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#1 (permalink) |
Apocalypse Nerd
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How does one catch a package thief?
I have a problem.
I have recently ordered stuff via ebay -to be delivered to my house. I am presently renting a room in a large house sectioned off into individual "apartments". (We share a disgusting bathroom). One problem in the house is that packages will be left outside in a common mail area. Everyone has their individual mailboxes but the postman will leave packages outside the main entrance. Someone had ordered a camera and had the package stolen several weeks ago. The culprit was most certainly someone renting a room ie. -someone living in the house with us. Although the objects that I ordered do not have a lot of value (being shoes and what not) -I don't want to lose them. I thought about the feasability of sending myself a package with some sort of transponder in it -to catch the package thief. Has anyone here tried something like this? Does anyone here have any other ideas on either: a) catching the package thief or b) Preventing the thief from stealing. Thanks |
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#2 (permalink) |
...is a comical chap
Location: Where morons reign supreme
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My sister had this problem a year ago, and she went to the post office. They were absolutely no help. She ended up renting a post office box for this very reason...but her neighbor was taking all her mail, not just her packages. I really don't have an solutions for you, except renting a post office box. Or using a company that requires you being home to accept the box.
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"They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king" Formerly Medusa |
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#3 (permalink) |
Quadrature Amplitude Modulator
Location: Denver
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Camera surveillance?
Your best bet is probably to have all packages held, and report the packages stolen for a reason. Or don't allow them to leave packages. Odd thing is... there was a package from Dell shipped via USPS that was in the publically-accessible mail area in my apartment building, and it was there for about a week before it disappeared. Clearly around here people don't steal things...
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"There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught." -- Irish proverb |
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#4 (permalink) |
Psycho
Location: In transit
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4 easy steps to catch your theif.
1: See if you can get ahold of some paint bombs.. the kind banks use to help catch robbers. 2: Put it in a very conspicous valuble looking box. 3:Mail it to yourself. 4: Sit back and wait for the magic to happen.
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Remember, wherever you go... there you are. |
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#5 (permalink) |
Easy Rider
Location: Moscow on the Ohio
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Maybe plant a bogus package with one of those exploding dye things that the banks put in money bags to catch robbers? Wasn't there a story not too long ago where someone gift wrapped their garbage during a sanitation workers strike and left the packages out in the open for thieves or is that just another urban legend?
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#7 (permalink) | |
Mjollnir Incarnate
Location: Lost in thought
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Probably not at Walmart
From HowStuffWorks Quote:
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#8 (permalink) | |
Apocalypse Nerd
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I found a contact with 3SI who makes the SecurityPac and FlexiPac. I don't know if they will sell me one or if they are expensive. I came up with this sign:
Quote:
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#9 (permalink) |
32 flavors and then some
Location: Out on a wire.
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The best solution is to rent a mailbox at a Mailboxes etc. or other mailbox store, and have all packages sent there. They'll sign for you and hold your packages until you're ready to pick them up.
Actually catching the thief would probably involve camera surveillance. Gilda
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I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert |
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#10 (permalink) |
Free Mars!
Location: I dunno, there's white people around me saying "eh" all the time
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If you're shipping via Fedex or UPS, you can request that they hold your package for you to pick it up for free. I guess that wouldn't work if you live too far from the station.
Plus, coming up with a sign like that can be illegal, the police is not actually involved and yet, you're making a sign that shows that they are involved.
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Looking out the window, that's an act of war. Staring at my shoes, that's an act of war. Committing an act of war? Oh you better believe that's an act of war |
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#13 (permalink) |
Poo-tee-weet?
Location: The Woodlands, TX
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ooooo the siren could be a good way to go...
wouldnt be hard to setup a little booby trap so when the box lid is opened it pulls a pin out from between 2 contacts which then complete the circuit and set off the siren... there are even little self defense sirens that are pretty small and really loud, i'm sure one of those could be modified to fit your needs.... any way you set it up you want it to be hard to turn off...
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-=JStrider=- ~Clatto Verata Nicto |
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#14 (permalink) | |
Une petite chou
Location: With All Your Base
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Bwahahahaha! You guys are so funny. Exploding dye packs, sirens... Put a dead rat or halloween mask under nice pretty paper inside a box you previously received in the mail and stick a box of macaroni (or Kraft dinner) in the bottom so it makes a good shake. Stick a copy of the federal statues regarding mail theft underneath the rat or mask. worked in my old dorm. Like a charm. Of course, the scream reverberating down the hall when she found the rat... ~ahem~ "ratted" her out, if you will.
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Here's how life works: you either get to ask for an apology or you get to shoot people. Not both. House Quote:
The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. Ayn Rand
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#16 (permalink) |
With a mustache, the cool factor would be too much
Location: left side of my couch, East Texas
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Use some of that spray stuff on your package, like on CSI, and then get you a UV light to see who's been handling your package without your consent.
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#18 (permalink) |
I'm not a blonde! I'm knot! I'm knot! I'm knot!
Location: Upper Michigan
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I love the idea of setting up a siren. That could be fun while still accomplishing your goal.
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"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama My Karma just ran over your Dogma. ![]() |
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#19 (permalink) |
Registered User
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Punish them.
Get an electronics box of some sort. Fill a big tupperware bowl with rotting fish. Glue the bowl inside the box. Glue the top of the box to the top of the tupperware as you are sealing it. You *may* be able to tell whose room the stink is coming from. If not, you will at least have some satisfaction! |
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#21 (permalink) |
Observant Ruminant
Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town
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Three ways to go, in the future, that aren't fantasy-revenge:
1. Get a P.O. Box. Always good to have, especially if you move around in the same town. Avoids so many changes of address. 2. U.P.S. bought Mailboxes Etc. a couple of years back, and now all the old MBEtc stores are UPS stores. You can have any package sent c/o yourself at a UPS store, even if it's not shipped UPS. They'll receive it for you and hold it for you. Of course, you pay. I think it's $5. Call the local store, if you have one, and check it out. 3. Have the package sent as certified mail. It costs more, of course. But the postman won't leave the package unless somebody signs, and unless they come right out of your door, the postman will ask for ID. And if there's nobody to sign, the postman leaves a yellow slip and you retrieve it at the PO the next day. (And if somebody steals the yellow slip and tries to get the package, be assured that they _will_ be asked for ID.) |
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#22 (permalink) |
Apocalypse Nerd
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I am happy to say that I posted the sign (above) and I believe that I made the thief paranoid enough -so as not to mess with my packages. They came and were unmolested.
I do have a plan for the thief which presently I won't do because I am going to move. Here is the plan anyways... By some cheap but interesting Curio like this: Put on some rubber gloves and coat the whole item with some of this "thief detection powder". It will turn whoever handles -the object's hands purple. ![]() |
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#23 (permalink) |
WaterDog
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send yourself a box with some sorta cheap weight to it, then when it gets to you, all nicely postmarked and stuff, rig it up with some string and whatever, some insane contraption that sets off a air horn, fries and flips eggs, cooks toast, pours milk, takes a picture, and makes a burping and ding noises
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#24 (permalink) |
You had me at hello
Location: DC/Coastal VA
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Um, how about actually making a police report?
Other than that, I favor browsing ACME's latest catalog of road runner capturing devices. Get the one where the owner rockets into a painting of a road while the road runner runs right through it.
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I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet |
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Tags |
catch, package, thief |
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