Amazon sets traps for pilots

Amazon uses fake packets to catch stealing delivery drivers, according to sources familiar with the practice.

The company plants parcels – called internally "dummy packs" – in random drivers' trucks. Dummy packages have false labels and are often empty.

"We could take something out of our pocket and put it in our pocket," a former logistics manager at Amazon told Business Insider. This person, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said the instructions for this practice came from Amazon's Seattle offices.

"It's supposed to be a trap … to check the integrity of the driver," he said.

In response to this story, Amazon said, "Audits and audits are part of global quality programs and are administered at random."

Here is how the practice works, according to sources:

During deliveries, drivers scan the labels of each package they deliver. When they scan a fake tag on a dummy package, an error message will appear.

When this happens, drivers can call their supervisors to solve the problem or keep the package in their truck and return it to an Amazon warehouse at the end of their shift.

Drivers, in theory, could also choose to steal the package. The error message means that the package is not detected in the Amazon system. As a result, it could go unnoticed if the package were to go away.

"If you bring the package back, you're innocent, if you do not, you're a thug," said Sid Shah, former director of DeliverOL, a courier company that delivers packages to Amazon.

Dummy packages are just one of the ways that Amazon is trying to control theft, which is a huge problem for the company – and for all retailers, for that matter.

Shrinkage – the term used by the industry for losses due to theft, mistakes or fraud – cost retailers nearly $ 47 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

Amazon has recently started delivering parcels to customers' cars and homes. Both programs are designed to give customers more delivery options and reduce flight rates.

The company has also been known to deter potential thieves by showing its warehouse employees videos of colleagues caught in the act of stealing, according to a 2016 report by Bloomberg.

Amazon does not specify how many packages it loses flying each year. Last year, the company delivered more than 5 billion parcels to customers worldwide.

In a survey conducted in 2017 by the Shorr packaging company, 31% of those surveyed said they were victims of package theft.

According to the former head of Amazon Logistics, "dummy" traps could be effective in catching thieves.

"We surprised people not to be honest," he said.

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