I wonder how many porch pirates are actually caught via Ring or other cameras? I belong to a wide area of NextDoor users, and a sad number of pirate videos are posted. The videos are next to worthless to ID the thieves.
So, other than proof of theft for income tax purposes, is anyone really caught?
I did a search on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=porch+pirates+caught
and there were plenty on there that got caught. I don’t know if I would chase one down though like some on there did.
If more people would get (or make) glitter bombs…
I’m sure there are cases of people getting caught. The biggest benefit for me of having cameras is that I know when something gets delivered and I can go grab it or if I’m not around have someone go grab it.
The glitter bombs make fun youtube videos but I would never do something like that. I’d be afraid the thief would come back and throw it through my front window.
Interesting, thanks. But most in the video are confronting the thief. Fine, but that’s not necessarily the same as caught and arrested. Still, better than nothing.
If you’re losing enough stuff via theft to make a difference on your income taxes, you need to do something different. Move (I’ve never had a package stolen from my porch), have shipments delivered elsewhere, or at least complain to the shipper that you never got the item.
I didn’t say it would make a big diff, but if you had a theft loss, why not deduct it?
Because you can’t deduct a penny until it’s at least 10% of your AGI. If you’re losing 10% of your AGI in a year due to theft, you really do need to move.
I’ve heard a suggestion that if you have a lot of useless, unused junk around the house that you want to rid yourself of, just pack it in Amazon-labeled boxes and put them in a prominent position on your front porch.
That’s better than a glitter bomb
I originally purchased Ring, Got two cameras, one Doorbell and one outdoor floodlight cam. I liked the service until it was sold to Amazon and then the customer service literally went away. I had an issue with the button cover on the Doorbell, I was told I had to spend over $100 to replace my doorbell. That’s when I started to look at Wyze. I have 4 cameras including an outdoor Cam, So currently use both Ring and Wyze. Quality is good for Wyze But their customer service also sucks, They have NEVER responded to issue I have with getting my Outdoor cam to record events. (I have 4 of their low priced recording services, 2 that are not assigned to a camera) but still no Help. Really wish I could get someone to answer an e-mail/Telephone or Twitter request for service at Wyze. Ring Unfortunately doubled in Price after Amazon purchased the company. So Wyze is the cost effective choice. Oh, I did buy a Wyze Doorbell to replace the Ring but never installed it, I was finally able to replace the button (on the Ring Doorbell) with a third Party “cover” that cost 1/20th the price of a new doorbell.
It was reported that Christmas time many decades ago, some New Yorkers would leave a gift-wrapped package in easy reach of passersby. The packages rapidly disappeared. Why? There was a garbage company strike at the time and well, how else cxan you make your problem someone elses?
The idea of disposing of waste from your dogyard springs to mind…maybe cover it with frosting…
It is obvious these porch pirates have never watched the TV series “To Catch A Smuggler”.
An example: A guy ordered massive numbers of drugs (think 1/2 millions dollars worth). The Feds opened the package, saw the drugs and conducted a controlled delivery. An agent attempts to delive the package to the recipient. If he is not home or doesn’t answer the door, the package is left. Meanwhile there are like 6 olr 8 separate agents in vehicles ready to follow the box if moved or block the street and move in when the box is taken indoors. Should someone take the box elsewhere and open it, the person is taken down and then away. “Oh, they are not MY drugs. I was just stealing packages off porchaes”. That excuse may be correct but the thief is not going to be let go anytime soon as his complete background is investigated.