Category Archives: ClaimsCheck

14.5 Million Bikes Bought Since Lockdowns Began!

Incredibly, around 14.5 million bikes worth £5 billion have been purchased since lockdowns began. Weekly cycling miles in the UK are estimated at more than one billion! It goes to show how accustomed we’ve become to two wheels for travel, leisure and exercise. What more can we do to protect one of our favourite possessions? Here is a must-read article for bike owners:

https://www.directline.com/cycling-insurance/magazine/how-to-prevent-your-bike-from-being-stolen

City Cyclist

#TooHotToHandle #StolenBikes #ImmobiliseCrime #PropertyMarking #UKPolice

45 Bikes Stolen Every Hour!

 A recent study shows a fifth of the UK public considers their bicycles the most important possession they own, with 16% of purchases now costing over £500! While according to a leading insurer, 45 bikes are stolen every hour in the UK. If you haven’t managed to register yours on Immobilise.com yet, it would be wise and be sure to add the frame number, including any other marks you can find; it’s entirely free and only takes a few minutes.

45 bikes stolen every hour in the UK

#TooHotToHandle #StolenBikes #ImmobiliseCrime #PropertyMarking

When Thieves Are Brazen!

When thieves are this brazen and not deterred by steel U-locks, warning labels, engravings, and other marks are not going to be a deterrent either. But we can at least leave something in your bike that would incriminate anyone later found in possession of it. ImmobiBike, with its shuttle securely fitted in the seat post, can’t be removed without risk of damage and is easily traceable by police.

Follow the link to the article:
https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/brazen-thieves-steal-3-500-184826328.html

Learn more about ImmobiBike RFID tags:
https://shop.immobilise.com/immobibike-rfid-bicycle-security-tag-presentation-pack/

#TooHotToHandle #StolenBikes #ImmobiliseCrime #PropertyMarking #UKPolice

Recipero Attends The ORIS Risk Summit (12-13 Oct)

Recipero is pleased to be participating at the well-respected ORIS Risk Summit event at the De Vere Wokefield Estate in Berkshire, UK.
Working alongside our law enforcement liaison officers, we are speaking to the retail and logistics community to combat business and retail crime. Recipero directly contributes to over £35m of loss prevention monthly in the UK alone.
Please come and visit our stand. We would be delighted to talk to you about how we can help your organisation.

To learn more visit: http://orisforums.co.uk/

#lossprevention #retail #lawenforcement #police #ecommerce

Emergency Services Show – Day 2

Day 2 at #ESS2021 has started well. We are getting many visitors to our stand, demonstrating the value of our data-driven solutions to support law enforcement. We had the pleasure of being visited by Bonnie, one of the search dogs from the National Search & Rescue Dog Association, who made great use of our stress balls. If you would like one, we are on stand H93. Talk to us about how we can help you combat retail fraud, property crime, and much more. #lawenforcement #police #retail

#ESS2021 – Day 2

Thieves See Christmas Differently

As Christmas fast approaches, we’d like to share a few crime prevention tips that are known to be effective at this time of year.

  • Make approaching your home too conspicuous for burglars – Invest in motion sensor lights or even festive lighting.
  • Be secure, especially with festive lighting – Check for vulnerabilities around the home and garden such as feeding cables through open windows.
  • Create the illusion of occupancy when you’re away, especially at night. Use inexpensive light timers or a Fake TV to deter would-be thieves.
  • Create the illusion of occupancy when you’re away, especially at night. Use inexpensive light timers or a Fake TV to deter would-be thieves.
  • Away over Christmas? Ask a neighbour to park on the driveway, redirect parcels, and be sure to cancel milk or paper deliveries.
  • Be cyber aware and careful not to advertise your new gifts or trips away on social media! 
  •  Don’t hide spare keys and use alarms if you have them.

Protecting your home and family need not be time consuming or expensive; a few simple steps can make all the difference.

Don’t forget to register and protect gifts and valuables on Immobilise  – It is completely FREE and helps deter thieves and combat property crime. Visit immobilise.com and click on ‘register’ or if you already have an account, log in using your account details to update your property list.

We are offering 15% OFF all our marking and security products. Visit shop.immobilise.com using coupon code: Christmas15 on checkout. Discount available until Monday 4th January & includes FREE delivery on orders over £30!

Another (Important) Christmas Checklist

Many of us will have done much of our Christmas shopping online this year. For those of you intending to visit the high street, busy shopping areas can be magnets for pick-pockets and other criminals this time of year. It’s important to be as vigilant as ever and whilst out shopping: 

  • Put cash and cards away safely and try not to keep your valuables in one place, especially your phone – should your bag be lost or stolen you can still call for help.
  • Shield the keypad when typing in your PIN when making payments or withdrawing cash. 
  • Don’t make it easy for thieves by hanging bags on chairs. If you’re having a well-earned break, keep your bag and shopping in your eye-line and away from passing hands.
  • Avoid overtly wearing expensive jewellery and watches in public places. 
  • Park vigilantly in an open, well-lit area. Visit the website parkmark.co.uk for details of police approved car parks. It sounds simple but If you must store presents in a vehicle, make sure they are out of view and that the car is securely locked. 
  • If you witness a crime report it to shop staff or police dialling 999. For suspicions and non-emergencies call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 to provide anonymous information

Register and protect your business assets and technology with Immobilise

Immobilise is not just for individuals. We’re here to support small and medium enterprises too. You should register tools, fixtures and fittings, computers, phones, electronic or electrical components, retail stock – in fact, any item that your business owns.

Remote working from home in the kitchen with a company laptop.

Of course, each item must be uniquely identifiable. Most electronic devices will have an inherent serial number, but for those that don’t, you can utilise any asset marking methods you prefer – labels, engraving, RFID tags, stamps, punches, embossing – whatever is best suited to your products and processes. Immobilise supports all asset marking methods from all manufacturers; we even have some of our own that you may buy from shop.immobilise.com.

Register a new account at immobilise.com under the name of a business principal or manager; we recommend using a group email address that several people have access to rather than an individual, but it’s up to you. As a business, you’re likely to have more items to register than individuals, so we’ve provided a spreadsheet template, downloadable from your account that helps you register hundreds of things at once. If you’re already using an internal asset register, you may even be able to export your data in the same format before uploading to your account.

Company tech can be registered on immobiise.com – It’s completely FREE.

If you mark something as lost or stolen on your account, it’s reflected in real-time to national police systems. This unique integration ensures that if police encounter your property, they can return it to you quickly. Of course, if they have someone in possession of property stolen from you, this also provides valuable evidence to detain or even prosecute someone.

While the spreadsheet template makes adding multiple items to your account a breeze, once there, they need managing. It’s no good recording an item as yours once it is legitimately sold. With hundreds, perhaps thousands of items or rapidly changing stock profiles, this can become a chore. For this situation, we have a low-cost service that delivers additional benefits and peace of mind.

AssetWatch

Real-time monitoring for mobile devices and technology

This service receives daily files from your existing asset management or stock control systems, recording identifying serial numbers and remaining synchronised with your systems without manual intervention.

AssetWatch Approved Data Partner Logo.

Being always up to date enables functionality that an Immobilise account cannot deliver. Every AssetWatch record tells us that you still own that item, whether it be the subject of a lease, rental agreement, provided to an employee or merely sitting in unsold stock. In all these cases, you would not want to see the item ‘out in the wild’, cited in an insurance claim or in possession of someone in police custody. All these events indicate that the item is not where it ought to be and so we notify you in real-time of these occurrences. Also, thanks to AssetWatch’s unique integration with CheckMEND, the world’s leading second-hand trade due-diligence service, we even prevent the item from being traded.

Use cases

Your retail outlet keeps a small stock of valuable consumer electronics. The local manager charged with securing and managing that stock is less than honest and is manipulating the system to their ends. They have the necessary access to stock management, and exceptions so can easily hide misdeeds. However, taking a device that is recorded on AssetWatch round the corner to the nearest second-hand trader results in that trader rejecting the sale when they run their due-diligence check. Not only that but the sale attempt is recorded and you notified of the time, date, place and item. You know that item has not been sold but now you know it’s been stolen! AssetWatch has been instrumental in identifying employee theft and benefits from being outside the normal controls within businesses.

For equipment out on rental, a similar same thing may happen. A bad actor reports to you that the item was stolen from a site or vehicle; perhaps they make a police report too in an attempt to convince you of their plight but when a sale is attempted, the date, time and in many cases, CCTV evidence will expose the crook.

Finally, straight up employee theft. The valuable laptop or phone you have provided them to do their job and an employee in need of fast cash. They try to trade the item, but it’s the trader rejects it and an automated alert is sent to you. Perhaps they succeed at the next less diligent trader, and now they report it stolen expecting the company to replace it and make an insurance claim. The times don’t add up with the first offer before the report of theft and the trader holding identifiable evidence of the seller.

In short, AssetWatch tells us the item should not be seen in trade. We use that to prevent sale among thousands of diligent traders and alert you to any attempts. In many cases, we’re telling you that your business has been a victim of theft before your stock checks or loss prevention manager would otherwise have a clue. AssetWatch achieves this while also delivering all the repatriation opportunities and benefits of an Immobilise registration.

Protecting trades’ tools and depriving criminals of cash

All theft is distressing for the victim and often costly but perhaps none more so than tool theft from tradespeople. You’ve amassed the right tools for every job over several years then one day, they’re all gone in an instant, stolen from a site, your van, or your workshop. Aside from the cost of replacement, some may be irreplaceable. Tools you’ve had since being an apprentice or gifted to you by a respected mentor can be as treasured as family heirlooms.

Protecting trades’ tools and depriving criminals of cash.

You already know the well-trodden advice to deter theft;

  • Bring tools indoors overnight;
  • Use uprated locks and storage safes;
  • Always enable your alarm;
  • But less obvious is the importance of marking your tools.

Power tools, in particular, have serial numbers – record these as belonging to you on a secure register. The police recover thousands of tools every month, but they cannot return most as their owners are unknown. In addition to recording, clearly mark your tools, vehicles, and premises warning would-be thieves that your property is traceable.

Protect your tools with Immobilise

Immobilise – The UK’s national property register, is integrated with police systems, FREE to use, and can record serial numbers or the numbers of marking products and labels from Immobilise or any other marking product. Whatever physical marking method you choose, ensuring it’s registered at immobilise.com is the best way to maximise your chances of return.

Registration on Immobilise enables the return of your property and helps you to expedite insurance claims with accurate information. Also, a simple click, reporting an item as stolen will prevent its trade at thousands of reputable second-hand traders across the UK and mindful buyers from auction sites who make use of the world’s leading property due-diligence service, CheckMEND.com.

In a typical month, CheckMEND is used to protect buyers in over 5 million transactions each month. In a typical month, CheckMEND prevents over £30m of stolen property from being traded, and Immobilise is uniquely integrated with that system.

If you are a victim of theft, your registration and report on Immobilise prevents the thief from profiting, gives the police evidence of a suspect’s wrongdoing and ultimately, helps get your property back. Register now or login to an existing account on Immobilise.

What can you do to minimise your risk of buying a stolen phone?

It was great to read about successful businesses in this article from the BBC about buying second-hand smartphones. 

Second-hand smartphones are good for the environment and often represent real bargains. As with any used purchase, though it is essential to take steps to protect yourself and minimise the chances of buying a dud. 

A person checking whether a smartphone has a significant used history on CheckMEND.com

Used phones may have been involved in frauds from ID theft involving bogus airtime contracts to fake retailer returns and fraudulent insurance claims.  In addition of course to the all-too-common burglary, robbery, and more serious crimes. 

What can you do to minimise your risk of buying a stolen phone?

  • Always ask the seller for the IMEI and Manufacturer’s serial number of the phone – if they have many units to sell they may not know this until actual despatch. Still, a private or small volume seller should always be able and willing to provide this. 
  • Use the numbers to run a check for yourself at CheckMEND.com. This will let you know if there is any record that the phone is lost, stolen, or the subject of an insurance claim, police report, or corporate ownership that may affect your ability to obtain the legal title. 
  • Better still, ask the seller for a copy of the CheckMEND certificate produced when they first received the phone. The best sellers do this as part of their business routinely and again will be happy to provide it. An advantage here is that you may check the certificate’s authenticity free of charge by entering its number at checkmend.com/uk/verify.
  • Confirm the IMEI and the serial number of the phone that arrives matches what the seller said they were sending. 

In a typical month, traders using CheckMEND avoid buying £35m worth of stolen property. Don’t become the second victim of a phone crime, insist on CheckMEND.