If you’ve ever had a package delivered to your door, you could be a target for porch pirates. Across the country, folks have fallen victim to package thieves. Below we answer common questions about porch piracy, how to stop it, and what to do if your package gets swiped — using fresh insights from the 2025 SafeWise Package Theft Report.
Porch Pirates Stole $15 Billion in 2025 — Is Your Home Safe?
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4 min read
Reviewed ByAlina BradfordRebecca is a safety expert and lead author of the SafeWise Package Theft Report, helping families outsmart porch pirates.
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- 104 million packages stolen in the past 12 months (~250,000 per day).
- $15B consumer loss; plus $22B in retailer refunds/replacements = $37B total impact.
- $143 is the average value of a stolen package.
- First year-over-year decline in estimated incidents since we began tracking — yet losses and frustration remain high.
👉 Read the full report (methodology, state laws, worst metros & states, trends, and prevention)
Video: About Porch Pirates — Who's Stealing Your Packages?
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How SafeWise defines porch piracy
SafeWise recognizes package theft as a growing form of larceny. We follow the American Journal of Criminal Justice definition: the taking of a delivered or outgoing package from outside a home or business, with intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of it.
2. How common are porch pirates in 2025?
Our latest analysis estimates over 104 million packages stolen nationwide in the last year — roughly a quarter of a million thefts every day. While that’s a 13% decline from 2023–2024 estimates, the average value per stolen package rose to ~$143, and the overall toll remains massive ($15B lost by consumers alone).
Bottom line: Fewer multi-package thefts, more single-package incidents—but still millions of victims and high dollar losses.
Direct from our expert
We asked our academic research and criminology expert, Dr. Ben Stickle, about how common package theft is. He said that the magic number seems to land between 30% and 50% of people who've lost a package to porch pirates. That lines up with our surveys of ore than 7,500 people, which revealed that about 1 in 3 Americans has had a package stolen at some point in their lifetime.
“Results like these make me believe that about 30% to 50% of individuals who receive a package at home have had their packages stolen at least once.”
Dr. Ben Stickle
Criminologist & National Expert on Package Theft
Dr. Ben Stickle is a SafeWise adviser and the leading expert on package theft and other emerging crimes. He's a criminal justice professor, a former police officer, and a trusted advisor for SafeWise. Since 2020, Dr. Stickle has helped SafeWise delve into the crime of package theft, analyze and refine its data and research, and identify porch pirate behaviors, enabling SafeWise to offer the most effective strategies to help people protect their deliveries.
Dr. Stickle’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Good Morning America, NBC News, and other prominent media and academic outlets. Most recently, he worked with the USPS Office of the Inspector General on a white paper about package theft, sharing SafeWise data to help paint the national picture of this crime of opportunity.
Safewise, Katie McEntire
3. Do porch pirates ever get caught?
Sometimes — but it’s relatively rare. Many victims prioritize refunds or replacements over pursuing arrests. In our 2025 survey data, 12% reported the crime to law enforcement, and even fewer victims (<7%) reported recovering stolen items after an arrest. Prevention is far more effective than after-the-fact remedies.
WSPA7 News, SafeWise.com, Katie McEntire
4. Why do porch pirates steal?
Porch piracy is largely a crime of opportunity:
- Packages are visible from the street and easy to grab quickly.
- Delivery volume is high; thieves can sweep neighborhoods fast.
- The perceived risk is low, especially when packages sit unattended.
Criminology insights (Dr. Ben Stickle’s findings) show risk increases when:
- Packages are within 25 feet of the road.
- Boxes are clearly visible from the street (brand logos draw attention).
- Homes appear unoccupied or predictable (lights, parked cars, blinds unchanged).
5. How can you stop a porch pirate? (What actually helps)
SimpliSafe's Chief Product Officer, Hooman Shahidi shared his insights to help prevent package theft. It starts with shrinking the opportunity window and add proactive deterrents:
Plan & track
- Turn on delivery notifications and grab packages quickly.
- Use carrier windows or reschedule when you’ll be home.
Control the drop
- Require a signature for valuable items (works best when truly enforced).
- Choose secure options: delivery lockers, carrier hold-for-pickup, in-garage/in-home delivery (where available).
- Provide clear instructions to leave parcels out of street view.
Deter & disrupt (not just record)
- Keep entries well-lit and uncluttered (visibility matters).
- Use video doorbells/outdoor cameras — and consider proactive monitoring that can intervene (lights, sirens, two-way audio) before a theft happens.
Lean on neighbors
- Ask a trusted neighbor to collect packages if you’re away.
- Share delivery schedules and recent incidents in neighborhood groups.
Direct from our expert
"While video doorbells and outdoor cameras are excellent tools for collecting evidence after a crime has occurred, the most effective strategy is to invest in a security system that offers proactive professional monitoring. Modern home security systems do far more than sound alarms. While it might sound like science fiction, recent advancements in AI help home security companies protect the perimeter of your home to stop crime before it happens."
—Hooman Shahidi, Chief Product Officer, SimpliSafe
Hooman Shahidi
Chief Product Officer, SimpliSafe
Hooman Shahidi is the Chief Product Officer at SimpliSafe, where he leads the company’s product strategy and innovation, and development to deliver cutting-edge home security solutions. Since joining SimpliSafe in 2022, Hooman has driven advancements across the company’s product portfolio, monitoring services, and technology platforms — helping shape the future of how people protect their homes.
Before SimpliSafe, Hooman spent nearly seven years at iRobot, where he led product management for the company’s consumer robotics division and championed innovations that reached millions of households. He also spent two decades at Procter & Gamble in both R&D and Brand Management, where he helped launch groundbreaking products like Crest Whitestrips and led global brand strategies for Gillette.
Hooman holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.
6. What do I do if my package is stolen?
1. Document & report
- Save camera clips if available.
- Report to police (helps identify local patterns), and consider neighborhood apps to alert others.
2. Contact the seller
- Many retailers will refund or replace — policies vary, and some are getting stricter, so ask about your options.
3. Contact the carrier
- Update delivery instructions for next time; ask about signature/locker options.
4. Prepare for the future
- Turn on tracking, rethink your drop location, and add deterrents that can actively interrupt a theft.
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