OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio — With Christmas right around the corner, porch pirates nationwide are on the prowl.
In Northeast Ohio, the Olmsted Township Police Department is warning residents of a new porch piracy technique.
In a post from the department on Facebook, officials say that they have learned of delivered packages being swapped and stolen from people's front porches.
"Within a few minutes of delivery, another unknown person shows up to the home and steals it," said Olmsted Township police on social media.
The porch pirates are allegedly wearing Amazon vests and swapping out the delivered packages with an empty box on the porch and taking the previously delivered merchandise.
In order to make sure your packages get delivered to you, the Olmsted Township Police Department is asking residents to "please try to get your packages off your porch as soon as you can, and stay vigilant!"
A product research company called The Chamber of Commerce said it surveyed 1,250 U.S. consumers in October and found that 26% of them have been victims of package theft. The problem was roughly split between urban and suburban areas, it said, and only 18% of consumers who’ve had packages stolen reported it to police.
Click HERE for everything you need to know about porch piracy and what to do if it happens to you.
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