It’s the holiday season, which means it’s the busiest shopping season of the year. However, many consumers are now opting to skip the crowded stores and long lines in favor of online shopping, which means a heap boxes being delivered to front doors across the U.S. For the average porch pirate, the holiday season is also a busy time, and that means plenty of package theft.

According to Vivint Smart Home, smart home and security technologies such as video doorbells and cameras can help deter thieves from stealing those holiday packages.

A Vivint spokesperson says advanced features baked into some of these products can help detect and deter lurkers while alerting homeowners of the activity in real time.

“For example, Vivint’s Doorbell Camera Pro detects deliveries with Package Protection and prevents lurkers with Smart Deter, which uses light and sound to warn potential thieves that they’ve been spotted,” the spokesperson says.

According to Vivint, the company’s systems have detected more than 2 billion unique events in which a package was approached, and nearly 4 billion events in which deterring actions were activated or a when a lurker was detected.

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While some one-off events like Amazon Prime Day can be a busy time of porch pirates, the holiday season is the real main event for package theft. A 2022 Vivint survey found that 80% of U.S. respondents fell victim to porch piracy during the holidays, resulting in an average of just over $500 in losses.

Also, according to Vivint data, packages are most commonly approached on Fridays compared to other days of the week.

According to Vivint, the best way to prevent package theft is to install a smart home system that integrates different security technologies together. For example, systems can include a video doorbell, outdoor cameras, spotlights and other smart lighting solutions to give the illusion that people are home to discourage porch pirates.

Vivint also encourages homeowners to have these systems professionally installed to ensure everything works together.

From the company’s own portfolio, Vivint offers a suite of smart home systems that integrate together, such as the Doorbell Camera Pro, Outdoor Camera Pro and Spotlight Pro. Each are equipped with features that can detect a thief trying to take a package and playing a loud sound and illuminating lights to let the lurker know they’ve been spotted.

On that note, lighting can be an effective deterrent, according to Vivint, as thieves typically use the cover of darkness to get in and out quickly. Smart lighting solutions can create the illusion that someone is at home or turn outdoor lights on as the thief approaches.

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