Category Archives: Report My Loss

CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, Crime, eBay, Fraud, Immobilise, Immobilize, Lost Property, NMPR, Police, Recipero, Report My Loss, Students, Uncategorized

Check Up before you level up

Sony’s Playstation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox series X had their big reveals recently selling out immediately. For those who aren’t willing to pay thousands of pounds on eBay in a bidding war, it appears that the next best chance to score a system will be on Black Friday. That’s when a number of big-box retailers will make their latest shipments available. 

If you are lucky enough to get one this holiday season and are looking to sell your old gaming system don’t forget to sell with a CheckMEND.com certificate it’s been proven to enhance listings on internet auction and classified sites to get you a much better price. All you need is the serial number to perform a check on CheckMEND to generate a certificate.

If you’re considering buying a second-hand system, on the other hand, you may want to look at a Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS4 Pro, or PS4 Slim, all having plenty of life left, there are bargains to be had. For added peace-of-mind before making a purchase don’t forget to ask the seller or retailer for a copy of a CheckMEND certificate to prove the legitimacy of the system. You may check the certificate’s authenticity free of charge by entering its number at checkmend.com/uk/verify.

Crime, Fraud, Immobilize, Lost Property, NMPR, Police, Report My Loss, Students, Uncategorized

Finder’s keepers poll results

Immobilise asked what people would do if they found a mobile phone left on a cinema seat. Here’s what we found.

We’re pleased to see that 76% of our respondents knew that they should hand it into the cinema’s reception. All public venues will have a policy for handling found property, and when the owner misses their phone, they are likely to assume that the cinema has it somewhere safe.

6% said they’d give it to charity, which is admirable but we’d suggest against it. The old sayings “finders keepers” and “possession is nine-tenths of the law” are actually very wide of the mark. You don’t own what you find, and you can’t legitimately gift things you don’t own, no matter how well-intentioned.

4% said they’d leave it where it is. Perhaps the second-best option but you can’t be sure the next finder will be as honest as you!

The rest of our audience said they’d drop it off at a police station. This one definitely has its place but only if you find something out in the street rather than on some known business premises. Check your local force policy; most will accept found reports online now and are unlikely to physically take found property unless it’s likely to have personal data on it, is dangerous, or is of high value.

Police will usually check Recipero’s systems for registered owners so just in case you become a victim of a loss, make sure to register your property at immobilise.com as soon as possible!

Finders Keepers – Poll Results Infographic – Immobilise.com
AssetWatch, CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, ClaimsCheck, Crime, eBay, Fraud, Immobilise, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Recipero, Report My Loss, Students

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.

CheckMEND, ClaimsCheck, Crime, Immobilise, Immobilize, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Recipero, Report My Loss

You Can Impact Crime

As a result of the pandemic, the impact on the economy has been severe but there are some positives to be found – the realisation by many businesses that remote working is both feasible and productive for parts of their workforce being one and a massive albeit temporary reduction in property crime being another. It’s much riskier to burgle a property when it’s occupied. Sadly, as we all venture out, so will the thieves and property crime of all kinds will rise quickly once more.

Individuals can impact crime by simply registering their valuables and then alerting police and traders if they’re ever stolen or lost via Immobilise.com

It’s difficult as individuals to think that we can impact crime, just as it’s hard to imagine individuals fighting with a pandemic. What we have seen though is that acting as one, working together to face a problem that affects us all is effective and does make a difference. 

So it is with addressing crime. We can each take small actions to achieve big results. The key to success is ensuring that our actions are joined up.

The simple act of recording the identifying numbers, appearance and marks of your property in the right place takes a few minutes but it becomes very powerful when linked with police and second-hand property traders.

With a suspect in custody or the subject of stop & search powers, being able to attribute the property in their possession to an owner such as yourself may lead to arrest in addition to the obvious potential of your property being returned to you.

Indicating that your property is stolen on Immobilise will help the second-hand trade avoid buying your property from a thief. There are many thousands of responsible traders diligently checking every item they are offered. Turning away the seller of stolen property may not get your property back of course but it will devalue it to the thief, making the theft unrewarding and ultimately deterring the behaviour. Every check creates a footprint that puts a person at a specific place and time in possession of your property.  Valuable intelligence for the police and a valuable deterrent.

User registering an IMEI on their Immobilise account. Simply dial *#06# to reveal the 15 digit number.

If you are the victim of theft and need to make an insurance claim of course having those details readily recorded will help to expedite claims. Indeed, those same records of registration and trade also help insurers to deter fraudulent claims and less insurance fraud keeps your premiums down.

Finally, when buying second-hand, do ask the trader for evidence of them having checked their purchase. If they can’t provide that evidence –  that you should be able to verify independently as being valid – find another trader who will. This simple action encourages responsible trading and reduces crime.

You can read more about Recipero’s connected ecosystem for reducing crime here https://www.recipero.com/crime-reduction-ecosystem and you can register your property FREE of charge at https://www.immobilise.com

Crime, Immobilise, Immobilize, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, Recipero, Report My Loss, Students

Mobile Phone Security Advice

Phone thieves have a variety of techniques to separate you from your mobile phone. Pickpocketing and ”snatch” theft incidents are quite common. As is accidentally leaving it somewhere only to discover that it had gone upon your return. It’s also risky to leave your phone on display in your car or anywhere else in public unattended.

Immobilise recommends the following advice to give your device the best protection it can get;

Always use a keypad lock
Use the keypad lock so that thieves cannot immediately access your phone or use the biometric authentication if your phone has it (fingerprint or facial recognition).

Install a tracking/anti-theft app
These can be an effective way of seeing exactly where your phone has been taken to and the police trace your phone – which is very useful when catching the thieves who took it.

Register it on Immobilise.com
Register your phone FREE on immobilise.com to help police recover it and combat the sale of stolen goods. UK network operators can also stop a stolen phone from working across their networks with its IMEI – Find your number by dialing *#06# and make sure you log it.

Be cautious
When you’re talking on your phone in public, be aware of your surroundings. When storing your phone, don’t just slip it into your jeans pocket or leave it on view in a public place where it may get unwanted attention.

Get insured. 
Replacing a mobile phone can be a costly business and only a third of phone owners have insurance. It’s a sensible idea and a small price to pay for better peace of mind.

CheckMEND, ClaimsCheck, Immobilise, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Recipero, Report My Loss

Recipero prevents Criminals from a gain of £35m

“It’s been widely publicised that criminals have exploited the vulnerable during the pandemic and will continue to do so. When lockdown restrictions ease and we all begin adapting to the new normal, their activities will continue to exploit consumer behaviour. Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem provides accurate, efficient data to minimise and prevent theft, loss and dishonesty. We prevented criminals from a gain of £35m before lockdown and will prevent even more going forwards.”

–Andrew Kewley, Head of Policing Solutions at Recipero
CheckMEND, ClaimsCheck, Immobilise, NMPR, Recipero, Report My Loss

Recipero Renewal of Secured By Design membership

Recipero is delighted to announce the renewal of our Secured By Design membership covering all of our products.

Secured By Design is an official Police security initiative that seeks to identify products and services meeting the highest standards of security and impacts on crime.

Our SBD membership page lists our wide range of Asset protection services and products:-

Read more about our Crime Reduction Ecosystem at https://www.recipero.com/crime-reduction-ecosystem

Crime, Fraud, Immobilise, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Recipero, Report My Loss

Festival season is upon us, so keep your valuables safe!

It’s that time of year to kick back and relax at a festival and listen to your favourite kind of music but have you thought about how to keep your valuables safe from loss or theft.

Festivals can be an absolute goldmine for thieves, although there is plenty of advice out there about what is in vogue to wear at festivals this year, there isn’t much advice about protecting your property.

Opportunists can present themselves at any time especially in large crowds so whether you are protecting your iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or HTC phone, or are worried about your wallet and camera there are a few things that you can do to keep your valuables safe.

  1. Firstly, you need to register any valuables on Immobilise, the national property register which is linked to the police database (NMPR) where if any property is found the police can run a search and return it to the rightful owner. It is a must do for gadgets such as your mobile phone, which you will want to take with you to a festival. You can register any property on Immobilise, so get registering!
  2. Try not to bring too many valuables in the first place, but if you do don’t leave anything unattended or in tent. Sometimes there may be free locker areas if you do have something you want to lock away.
  3. Keep valuables in the bottom of your sleeping bag at night.
  4. Only take as much cash as you think you will need and try separate cash from cards.
  5. Don’t put phones and wallets in your back pocket.
  6. Report any suspicious behaviour or crime to police immediately.

Stay safe this festival season and have a great time doing it!

Lost Property, Recipero, Report My Loss

Recipero’s online lost property repatriation service Report My Loss launches across the U.S.

Recipero is pleased to announce the launch of its online Report My Loss service throughout the U.S.

lost-mobile-lres-logoJuly 4th means lots of celebrations, parties and events across the country – it is also a massive day for lost property.

Losing valued possessions is enough of a problem. Reporting it should not add to the inconvenience, cue Report My Loss.

Report My Loss is a simple online tool that does exactly as its name implies, enabling people to easily report all types of lost property including cellphones, jewelry, tools and more.

If you’ve ever lost something, you are all too familiar with the hassle involved in dealing with it – firstly working out when, where and how the loss happened, then trying to find out who you should report it to.

Traditionally, where reports were even possible, they’d be taken locally by police or lost property offices and that’s where they’d stay – locally. If your lost item was recovered in the next town or precinct the chances of a report being matched up with an item was very low.

As a national system, Report My Loss eliminates those historical shortcomings and seeks to join the dots between finding agencies and lost property owners.

Why does it work? The short answer – it’s part of Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem which means many police and other agencies that recover property are already searching Report My Loss records as part of their property investigation processes.

What does it cost? A single report in the U.S. is just $5.95.

Why pay? Good question, there are ways to report losses free but you need to ask yourself some important questions like, how likely are they to help recover my valued possessions? is my data secure? will the report help prevent trade? is the report shared with police?

Report My Loss delivers on all these needs, plus many other benefits that have been well proven in the UK, where it’s used thousands of time each month, dramatically increasing repatriation rates, while delivering considerable time and resource savings for the public and police.

The U.S. loss reporting site is already live at: www.reportmyloss.com/us/

Further information:

Report My Loss corporate information: Recipero Report My Loss information

NMPR, Police, Recipero, Report My Loss

Recipero Crime Reduction Ecosystem services now available on G-Cloud 7 Marketplace

ukgov1-180pxAs an accredited government supplier Recipero’s intelligence solutions are now available to be procured by public sector agencies on the newly released G-Cloud 7 Digital Marketplace.

Making Recipero solutions available though the G-Cloud 7 Digital Marketplace opens up another route for UK law enforcement and other public bodies to benefit from the Recipero Crime Reduction Ecosystem.

For more detail please contact Recipero or visit the G-Cloud 7 Marketplace.