This month marks the beginning of the annual holiday gift buying season. Each year, more and more shoppers are using online or catalog services to order gifts to be delivered to their homes. Unfortunately, this is also the season when the theft of delivered packages increases across the nation and Somerville is no exception.

Credit card fraud is also on the rise this year. Everyone should always be vigilant when it comes to shopping this year. On average during the holiday months (11/1 – 1/31) the Somerville Police Dept. sees an average of approximately 9 package thefts reported compared to the non-holiday months (2/1-10/31) when this number is approximately 4.

The goal this year is to reduce this type of theft from happening at all. Always keep your financial information private. The fewer burglars know about you, the more you’ll enjoy your holiday shopping this season. #holidayshoppers #shopsafe #SomervilleMA