INDIANAPOLIS — Porch pirates: they are the modern-day Grinches who stole Christmas and some ordinary days, too.
A survey conducted by the security product review website Security.org found that one in four American adults have had a package stolen at some point in their lives.
Senior industry analyst Corie Colliton said the group conducted a package theft survey because police do not always keep that specific data.
"We surveyed over 11,000 adults from all 50 states in fact to get a wide view of the issue," Colliton said.
While Kentucky holds the top spot for the state with the most recent package thefts, Indiana is the state with the priciest packages stolen.
The median value: $250.
"We calculated that it's around $12 billion of packages that are stolen in just a one-year period," she said.
So, how do we get those numbers down?
Colliton said this type of crime is a crime of opportunity. If you can reduce the opportunity that thieves may have to steal something off of your porch, then your chances are certainly less.
One option: getting packages delivered to your workplace.
Another option is selecting the in-store pickup instead of getting it shipped to your home. Retailers including Verizon, Home Depot, and Amazon also offer lockers.
Finally, get some neighbors' numbers and ask one of them to swing by your house if you see something is delivered.
If your package is stolen, a replacement is not guaranteed if the shipping company can prove the delivery with a photo.
"There just becomes a point where it's too expensive to just blanket replace every single package that might be stolen," Colliton said.
She said that victims should report their stolen items to authorities. That way, if they notice a theft trend, they may patrol that area more often.