Black Friday warning as 'porch pirates' steal £380million worth of parcels from doorstops

Anyone expecting an online deliver this Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas has been warned an explosion in the number of crooks pinching items from doorsteps

A growing army of “porch pirates” stole nearly £380million worth of items from people’s doorsteps last year, figures have revealed.

Organised gangs are cashing in on a boom in internet shopping to pinch deliveries left by couriers. Many are targeting communal areas in blocks of flats to steal. The warning comes ahead of Black Friday and the run-up to Christmas, which is likely to prove rich pickings for crooks.

Technology company Quadient, which submitted of Freedom of Information requests to police forces, found the average value of stolen parcels shot up by 52% in the last 12 months, from £66.50 in 2023, to £102 this year. The total value of goods taken reached £376.6million. The FOI data shows people in blocks of flats are 24% more likely to be victims of parcel theft than those living in a house, suggesting thieves are capitalising on opportunities to steal multiple parcels in one go from communal areas.

Research alongside the data suggests 13% of UK households – at least 3.69 million homes – had at least one parcel stolen in the last year. Katia Bourgeais-Crémel, from Quadient, said: “No home is immune to the plague of parcel theft, and as higher value items are being stolen, the UK public needs to be especially vigilant over the holidays. Flats are now prime targets for porch pirates as they use minimum effort for maximum profit, swiping multiple items at once. This being said, lower resident footfall around houses means they are attractive to opportunistic thieves.”

The FOI uncovered some huge variations in reports of parcel theft across different regions, from as high as £202.20 in Northumbria, to £4.24 in Derbyshire. Bedfordshire reported the highest number of thefts, at 701. The areas least likely to have a parcel stolen were Norwich, where just 3% of residents said they had been a victim, along with Newcastle (5%) and Brighton (5%).