As boxes of holiday gifts pile up on your stoop, beware: Porch pirates continue to strike in Philadelphia.
Reports of package theft from January through November of this year are up 6% compared to last year, according to The Inquirer’s analysis of Philadelphia Police Department data.
And if the past two years are any indication, porch pirates will be particularly active this month.
In neighborhoods across the city, residents have shared their frustration over repeated thefts. Katie Byrne said she’s had more a dozen packages swiped from out front of her Fishtown home. Often, she said, “before I even get the notification it got delivered.” This year, she said she and a neighbor have teamed up to grab each other’s packages when the other isn’t home.
Porch pirates strike in the suburbs, too. Exasperated consumers have vented about package thefts to their neighborhood Facebook groups in Brookhaven, Cheltenham, Conshohocken, Croydon, Lower Merion, Levittown, Media, West Chester, Quakertown, and even down the Shore.
Last holiday season in Newtown Square, Katy Retzbach said $150 in Christmas gifts were stolen from under her family’s mailbox in broad daylight.
Nationwide, at least 58 million packages were stolen last year, amounting to $16 billion in financial losses, according to a recent report from the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General. Most stolen packages are between $50 and $200 in value.
What Philly’s package theft data shows
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
It’s difficult to determine how many package thefts will occur in Philadelphia before the year’s end, as reports of the crime spike each December. And some of these incidents go unreported to the police.
In 2023 and 2024, package-theft reports in December accounted for nearly 14% of the annual total on average, according to the analysis of police data.
If 2025 were to follow that pattern, Philadelphia would log around 450 reported package thefts this month — slightly more than last year but less than 2023 — and would end the year with a total of 3,300 reports, more than the city recorded each of the past two years.
The total number of reported package thefts declined by 1.2% between 2023 and 2024, according to the analysis. However, the number of thefts reported in December increased over the same period.
How to protect against porch piracy
There’s no surefire way to prevent porch piracy.
But police departments and carriers like USPS, FedEx, and UPS provide the following tips to reduce your chances of falling victim — or to get your money back if your package is stolen:
- Leave drop-off instructions: Log into your online account with the package carrier and ask that they leave deliveries in a less visible location, such as behind a planter, in a shed, or at a side door. Or ask that they require a signature for drop-off. This requires that delivery people read the instructions, which some Philadelphians have found is not always the case.
- Redirect the delivery: You can also go online and redirect deliveries to locations such as your office, the home of a friend who doesn’t experience package theft, or a secure physical mailbox, such as a FedEx, UPS, or Amazon Locker pickup location. If you aren’t going to be home for a day, you can also request a hold on packages until you return, or have a neighbor or friend pick them up.
- Use security cameras: Cameras can alert you that someone is outside and allow you to grab a package immediately if you’re at home. If a delivery is stolen, the footage can help police find the porch pirate. (If they’re charged and convicted in New Jersey, they could even go to prison.)
- Report theft: After confirming that the package was in fact delivered, file a police report. Then, contact the seller, shipping company, and, if all else fails, your credit card company to see if they cover package theft.
