Using inside info, iPhone thieves arrive at your house right after FedEx

There has been a rash of iPhone thefts around the US the past few months, conducted by “porch pirates” often seen on doorbell camera videos scooping up boxes right after they are delivered. Phones shipped by AT&T are being targeted more than those of Verizon and T-Mobile, according to a Wall Street Journal article published yesterday.

“The key to these swift crimes, investigators say: The thieves are armed with tracking numbers. Another factor that makes packages from AT&T particularly vulnerable is that AT&T typically doesn’t require signature on delivery… Verizon and T-Mobile require a signature on delivery for smartphones; AT&T generally doesn’t,” the article said.

The WSJ talked to Chris Brown, a police lieutenant in Deer Park, Texas, who “said the suspects were armed with inside information: AT&T parcel tracking numbers. Deer Park police are working with AT&T to investigate how the suspects got that information, he said.”

When contacted by Ars today, an AT&T spokesperson said the phone carrier uses multiple delivery companies and “ship[s] tens of thousands of packages a day without incident.” AT&T said it “require[s] signatures in several markets where we have experienced theft issues,” and that “we regularly make changes to our processes, whether it is [the] type of delivery or even type of packaging, to reduce instances of these thefts.”

AT&T also said it works “with law enforcement agencies and parcel carriers to protect our deliveries,” and that these crimes are “committed by sophisticated criminals that are being investigated by both federal and state law enforcement agencies.” We asked both AT&T and FedEx how many thefts there have been but did not receive an answer.

Here is a WMUR-TV report about such thefts occurring in New Hampshire, complete with footage from a doorbell camera:

AT&T: No evidence of hack

The WSJ quoted AT&T as saying that it has “no evidence of any breach of our systems, and this was not a hack.” If there was no hack, it’s possible the tracking numbers were obtained directly from an employee or contractor. AT&T told Ars that it still has no evidence of a breach or hack.