Amazon Prime Day has come and gone. Soon the packages customers ordered will start showing up.
Consider it “Prime pickins” for porch pirates!
A Tampa man came up with a product to protect packages. A useful invention typically happens out of necessity.
The camera system Brad Ruffkes set up near his front door was meant to keep an eye on all of his deliveries, but that's all it did.
"The next day I watched someone steal two packages off our front porch,” Ruffkes said. “I started geeking out on the problem and really wanted to try and find a solution for us."
He didn't find a solution, so he created one: The Box Lock.
"You attach it to a storage container outside of your house,” Ruffkes said. “The lock's got a bar code scanner in it and it connects to the internet."
The delivery person walks up to the box, scans the bar code on your package, it connects, the lock opens and packages are secured inside the box.
"It verifies it's your box lock with your app and snap, it opens," Ruffkes said.
St. Petersburg homeowner Karalyn Peterson got her Box Lock recently after one of her deliveries disappeared.
"About a month and a half ago we had somebody steal a package off our front doorstep," Peterson said.
She now feels like her packages are protected.
For those who say thieves will just walk off with the box, Ruffkes disagrees.
"Reality is most package thefts are a dash and grab,” Ruffkes said. “They're a crime of convenience. So just having something solid in place that is a deterrent, they're going to go on to the next house or next neighborhood."
The Box Lock costs $129. There are other smart padlocks, but this one is unique. It works with scanners and bar codes on packages to allow delivery drivers to open it without having to contact you first to grant them access.
Find out how to get one at GetBoxLock.com.
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