, and in one case dumped it on my doorstep, and in the other in the parking lot. One was a vintage children’s book, and the other was a sewing pattern. I have no idea who may have done it; chances are, it was someone who doesn’t live here, and I did report both thefts to the Post Office even though I got the items back. It’s still a Federal crime to tamper with mail.
I’ve never had a package of something I ordered stolen, no matter where I lived.
p.s. Along with one of those semi-thefts, I found an open envelope from the state Medicaid office; I’m assuming they were looking for Social Security numbers but didn’t find any. I never told that person what happened; I just put the paperwork in another envelope, addressed it, and sent it off. It was worth 49 cents to me to do this for them.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/6 "2018-12-18T23:19:23Z")
I live in what’s usually considered a well-to-do neighborhood in Chicago. It’s pretty safe for people, but not for packages. I’ve had several not show up, but I don’t really know if they were stolen or lost in transit. Whenever possible now, I use the Amazon Locker a few blocks away.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/7 "2018-12-18T23:21:14Z")
Except in inner city locations I expect the problem is more the package drivers delivering to the wrong place. This happened to me a couple years ago: I received notice I received a package, immediately went outside to look for it and it wasn’t there. I walked up and down the block and found it 3 houses away.
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### Author:  [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/8 "2018-12-18T23:21:21Z")
I know of one. Fedex pkg that had a weatherization kit inside.
A second Xmas pkg mysteriously did not get delivered. I wonder now if it did and we missed it.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/9 "2018-12-18T23:35:34Z")
Never happened to me. But my son (who lives in an upscale part of Redmond, WA) had at least one stolen. At least the driver claimed he delivered it. My daughter makes biscotti every December and mails a box to friends and relatives and one year my son didn’t get his.
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/10 "2018-12-18T23:44:40Z")
Here’s a guy who came up with an [impressive high-tech response to package thieves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxhDk-hwuo).
TL;DW: Package contains 4 web-linked cameras, flings glitter and emits a foul smell.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/11 "2018-12-18T23:53:39Z")
> [@Xema](#):
>
> Here’s a guy who came up with an [impressive high-tech response to package thieves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxhDk-hwuo).
>
> TL;DW: Package contains 4 web-linked cameras, flings glitter and emits a foul smell.
This is sort of what provoked my question. How many days did the thing wait out there before it was stolen?
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### Author:  [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/12 "2018-12-18T23:56:17Z")
I sent a package to my sister in LA two weeks ago that was stolen from her front door. We know it was stolen, because another tenant at the apt also had a package go missing that was delivered the same day.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/13 "2018-12-18T23:56:52Z")
It’s allover the news. I suspect because a bunch of people now have security cameras more thefts are getting shown on the news. And way more people are doing all their shopping online.
Personally I haven’t lost a package. My mail box is a long way from my front door ( I mean driving distance). UPS and FedEx do not deliver to my house. USPS leaves a note in my box if I have a package and when to come to the P.O. to pick it up. Which is a hassle because it’s 30+ miles from me.
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### Author:  [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/14 "2018-12-19T00:07:08Z")
Not so far. We live in a moderately obscure cul-de-sac; the entrance looks like another driveway in a row of houses. Also, we’re at the end, with the front door obscured by a large hedge; you can’t see the door from the street. I have stuff left at the door whenever possible, though some shippers require a signature.
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### Author:  [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/15 "2018-12-19T00:25:11Z")
> [@Xema](#):
>
> Here’s a guy who came up with an [impressive high-tech response to package thieves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoxhDk-hwuo).
>
> TL;DW: Package contains 4 web-linked cameras, flings glitter and emits a foul smell.
Oh my, I laughed myself silly over this video. Thanks for sharing; I needed this in my life.
Also: I need an entire Netflix show based on this. I would binge watch the HECK out of Package Thieves & Glitter Bombs.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/16 "2018-12-19T00:29:18Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#):
>
> Once again, I am unable to figure out how to put in a poll.
Checkbox all the way at the bottom of the page after you click on New Thread. Thread must be started in IMHO.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/17 "2018-12-19T00:30:35Z")
At my old apartment, about 10% of packages would get stolen. I started having them delivered directly to the apartment office or to a family member’s house instead.
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/18 "2018-12-19T02:19:08Z")
Not on my block, but it is a problem in some neighborhoods in DC.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/19 "2018-12-19T03:52:24Z")
According to a news report I saw not long ago, thieves will follow UPS trucks and take stuff left on porches.
As for mis-deliveries, I once had a couple of large boxes left on my porch. I opened them, hoping to find an invoice, but no luck. The address label was in tatters, but I was able to read part of a name. From the online property records, I figured they belonged to a neighbor down the block, and when I took them there, I saw several boxes there already. So I left a note explaining what I’d done. Never did hear from them…
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### Author:  [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2018, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-had-a-package-stolen/826347/20 "2018-12-19T05:16:00Z")
I once received a DHL delivery of a phone and I noticed when the driver handed me the box, it seemed super light. Sure enough, I turned the box over in front of the delivery guy and the bottom had been cut and phone taken out. I filed a claim and got a replacement.
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