A new trend of thefts has been observed where thieves are using the leaked tracking data to steal valuable electronic products that have been left unattended after the delivery person leaves the package. The thieves are eyeing the costly Apple products that are sent over by AT&T company.
The term coined for such thefts is “porch pirates,” and as per the reports, products worth 12 billion dollars have been stolen to date in the current calendar year, affecting close to 50 million individuals. It’s not clear how the real-time tracking data is being fetched by the thieves. They may either be buying it off the black markets or may have compromised FedEx servers, which are used to store real-time tracking information.
The act starts with tracking the delivery of shipments, especially Apple products. Thieves monitor the movement of the delivery person, and once they drop the package at the doorstep of the recipient, thieves pick up the package before the actual recipient comes to collect it. There has been a rise in reports about such incidents from across the United States, with rising cases in New York, Florida, Texas, Virginia, etc.
There have been some arrests made in relation to the reported cases, but there has not been any major success in cracking the whole scam. The main point of concern remains to be the tracking data, which thieves are monitoring to pull their act, and none of the logistics firms have shared their insights about the data leak. By the time it’s not clear how this data is reaching thieves, the only way to outsmart these thieves is by requesting in-person delivery of high-value items and getting the customer to sign the receipt.
