April 2026
Retail shoppers beware. Those “porch pirates” that just ran off with your packages? Don’t discount them as unruly teens looking for a quick package grab. Many are part of a $100 billion a year fraud network that spans every juncture in the retail shopping experience. Consider this from SupplyChainBrain:
❇️ An estimated 250,000 packages valued at $15 billion are stolen in the U.S. each day.
❇️ Porch pirates are not always neighborhood kids looking for an easy lift. Many are part of large fraud rings that use technology to bypass home security systems and turn off WiFi to exterior cameras, according to Riskified, an AI-driven fraud prevention platform.
❇️ The rise in package theft has helped generate another subcategory of retail theft. Fraudsters create fake documents, pretend their packages were stolen, and demand a refund from the retailer. This refund abuse can account for 1% to 2% of total retail orders.
❇️ More broadly, retail return fraud totals $100 billion or more a year. This includes shoppers who wear and then return outfits or generate fake gift cards.
Check out this retail trends story for more.
