Amazon Sets Traps for Package Thieves

AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

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As part of an ongoing effort to crack down on bad employees, Amazon is planting fake packages in delivery trucks to root out package-stealing drivers. Business Insider reports that Amazon plants these "dummy" packages with fake labels at random. When drivers scan the label, an error message pops up, which suggests the package isn't in Amazon's system and therefore won't be missed. At that point, the driver faces a choice: call a manager, return the package, or keep it for themselves. Though they don't publish internal figures, package theft is supposedly a huge problem for Amazon.

"We might pull something out of our pocket and put it in there" to give it some weight, a former Amazon logistics manager told Business Insider. This person, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said instructions for the practice came from Amazon's corporate offices in Seattle. "It's meant to be a trap ... to check the integrity of the driver," he said.
 
Still what stops them from scanning placing it on the porch, taking a picture and then taking it back with them? Just make sure the house doesn't have a camera watching.
 
Great idea, but I would view package theft as a symptom to a problem. Are there issues with your hiring practices? Or is it because you don't pay them shit? Would there still be package theft if you were paying a driver 50+k a year? Probably, but the competition for that job would let you screen out the "bad actors" better. I have a video doorbell, and I have to say, Noone delivering an Amazon package to me looks happy about it and half the time they are chucking packages onto my stoop.
 
Chaos Machine said:
Great idea, but I would view package theft as a symptom to a problem. Are there issues with your hiring practices? Or is it because you don't pay them shit? Would there still be package theft if you were paying a driver 50+k a year? Probably, but the competition for that job would let you screen out the "bad actors" better. I have a video doorbell, and I have to say, Noone delivering an Amazon package to me looks happy about it and half the time they are chucking packages onto my stoop.
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Amazon drivers get paid decently. Base is $18 for driving a car. You can get up to $25 a hour driving a van and handling bigger packages like TVs. It is why you see so many drivers renting out vans. All delivery people are unhappy and steal your shit lol. UPS drivers make $30+ and hour and doesn't change shit.
 
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Perhaps you meant to say you _do_ pay them shit. ;)

Chaos Machine said:
Great idea, but I would view package theft as a symptom to a problem. Are there issues with your hiring practices? Or is it because you don't pay them shit? Would there still be package theft if you were paying a driver 50+k a year? Probably, but the competition for that job would let you screen out the "bad actors" better. I have a video doorbell, and I have to say, Noone delivering an Amazon package to me looks happy about it and half the time they are chucking packages onto my stoop.
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vegeta535 said:
Still what stops them from scanning placing it on the porch, taking a picture and then taking it back with them? Just make sure the house doesn't have a camera watching.
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This happens to me all the time. When I put a camera in to cover the front door they just started delivering to the side door. Another camera there and mysteriously my front door camera went missing, stolen by a masked thug who the cops will likely never find.

Jim Kim said:
USPS does the same
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Doesnt stop my carrier from stealing from me. She stole a $1k camera and I had her on video signing for the package before carrying it away and they still did nothing. Because she said she decided to return with it later when she knew I would be home...only she never did. Cops? Never did anything about it. Took a report and that was it.
 
kju1 said:
This happens to me all the time. When I put a camera in to cover the front door they just started delivering to the side door. Another camera there and mysteriously my front door camera went missing, stolen by a masked thug who the cops will likely never find.



Doesnt stop my carrier from stealing from me. She stole a $1k camera and I had her on video signing for the package before carrying it away and they still did nothing. Because she said she decided to return with it later when she knew I would be home...only she never did. Cops? Never did anything about it. Took a report and that was it.
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Take them to small claims court.
 
kju1 said:
The postal worker? I dont know her name and the post office refuses to release it. Id have to sue the post office, good luck with that.
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If you have proof that the package was stolen by a worker for a company, you always go after the company. They would likely be willing to settle quickly do to the costs to even appear in court.
 
I had a video card stolen by a Fedex driver. He had signed it as delivering it. He only returned it because I asked my brother about it and turns out my brother and the delivery guy worked at the same Fedex contractor. My brother asked the driver about it, and mysteriously a couple days later, it was delivered.
 
vegeta535 said:
Still what stops them from scanning placing it on the porch, taking a picture and then taking it back with them? Just make sure the house doesn't have a camera watching.
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That isn't going to stop people from bitching cause they didn't get their item, and a pattern to develop that matches a delivery worker's routes. It would be child's play to figure out who's the thief, then you just need the proof. But in some States, you don't even need proof. Just fire the bitch, At Will baby.
 
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vegeta535 said:
Amazon drivers get paid decently. Base is $18 for driving a car. You can get up to $25 a hour driving a van and handling bigger packages like TVs. It is why you see so many drivers renting out vans. All delivery people are unhappy and steal your shit lol. UPS drivers make $30+ and hour and doesn't change shit.
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Yes, the correlation between pay and theft is quite silly. A person can make whatever and still be driven to want more than they have. It's the moral character of that particular person to not take more. "Free" stuff is an enticing prospect, especially if they think they can get away with it.

Curious how many here have lied on their times at work?
 
twonunpackmule said:
Yes, the correlation between pay and theft is quite silly. A person can make whatever and still be driven to want more than they have. It's the moral character of that particular person to not take more. "Free" stuff is an enticing prospect, especially if they think they can get away with it.
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Yep. It really entices people when they might know what is in the box. Like right now there are 2080ti going out and a delivery driver has a box from Newegg or Nvidia. He proabably thinking this is possibility a 2080ti. He a good guy generally but knows he can't afford a 2080ti and decides to take it for himself. Shit like that proabably happens a lot with a kinds items.
 
vegeta535 said:
Yep. It really entices people when they might know what is in the box. Like right now there are 2080ti going out and a delivery driver has a box from Newegg or Nvidia. He proabably thinking this is possibility a 2080ti. He a good guy generally but knows he can't afford a 2080ti and decides to take it for himself. Shit like that proabably happens a lot with a kinds items.
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Even if he can afford it, why not get it for free? Amazon or Newegg insures that shit. Wouldn't you rather someone else spend the $1200?
 
Glad to see Amazon doing this. Doesn't punish the good workers and catches some of the bad ones.

kju1 said:
Doesnt stop my carrier from stealing from me. She stole a $1k camera and I had her on video signing for the package before carrying it away and they still did nothing. Because she said she decided to return with it later when she knew I would be home...only she never did. Cops? Never did anything about it. Took a report and that was it.
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Sadly, a lot of PD rarely pursue property crime because there isn't much in it for them. Catch a drug dealer? Keep the car, guns, stereo, etc. Catch a thief? The loot goes back to the person it was stolen from. A query to your local Congress critter asking why the US Postal Service didn't follow up on your crime report might get some action. The USPS is sort of a Federal Agency. They often boast about being a private company but mess with a postal worker and the FBI often shows up.
 
[21CW]killerofall said:
If you have proof that the package was stolen by a worker for a company, you always go after the company. They would likely be willing to settle quickly do to the costs to even appear in court.
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Well her face wasnt on the video (she was careful about that) and it only shows her wlaking up to my door, doing something on her hand held computer after scanning the package, and walking back away from the door. The postal service claims it was left at a different door upon her return later because she was uncomfortable with the front door being to exposed. The cops saw the video, they said there was nothing there they could use...too circumstantial.

Galvin said:
Did you try google image searching her?
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No face...guess I could aim a camera at my mailbox...

Dead Parrot said:
Glad to see Amazon doing this. Doesn't punish the good workers and catches some of the bad ones.

Sadly, a lot of PD rarely pursue property crime because there isn't much in it for them. Catch a drug dealer? Keep the car, guns, stereo, etc. Catch a thief? The loot goes back to the person it was stolen from. A query to your local Congress critter asking why the US Postal Service didn't follow up on your crime report might get some action. The USPS is sort of a Federal Agency. They often boast about being a private company but mess with a postal worker and the FBI often shows up.
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If I lived anywhere else I would but I cant even get the time of day from my representatives if it isnt about one of their hot topic issues...
 
I had an Amazon package lost this week and they refuse to code it as lost. They gave me a refund, but they marked the item as a "return" and provided instructions on how to return it when it arrives.

But they verbally acknowledged that it's never arriving. Basically that's a ding on me and not them.
 
kju1
Install more "better hidden" camera's
&
Put up signs saying "SMILE, You are being RECORDED"
 
brentsg said:
I had an Amazon package lost this week and they refuse to code it as lost. They gave me a refund, but they marked the item as a "return" and provided instructions on how to return it when it arrives.

But they verbally acknowledged that it's never arriving. Basically that's a ding on me and not them.
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How is it a ding on you? You got your money back and just reorder. Shit legitimately does get lost. I once ordered a $2k reciver that got lost and they sent me a new one. 6 month later I came home to a huge box at my door and it was the lost reciver. I kept it and gave it to my brother and never heard a thing from the company. Your package might show up a week later and you could just keep it at that point.
 
vegeta535 said:
How is it a ding on you? You got your money back and just reorder. Shit legitimately does get lost. I once ordered a $2k reciver that got lost and they sent me a new one. 6 month later I came home to a huge box at my door and it was the lost reciver. I kept it and gave it to my brother and never heard a thing from the company. Your package might show up a week later and you could just keep it at that point.
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Exactly. Amazon sent me a replacement set of Powerblocks. That's another full $300 dumbbell set because my shipment didn't include the additional 70lbs kit. So, I got two sets of dumbbells. They didn't want the other set back. So, I sold it for $250. I consider that a free gift from Bezo's.
 
termite said:
They should drop a steaming turd in those boxes for weight.
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Funny story. I have upwards of 20 techs at a time. One time I offered to free up some space in their van since I dont carry anything around in mine most of the time. Said tech had taken a crap in the box and let me take it... really!? He didn't even know I took said box... who and the F carries around a box of shit?! I get having an emergency and doing it... maybe... but FFS get rid of the damn box immediately. WTF!?
 
I have a neighborhood dog who steals some of my packages (the ones with dog treats) and Amazon just ships another when I tell them that an empty ripped box showed up.

They could trick him with a box of cat shit though, dogs are suckers for that stuff. :rolleyes:
 
termite said:
They should drop a steaming turd in those boxes for weight.
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I agree. thievery is the lowest of the low! You didn't work at all for that product! Leave it alone. I mean I stole a couple candy bars as a child but once I was in my teens I wouldn't have even considered stealing from someone. And I think even the most morally upstanding citizen here would think back on his or her history and recall stealing a candy bar or something as a kid : )
 
A friend of a friend used to work for FedEx about 18 years ago and was stealing a bunch of packages. A lot of the items were Apple stuff, Mac Pro's, Cinema screens, etc..
Have no idea how he was getting away with it, but he got busted for something else that lost him his job, he mail ordered some weed which happened to be a sting operation, so he ended up going to jail.
 
vegeta535 said:
How is it a ding on you? You got your money back and just reorder. Shit legitimately does get lost. I once ordered a $2k reciver that got lost and they sent me a new one. 6 month later I came home to a huge box at my door and it was the lost reciver. I kept it and gave it to my brother and never heard a thing from the company. Your package might show up a week later and you could just keep it at that point.
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Lucky brother. Mine would have just kept it in a closet.
 
So Amazon cares about package theft... for what the Uber inspired driver delivery program they started? Oh no LaShaunda wearing the bright orange vest might be out of a job
 
I worked for a electronics business once that had a chain of several stores. The store managers were ripping the stores off every chance they got and when inventory came up short they fingered a warehouse person or some other hourly employee. It got so out of hand the business was forced into bankruptcy.
 
This is actually fairly common for most carriers. I worked for a regional carrier whose main business was pharmaceutical deliveries to hospitals and pharmacies. This was a very frequent practice from the clients. We had the very rare theft by an employee (many drivers were actually independent contractors and paid quite well).
 
Chaos Machine said:
Great idea, but I would view package theft as a symptom to a problem. Are there issues with your hiring practices? Or is it because you don't pay them shit? Would there still be package theft if you were paying a driver 50+k a year? Probably, but the competition for that job would let you screen out the "bad actors" better. I have a video doorbell, and I have to say, Noone delivering an Amazon package to me looks happy about it and half the time they are chucking packages onto my stoop.
Click to expand...

Pay for a UPS driver starts in the 40's with full benefits.

And I doubt they have an average theft rate of $10K/employee
 
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vegeta535 said:
How is it a ding on you? You got your money back and just reorder. Shit legitimately does get lost. I once ordered a $2k reciver that got lost and they sent me a new one. 6 month later I came home to a huge box at my door and it was the lost reciver. I kept it and gave it to my brother and never heard a thing from the company. Your package might show up a week later and you could just keep it at that point.
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Because they periodically close people's accounts for returns. There are plenty of online stories out there, and I've experienced it first hand.

I'm fine with getting my money back and all that, but mark it as lost. If that hurts their internal shipping metrics then so be it. As of now it shows as open, with instructions for me to return the item that's never going to arrive.
 
kju1 said:
This happens to me all the time. When I put a camera in to cover the front door they just started delivering to the side door. Another camera there and mysteriously my front door camera went missing, stolen by a masked thug who the cops will likely never find.



Doesnt stop my carrier from stealing from me. She stole a $1k camera and I had her on video signing for the package before carrying it away and they still did nothing. Because she said she decided to return with it later when she knew I would be home...only she never did. Cops? Never did anything about it. Took a report and that was it.
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By cops, did you by any chance contact the postal inspector general? There's literally a form for this, and it is pretty much what they do.
 
Wait a minute - did they just create a system for catching thieves, and then explain to everyone what the system is? What the fuck?

Is this like those fake cameras that record nothing, but they're so obvious that people are afraid to shoplift?

For myself, if I had problems with thieves, I'd get a couple of high quality GoPro cameras, a 50" television box, an automotive airbag and a bunch of packing peanuts, and then make money on YouTube.


P.S. Maybe even add a Duck Bomb.
 
Because paying a human to watch an onboard camera and catch a suspected thief is too expensive.
 
AlphaAtlas said:
When drivers scan the label, an error message pops up, which suggests the package isn't in Amazon's system and therefore won't be missed.
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Sounds like bad logic, if the scanner doesn't recognize the package , the system should assume there is an issue and tell the driver it needs to be return , and mark it in the system (even if it wasn`t there before) to be expected back as a return (with the warehouse having an extra flag for knowing it needs to be examined)

bottom line - the driver should never get an actual 'package not found' error.
 
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