UPS Capital using AI to stop porch pirates this holiday season

As we get ready for the holidays, lost and stolen packages are a top concern.

An estimated 260 million packages disappeared in the U.S. last year, and many were taken right from the front door while a camera was recording.

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To combat this problem, one delivery company is using AI to fight back.

‘Tis the season for porch pirates. Almost 1-in-4 adults (23%) had a package stolen in the last 12 months.

“This time of year, we ship a lot of gifts, so every package is very special to the person receiving it,” said Tarek Saab.

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Tarek Saab is president of Texas Precious Metals, and that’s what he ships: gold and silver. This year, he is using a new UPS data program called “Delivery Defense.” The program helps identify addresses that are likely targets for porch piracy.

Here’s how it works: By simply entering a recipient’s address, the AI-powered program produces a score. A high score indicates high likelihood of a successful delivery based on years of data from previous deliveries, including lost and stolen packages.

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For addresses with a low confidence score, merchants can re-route the item, with the customer’s okay, to UPS store ore other pickup location.

“About 2% of the addresses will be considered low confidence, and we’re seeing that represents about 30% of losses our customers are having,” explained Mark Robinson, president of UPS Capital.

At Precious Metals, they believe technology can reduce those numbers.

“We recognize it’s computers versus criminals, and we have to use every tech capability that we have to try to circumvent any challenges we might run into,” said Saab.

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