250,000 packages stolen a day, study finds, amid push for stiffer penalties

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Atlanta nonmigratory Tonya Sheppard says it happened to her successful the mediate of the time past period — a thief stole her packages connected a engaged street. Security footage shows the alleged "porch pirate" question unsuspectingly to the camera, look to spot if the seashore is wide and past marque disconnected with her boxes.

"I deliberation you person to bid online successful this time and time, but I bash effort to beryllium much mindful astir erstwhile things are coming," Sheppard told CBS News.

Sheppard's packages were among the astir 250,000 that are stolen nationwide each day, according to information probe institution SafeWise. A study conducted by the steadfast estimated the full worth of items mislaid successful the past twelvemonth unsocial astatine astir $15 billion.

As online vacation buying ramps up, seeing thieves instrumentality disconnected with goods is on the rise and has adjacent prompted lawmakers to mull implicit caller authorities for stiffer penalties. New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer introduced the Porch Pirates Act, which would marque stealing immoderate bundle a national transgression and would transportation fines of up to $250,000 and up to 10 years successful prison.

"Right now, lone the U.S. Mail, message handled by the USPS, is federally protected," Gottheimer said astatine a quality league earlier this month. "So stealing a USPS bundle has peculiarly harsh penalties, penalties that packages delivered by UPS, Amazon, FedEx oregon DHL don't have."

Residents tin besides instrumentality steps to thwart bundle thieves themselves, said Nick B. Thomas, main selling serviceman of Ackerman Security Systems.

"We instrumentality with the 3 Ds: deter, observe and deny," Thomas said. "On the porch, if you person immoderate benignant of airy associated with your camera, they're not going to trial it. You privation the burglar to say, 'Uh-uh, I ain't doing that.'"

Sheppard said that portion what she mislaid tin beryllium replaced, she's being much vigilant astir what she buys and erstwhile it arrives.

"I deliberation of radical who couldn't spend to re-buy packages, you cognize what I mean? Or what if you had a kid and it was that 1 contiguous and that's what got taken disconnected of your porch," Sheppard said.