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Experts are pleading with people to remain vigilant while waiting for their mail, as new data reveals one in five Aussies have had their parcels lost or stolen in the last year.
Of the one in five, around half those missing parcels were reported lost in transit, while the remainder were reported stolen.
Tim Bennett, insurance expert at Finder, said the occurrence is "incredibly obnoxious", but there are some ways we can protect ourselves.
"It's super frustrating when this happens," he said on Weekend Today.
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"You pay a bunch of money for the delivery and for the purchase and then for it to not rock up…the average cost of what's been stolen is about $130 per package.
"You times that by the number of people who have had it stolen, it's almost half a billion dollars…slightly more than half a billion, so it's not a small amount of money."
Bennett said one way to ensure your parcels are delivered safely is to send them to a workplace, preferably an office, which have full-time mail rooms in operation.
"If you're lucky and I'm one of these people – I get everything delivered to my workplace," he said.
"That way it's waiting there on my desk.
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"Use tracking, make sure you request sign-on delivery if you're going to be home.
"If you're not home, you can call the delivery organisation – try to figure out something."
Bennett added he "really recommend installing door cameras" that not only capture "great little bits of video that you can share online if anything goes bad", but they're good for your home insurance.
"They will reduce the likelihood of a theft, depending on the house you have," he said.
"But they are a turnoff. If someone is a porch pirate and they see a camera looking at their face, they are less likely to steal."
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