13 ms·
Amazon uses dummy parcels to catch thieves
- yanslookup 8y agoMy guess is most of these people are resorting to petty crime to feed a drug habit. Maybe amazon should put their tech and knowledge of supply chains to help bust large scale drug importers...
- PHGamer 8y agonaw just shitty people
- johnisgood 8y agoMaybe they should focus on fighting against the war on drugs.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- mindslight 8y agoAmazon may be big, but the CIA knocks over entire countries. Seems like a good way to jeopardize their own military-industrial complex play, as well.
- saagarjha 8y agoDo you have any evidence to back this up, or are you just speculating?
- tracker1 8y agoIt could also be spoiled teens raised by lousy parents. /snark
- jacquesm 8y agoHah! That leaves me free to steal everybody's packages because I don't have a drug habit. Some poor schmuck will end up being suspected.
- yanslookup 8y agowhat?
- PHGamer 8y agoI am curious though, do they notify the home owner the package is not theres. what if the home owner takes it in? Curious
- asadhaider 8y agoGuessing the homeowners are in on it if they're using hidden doorbell cameras.
- moneil971 8y agoAmazon and others now send you a picture of the package on your doorstep, so I guess they'd let you know?
- quickben 8y agoI often wondered what's the point of that. I received the delivery email, I am still not at home, what would a picture do that the email doesn't?
- Wehrdo 8y agoNever had that experience, but I presume to prove it was delivered?
- donarb 8y agoPhotos also prevent customers taking advantage of companies who are ready to refund or replace “stolen” packages.
- blacksmith_tb 8y agoHow so? Presumably packages are generally stolen after they've been delivered? So their photo proves it was on my porch, but it doesn't disprove that someone came along and stole it shortly after it was delivered... (my camera provides that video, however).
- ChuckMcM 8y agoThis is why every Christmas I order Explosive Dye Packs with motion sensitive trigger from Amazon :-) Actually, no I don't. I have considered some DIY solutions however, one being a 115 dB siren[1] and battery that goes off when it is taken. The intent being to draw attention to the people carrying the stolen package. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Alarm-Siren-115-dB-VDC/dp/B0002BG3SU https://www.amazon.com/Alarm-Siren-115-dB-VDC/dp/B0002BG3SU
- schoen 8y agoSounds clever, but how can you distinguish between a package that's being moved by a thief and a package that's being moved by the delivery person?
- berbec 8y agoI think the idea was the homeowner plants the package with the horn, not orders one.
- evv 8y agoYeah I think that was the idea. Although.. If the package had a cell network connection it could check that its tracking number has been delivered, then "arm" itself. Or, the package could be programmed to wait for the homeowner's WiFi SSID to appear, then wait for the accelerometer to settle when the package is put down.
- ChuckMcM 8y agoOhh I like that, I bet you could program an ESP32 to do that pretty simply (watch for the SSID to vanish.) Or, I could turn it into an SDR project. Send a Zigbee 'disarm' signal once every 10 seconds or so, if the package got out of range of my SDR it would go off.
- berbec 8y agoI like the ESP32 idea! Sound Bombs - the new maker project.
- dboreham 8y agoNot a new idea: few years ago police here planted GPA trackers in packages to catch a thief repeatedly stealing from our subdivision package box. It turned out the packages ended up at the home of the newspaper delivery person.
- Skunkleton 8y agoDid he get the job, or was his GPA too low?
- vokep 8y agothis made me laugh way too hard good one :) I mean tbh its not that great, anyone could see it, but still caused me to laugh so I say that's pretty good.
- janitor61 8y agoOn the other hand, If you have any used motor oil or hazardous waste to dispose of, you can place it in an Amazon box and leave it on your doorstep.
- eridius 8y agoPretty much guaranteeing improper disposal. I highly doubt anyone who steals packages off doorsteps is going to bother to dispose of substances like that correctly.
- lathiat 8y agoI had a package stolen a few weeks back, for the first time as far as I know. It was Disney Baby Swaddles. Guy was pretty derro (dodgy) looking guy. I hope he enjoyed his swaddles. Caught him on my Ring camera sadly my front door is an alcove that is about 1m deep so the motion detection only triggers at the last second. Thus I only got him as he was turning around and got the side of his face and not the front.
- matthew-wegner 8y agoSurprised Ring doesn’t have a buffer to pull from to go back in time for motion detection (typing on phone or I would go look). Blue Iris and most NVR software lets you specify an arbitrary length buffer. It eats some memory, but nice to get context. I very much doubt Ring exposes an RTSP stream locally though.
- callalex 8y agoThis is a perfect example of yet another valley startup that has eschewed industry standards to the detriment of functionality, but mastered convenience and marketing. I hate that it works so well, but the market says I'm the one who is wrong.
- lathiat 8y agoThe problem is that my ring is battery powered, so the camera is not always recording. It's triggered by the motion detection which is PIR. In most situations it has a fairly long (many meters view) of people approaching but unfortunately due to the alcove my door is in people literally appear <1m away from it. And while it starts recording pretty fast there is maybe a 1-2 second delay.
- pkaye 8y agoWe have some cheap furniture on the front porch which they can hide the package behind which they usually do.
- gojomo 8y agoI wonder why stings/bait-items aren't used more often, when an area is facing a rash of specific kinds of crime, like bike theft, parked-car smash-and-grabs, and package theft. It's often a small number of violators – sometimes professional – who've been emboldened by early successes to scale up. So just a few stings, with adequate follow-through prosecution, could have a highly-leveraged effect on the overall rate.
- lamarpye 8y agoProbably because it is work and the police don't care. In California with Prop 47, it might not even be a crime to steal packages.
- lightedman 8y ago" In California with Prop 47, it might not even be a crime to steal packages." Good thing California doesn't make laws and regulations related to packages and mail, the USPS does, so it is still a federal crime to steal packages.
- zdragnar 8y agoGenuine question, does that apply to packages delivered by ups or FedEx?
- briandear 8y agoIt does not.
- lightedman 8y agoTell that to the guys in Riverside, CA doing time for mail theft right now. See, we get these nice e-mail updates from the police regarding our specific neighborhood (because it is a rich one, the Wood Streets.) They busted four people following FedEx and UPS trucks and stealing packages right off the front porch. Federal charges, right there. Mail is mail is mail, period.
- cronix 8y agoI haven't had any packages stolen for the last few years. We have a large "toy box" on the front porch/deck that has a padlock on it. When expecting deliveries, we just leave the lock unlocked and leave a note to put the delivery in the box and lock it. So far, so good! I can't say the same for my neighbor though. He was hit last week, and is now going to build a box. It was less than $60 to make (3/4" plywood, 2x4's, stain, lacquer, hinges, padlock) and is too heavy for a single person to lift when empty.
- WalterBright 8y agoIf it is not heavy enough, just dump some rocks in the bottom.
- polm23 8y agoI'm surprised more people in single homes don't do this. I've never needed it, but when I've had home milk delivery the boxes always have a place for a lock in case you want to use it - and that's just for milk!
- mc32 8y agoMakes one wonder if this is one of the issues behind Amazon and Ring+Rekognition rumors. I don't think this is the main driver (they'd sell a lot regardless, if one is to believe neighbors on NextDoor), but it definitely would be a nice bonus (to make package theft a thing of the past, for all intents and purposes).
- dgzl 8y agoI've looked into one-way package recieving devices before, and I think something would be best integrated into the person's home wall or door. A system like USPS mail drop boxes would be ideal.
- krzat 8y agoWhat if a thief decides to deliver himself into your home?
- 8y ago
- ElijahLynn 8y agoJust read about this a few days ago in the local news, they caught one in Aloha/Beaverton, Oregon (about 30 minutes west of Portland, OR) https://www.kptv.com/news/deputies-delivery-driver-for-amazon-arrested-after-taking-bait-package/article_af33f1e4-fc8c-11e8-b3f5-1fc92bbbdab3.html https://www.kptv.com/news/deputies-delivery-driver-for-amazo... This is where a lot of Intel employees live as Intel's headquarters are here, just to give a picture of the area.
- kodablah 8y agoSimilar has occurred recently in Fort Worth dubbed "Operation Grinch Pinch".
- gnicholas 8y ago> Intel's headquarters are here Do people refer to Hillsboro as Intel HQ? There sure are a lot of folks there, but down in SV people seem to think they're at HQ. I don't work for Intel, but my startup went through their accelerator a few years back and I met a bunch of people through the program.
- ElijahLynn 8y agoHrm, maybe I'm wrong about that. But they have at least 4 campuses in this area that i have seen and cover a massive footprint. Maybe it is better for me to refer to it as manufacturing headquarters. When I moved here I was pleasantly surprised to learn that most of their product was manufactured here as opposed to foreign. I even became friends with one of the technicians on the "binning" team, who tests all the chips and determined what clock speeds they will be sold as.
- throw-far-away 8y agoConsider the several major factors in a given theft: - economic hardship and/or thrill-seeking behavior - the former is influenced by economic conditions, economic equality and substance abuse - perceived value of item - perceived risk of getting caught - perceived penalty if caught
- jiveturkey 8y agopoor title. the police did this, not amazon.
- cozzyd 8y agoOne of the big advantages of living in a high-rise with a doorperson is not having to worry about getting packages...
- IshKebab 8y agoOr having a job. I've only worked at one place that didn't allow delivering packages and they relented a few years ago.
- ajdhsjakafjt 8y agoIn Germany the packages are usually given to a neighbor. Amazon's own delivery service sometimes leaves it in front of your door, but mostly in houses with multiple flats. When it's gone, they just deliver again. Does it work differently in the US, so are packages usually left at the doorstep?
- dpark 8y agoYes, I have packages left on my doorstep constantly. I live in an area where package theft is uncommon (I’ve never experienced it or had a neighbor tell me they have), so just dropping packages on my porch is extremely convenient.
- test1235 8y agohere in UK, you get a few options: you can leave it with a neighbour, or specify a place to leave it, or try again at another time, and probably a few more I forget. I'd be surprised if I saw anyone's parcel just sitting on their front doorstep
- Wohlf 8y agoIn my experience: UPS has a program called MyChoice that let you specify what to do, but both them and USPS will usually leave it by the door out of sight if possible, unless the carrier is concerned about theft. FedEx will leave a note saying to come pick it up or request redelivery. In apartment buildings, all of them the will leave the package with the office if one exists. I would bet most people getting regular package deliveries live in access controlled apartment buildings or very safe suburbs.
- adrianmonk 8y agoA few decades ago, I remember it being quite common for packages to be left with a neighbor. Now it's pretty rare. I'm not sure what changed. Perhaps people decided they prefer not to involve a third party. Or perhaps couriers just don't think it's economical to spend the time to knock one door and then another and then maybe another if the neighbor isn't home either.
- CryptoPunk 8y agoGood to see private enterprise stepping in to show leadership on solving social problems (e.g. property crime) that the government has failed to take any initiative on.
- chadcmulligan 8y agoI always think when I see criticisms of the failure of the US system to solve problems like this that maybe you should all get together and make some sort of collective system, lets call it a 'government' and then everyone should pay some money towards it, we could call it 'taxes' and see how that works. I'm Australian though, we all pay taxes and things are funded, people still complain but seems to work. Granted perhaps some of the tax money is wasted, and maybe we pay more than we should if it was all farmed out to private enterprise but it seems the alternatives are worse. IMHO if you pay less and less taxes then social systems will fail, you may call it socialism, or communism or whatever but personally I'd prefer paying just a little bit more and have those systems work. I prefer it to extreme capitalism, or whatever the current US system is called.
- austhrow743 8y agoAustralian here. The US government spends more than ours by gdp percentage and we have very similar tax burdens. Your comment reads like you think we live in Sweden.
- chadcmulligan 8y agoYes I did think that when I said it (re sweden), but if they spend more by gdp why does it seem their systems have so many troubles? I find that very confusing, maybe the flaw is the amount of privatisation? I've worked in a few corporate and government positions and the idea that private enterprise is efficient I find a bit of a giggle, maybe its just BS? Edit: it is strange, here's the US breakdown https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/ https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-bud... and the australian breakdown https://www.taxsuperandyou.gov.au/node/131/take https://www.taxsuperandyou.gov.au/node/131/take. The US spends a bit more on defence, but not as much as I thought it would and spends more on health than aus does (as % of GDP). Though not sure if this includes state taxes, maybe someone more knowledgable in these things can explain
- kachurovskiy 8y agoI'm using Paketsafe for 1.5 years, pretty happy with it. The welcro came off the lid with time but I just glued it back with silicone. The bag itself is steel-lined. https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01L7DYJD2 https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01L7DYJD2