Robel Kidane worries about his packages being stolen from his porch.
"I think it's a growing problem," believes Kidane. "With the way the economy is, yeah, people are picking up easy items."
And it's even happened to him:
"This was less than three months ago," he explains. "I had a brand new galaxy seven that was delivered--tracking number show that it was on the porch--it was gone by the time I got off of work."
Sabrina Todd of the United States Postal Service says that in order to protect packages, there are several steps people can take to keep them from disappearing from the front porch.
"With today being Cyber Monday, and everybody going online to order, there's going to be a deluge of packages being shipped and delivered to customers addresses," states Todd.
That's why you can what's called a "package intercept," where you can change the shipping address in case you find out you won't be home. You can choose to have it sent to a different address, whether that's work or a neighbors house, or you can opt to pick it up straight from the post office.
"They can take control of their package--what we call their package destiny," smiles Todd.
She says the important part is to keep up with the tracking information. That can give you an indication of when it will arrive so you can plan accordingly.
Since his package was stolen, Kidane stays up to date with the tracking info, and also requires a signature for delivery. But he says he was fortunate that it was only a phone that was stolen.
"I couldn't imagine if it was a personal item or some sentimental item some people send for you that you can't cover with insurance... yeah it'd be devastating," says Kidane.
For ways to protect your packages, check who's shipping it. If it's the US Postal Service (USPS) you can make an account and change delivery location as well as track your delivery here.
For UPS, you can click here.
And for FedEx you can click here.
