How To Prevent Holiday Packages From Ending Up In The Wrong Hands

WOODLAND HILLS (CBSLA.com) — The holiday season is typically a busy time and that includes for thieves who appear to be taking advantage of online purchases being left on doorsteps.

Joshua Zankan fell victim to a modern-day Scrooge he says was caught on camera stealing a Christmas gift from his Woodland Hills porch.

"Before you can even open your front door, your package is gone," Zankan said.

The suspected thief, described as a woman, was seen in Zankan's surveillance footage walking to his front door and walking off with a package.

"Somebody so brazen to notice that I have multiple cameras, signs in my house, deterrents that weren't quite deterrent," he said.

But he's not alone.

A Chatsworth mother, who didn't want to be identified, caught her own suspected thief on camera four days earlier.

"And I saw the video of the guy coming up, pulling into our driveway, just so causally and taking the package and just like that driving off," she said.

Package thefts are becoming more common, the thieves more brazen.

But there are ways to protect those packages.

FedEx recommends requesting a signature for delivery or have packages delivered to a nearby FedEx office.

USPS recommends having packages delivered to an office, friend or neighbor. Even better, the postal service has an online alert system.

"Where customers can manage their packages by receiving status updates and actually receive a text or email alert within minutes when a package is delivered," said Richard Maher of the USPS.

UPS goes one step further with their Access Points, one of which is at Sumi's, a jewelry store in Los Feliz.

"UPS, if they can't deliver or a signature is required or it's not safe to leave the package, they bring it here and it's just for the immediate neighborhood and they get a little note that says it's here and people come and pick it up," said Sumi Sigell, the store owner.

Both victims posted the video to help catch the suspects.