The holidays will be here before you know it. Christmas lights have already gone up, holiday music is blaring at every Meijer stores across Michigan, and soon the snow will start falling.

However, with all that holiday cheer comes a lot of holiday stress!

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You or someone you know has probably received those scam texts that saying you have a package that can't be delivered until you offer up more personal information or you may have been asked to participate in that Secret Santa scam that's going around.

We definitely see a rise in spam and scams as the holidays get closer. One more issue that's about to rear its ugly head: porch pirates. Not that package theft isn't happening year round, but with so many of us ordering items online these days it's about to be open season for these scammers and thieves.

Home security company SafeWise just released their annual list of the Top 10 Worst Metro Cities for Package Theft for 2023 and unfortunately there is one Michigan city on that list. And no, it's not Detroit.

Key Highlights

Some interesting things to note about SafeWise's 6th annual study:

  • 2023’s estimated losses are 5% higher than in 2022
  • Over half of all stolen packages were delivered by Amazon
  • 4 in 10 people who had a package stolen in the past year were hit by porch pirates more than once

While major metro cities like Seattle, Memphis, and Sand Diego round out the top 3 Grand Rapids, Michigan comes in at the #9 spot for the worst cities for porch pirates and package theft.

SafeWise says their methodology included,

ranking cities based on theft data and searches for "stolen package," we also talked to people in every state to find out if they're worried about package theft, if they use any security measures to deter porch pirates, and if so, what measures they use.

Currently the punishment for porch pirates in Michigan can range from a misdemeanor to felony charge and up to 5 years incarceration.

To view the complete list and for advice on what to do after a porch pirate strikes, click here.

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According to WalletHub, this is the maximum holiday budget for these cities in 2023 and how they rank against the rest of the United States.

Gallery Credit: Jacob Harrison

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