Be aware of porch pirates and mail theft this holiday season

The holidays are days just away, but there are presents still being delivered at residents’ doorsteps. The Duluth Police Department Northland residents should be on the lookout for porch pirates and mail theft this holiday season.

One out of every seven people in Minnesota lose at least one package to porch pirates and mail theft per year. Local authorities say the holiday season is when porch pirates are most active. Jory Bowen, a Duluth resident, said she had some mail and packages stolen last week.

“One package was a lot of medications they weren’t cheap. So I have those reordered, but of course you have to pay a deductible a second time,” Bowen said. “They might send you three months of medication at one time, but when something like this happens then you’ll only get your medications replaced one month. I was waiting for some fleece lined leggings to arrive to try to keep me warmer, because I have a little heat right now in my home. And that package also was taken.”

Porch pirates stole $12 billion in packages in the past year, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigators. As many as 58 million Americans have become victims of porch pirates in the last 12 months.

Crysta Reeves, the owner of Pack and Mail says some of their customers have experienced the mail theft recently. Reeves says one of the ways you can keep your mail secured are putting your mail on hold. Another possible solution is to use a package receiving service to pick up any deliveries at the post office.

“Let’s say you live in an apartment, or you’re not sure if you’re gonna be home, you don’t want to leave those packages out. We do offer package receiving,” Reeves said. “A lot of people have had packages go missing.”

The Duluth Police Department advises folks to track their packages and mail to see when they will be delivered. Also it’s recommended to use secure websites if you order any items while shopping online.