5 On Your Side

Protect your packages from porch pirates with delivery boxes, doorbell cameras and floodlights

Don't let your guard down. Porch pirates are waiting to help themselves to your gifts.

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By
Monica Laliberte
, WRAL executive producer/5 On Your Side reporter

Don’t let your guard down. Porch pirates are waiting to help themselves to your gifts.

One way to protect your online purchases is a secure package delivery box.

“Just as the name sounds, it’s a big box that you sit on your porch and your delivery people can drop your packages into," said Daniel Wroclawski with Consumer Reports.

It works similar to USPS corner mailboxes. The delivery person drops the package in a secure door, it drops into a locked box, and you use a key to unlock the lock box.

"They’re a great option if you can get your delivery people to use them. My experience was that it varied drastically,” said Wroclawski.

But the cost of the box could be a drawback. The boxes start around $150 and do take up some space on your porch.

Doorbell and security cameras are another popular option, even though it may be tough to identify a thief.

“Not only are they really easy to install with no complex or intimidating wiring, but they are also pretty affordable. You can get a great one for around $100 or less,” said Wroclawski.

Consumer Reports recommends the $100 Ring video doorbell. You can subscribe to the company’s Ring protection plan for $3 a month, which will send you alerts when a package is delivered.

Another way to deter porch pirates is with a floodlight security camera.

"The nice thing about floodlights is, on most homes, they’re in spots that are ideal spaces for cameras, and they are hardwired for power so you never have to worry about recharging a battery,” said Wroclawski.

Consumer Reports experts said swapping out an existing floodlight is easy with the $180 Eufy, which stores recordings on the camera itself, so you can skip the monthly cloud storage fee.

Some floodlights can be controlled from your phone.

Another way to protect items is to use a pick up space that Fedex, UPS and Amazon have.

Amazon also has lockers all over.

To make sure you get the gifts you want to give, and the ones you might be getting, take advantage of the free help that’s available.

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