Protect Your Online Purchases

Utilize free ship-to-store services or retail lockers to thwart porch pirates.

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Packages are stolen from porches and doorways year-round, but thieves are particularly busy during the holiday season, when there are more items to steal. Take the following steps to protect your purchases:

Ship to a store. Some retailers let you send online purchases to one of their stores for pickup. The service is usually free.

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Rivan V. Stinson
Ex-staff writer, Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Rivan joined Kiplinger on Leap Day 2016 as a reporter for Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. A Michigan native, she graduated from the University of Michigan in 2014 and from there freelanced as a local copy editor and proofreader, and served as a research assistant to a local Detroit journalist. Her work has been featured in the Ann Arbor Observer and Sage Business Researcher. She is currently assistant editor, personal finance at The Washington Post.