As we waved goodbye to 2022, we also took a look back at some of the headline figures from the year.
It’s incredible to think that over 4.7 million users may have bought a compromised device if they hadn’t thought to run a check on it first!
You can find out more about our data sets and how we help to fight fraud and prevent crime by reading about Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem.
There are many benefits to selling phones, devices and electronics you no longer need.
Aside from the obvious perk of a boost to your bank balance, there’s more to it than just money. Fuelled by demand and short product lifecycles, e-waste (anything with a plug or battery) is one of the world’s most complex and fastest-growing waste streams.
These items could be given a second lease of life by finding them a new owner. Or the valuable materials within them can be reused and recycled, promoting a circular economy. Either way, you’ll be helping to reduce e-waste and its impact on the environment.
There are many routes to market now available for selling your pre-loved gadgets.
If an item isn’t in good, working condition, some websites will offer you a lower amount for it. Otherwise, the manufacturer or retailer may have a recycling programme in place, or you might even be able to put it in your household recycling (check first, though).
There’s an excellent tool on the Recycle Now website that will help you to find the right place to correctly dispose of an item.
As mentioned above, if you’re selling a device second-hand, it’s important that your item is in good, working condition and any damage or issues are outlined to the buyer from the outset.
As the owner, it’s your responsibility to delete any data from the device before you sell or recycle it. If you’re unsure how to, Recycle Your Electricals have put together a handy guide.
It’s worth shopping around, to ensure you get the best price you can for your item. If you’re listing it on an online auction site, or even selling to someone you know, make sure you do your research to ensure your pricing is fair.
With CheckMEND, you can run the world’s most comprehensive device check, with real-time checks against billions of records. It allows you to unlock an item’s history, checking that it has not been recorded as stolen, lost, blacklisted/blocked, or had insurance claims made against it.
As a seller, by providing a CheckMEND certificate, you can verify the item isn’t compromised and is eligible for sale. This helps to build trust between you and your buyer and to ultimately achieve your best price.
There is a FREE check available for all new users (£1.99 thereafter).
Whilst most see the festive period as a time for goodwill to all men, unfortunately – as anyone who has watched ‘Home Alone’ will know – thieves don’t take annual leave. In fact, long winter nights, festive distractions and busier social calendars can offer burglars more opportunities than any other time of year.
Luckily, there are lots of precautions you can take, without going to the same lengths as Kevin McCallister.
Twinkling fairy lights don’t need to be just for decoration! Any form of outdoor lighting – from a motion sensor security light to dressed-up evergreens – can help protect your home by lighting up the exterior and removing the cover of darkness that thieves love. It makes approaching your home too conspicuous for a burglar.
However, many enthusiastic festive house dressers’ common mistake is feeding extension cables through partially open windows; criminals know to look for this vulnerability. When it comes to outdoor lighting, if you don’t have an external plug outlet, opt for solar or battery-operated lights instead.
Bin collections over the Christmas and New Year period are normally at different times. If you can’t take packaging to a recycling centre, make sure you only put your rubbish out just before the collection and do your best to fold boxes inside-out so that they don’t advertise any new contents of your home to thieves.
For thieves, social media can be used to scout potential targets. If you usually publish your whereabouts during the holiday season – including any plans to be away from home – do think twice before posting this year, as you could be giving a potential burglar knowledge of when your house is going to be empty. Uploaded photos of pricey Christmas gifts can also be a problem. It’s always worth double-checking your privacy settings on social channels and, where possible, keeping your profile private.
The Office for National Statistics reported in 2020 that windows were used to gain access in 30% of burglaries, so installing a few deadbolts and new window hinges could increase the security of your home. 1 in 7 burglars also walked straight through an unlocked door; where possible, it’s worth keeping your doors locked even when you’re at home.
If you’re going out for the evening, you could use a plug timer on your lights to give the illusion of someone being at home or go one step further and invest in a Fake TV device.
You should also always ensure valuable items are out of sight.
Using window stickers to highlight the fact that your possessions are security marked and registered on Immobilise is a savvy move. It warns thieves that your goods are traceable and not worth the risk of stealing. If you have a security camera, a dog or are a member of a Neighbourhood Watch area, these are also good things to advertise to any unwelcome visitors!
Be sure to cancel any deliveries. Arrange for a trusted neighbour to park on the driveway to help create the impression someone is at home. As mentioned above, make use of light timers and devices like Fake TVs.
Make sure that garden tools or ladders are not left lying around or accessible from an unlocked garden shed; they could be used to force entry into your home. Garages are often targets for burglars looking for tools, bikes and gardening equipment – if you have a garage, make sure it is locked and items such as bikes or tools are secured. Make sure that anything portable or valuable is recorded on Immobilise.
Burglars know all of the best hiding places for spare keys, so don’t put them under rocks, in flowerpots, or above door ledges. Instead, give the spare key to family or a trusted neighbour. Many houses now have alarms; make sure yours is on and protecting your home when you are away or out for the evening, where possible.
Most electricals have a unique code, such as a serial number which can be used to register the item. Mobile phones have an IMEI number, which can be easily found by dialling *#06#.
If your gift doesn’t have a unique identifier, there are several affordable marking kits available from the Immobilise store allowing the police to easily identify the owners of items they recover.
There was a 21% increase in shoplifting between March 2021 and March 2022 (Usdaw, July 2022). Employee theft has been steadily dropping since peaking in 2003, but there were still 5,638 offences reported throughout England and Wales in 2021/22 (Statista.com, July 2022).
Now is certainly not the time to be lax in the security of your company’s assets, particularly those that are more prone to go ‘walkabout’ such as mobile phones, laptops and other portable tech. These have always been lucrative items to thieves, fraudsters and even dishonest employees; they’re high value, they can be turned around for cash easily and the theft can potentially go unnoticed for a long period of time, making it harder for any action to be taken.
They say crime doesn’t pay, but there is a booming second-hand marketplace that could quite easily convince someone otherwise, particularly if they’re facing difficulty in paying their bills or keeping enough food in the fridge to stop their family from going hungry.
Even when you have all of the measures above in place, there is often a problematic point at which you lose sight of an asset owned by your company. This could be:
At any of these points, a device could be easily stolen and very quickly re-sold. It could take days, weeks or months before it is noticed, depending on the situation.
Unless of course, you have a way of monitoring these assets regardless of where they are and an alert system in place to notify you if they are offered for trade without consent.
Preventing the sale of the stolen property already takes around £350m per year out of the criminal economy and this is expected to be as much as £500m by December 2023.
– Les Gray, COO, Recipero Ltd
This is where AssetWatch comes in; a unique, simple and effective service, used by some of the world’s largest manufacturers, distributors and retailers, along with finance companies, rental operations and any businesses with laptops and phones provided to employees or used outside of a regular office.
We help a broad scope of companies across many sectors to quickly detect the unauthorised selling of company assets, so that they can take action against:
The use of AssetWatch can also help to reduce theft by acting as a deterrent. We provide each of our data partners with a checkmark, serving as a warning that their assets are being monitored and are readily identifiable to police.
AssetWatch is a tool which will monitor devices from the point of acquisition right up until they reach their intended recipient, or until the company sells or disposes of them. To do this, it relies on device data held within Recipero’s unique and comprehensive ‘crime reduction ecosystem‘.
Using the serial number or IMEI of a device as the central way of identifying it, AssetWatch can link activity by police, insurers, second-hand traders, pawnshops and individual consumers buying from auction and classified sites. When you provide us with a list of products you have told us you own, we can monitor them via the serial number and match any activity in the ecosystem to it. We can then alert you when someone attempts to trade an item.
In addition to this, we also return a ‘red flag’ result to the trader who is considering buying the item. They will then reject the device, the sale will fall through and the thief cannot profit from their crime. The easy route for profit – and potentially even the incentive to steal again – is removed.
It is a simple concept but it only works as a solution because of Recipero’s unique footprint of traders across the globe.
No personal information is required at all; we just need you to regularly provide us with the serial numbers of items you have taken ownership of and those that you have sold or disposed of, so we always have an up-to-date record of your company assets.
To summarise all of the above, AssetWatch can:
There is slightly more to it than this though; by using AssetWatch and becoming one of our data partners, you’re helping us with the bigger picture.
At Recipero, we work closely with police forces, the general public and industry professionals to fight theft and fraud; it is what our ever-growing ‘crime reduction ecosystem‘ exists for. Every serial number inputted into that ecosystem becomes a piece of the much larger puzzle. Every partnership we forge helps us to stamp out fraud and deny thieves of a marketplace for their stolen goods. So, benefit number 6 is that AssetWatch can:
6. Help you to become a crime-fighter!
As the core concept for AssetWatch is quite simple – the matching of a serial number record to lots of other data streams – it can be of benefit to a whole host of circumstances and industries. In the past, we have mainly helped businesses to monitor mobile phones, but the service can be stretched and applied to any item with a serial number.
Over the last 10 months, for just one rental company, we tracked 60,000 devices and have stopped over 2,000 of them being illegally sold on through UK high street and online traders.
The devices concerned have a used value of over £1m and a new value of over £1.5m. Knowledge of the attempts to trade have given the business a chance to identify accounts prone to default well ahead of actual default and take steps to mitigate the risk.
AssetWatch devices such as those on rental agreements number in the hundreds of thousands already. This is a rapidly expanding market with millions of devices expected to be monitored by the end of 2023.
– Mark Fowler, Head of Commercial Solutions, Recipero Ltd.
Looking at another sector – this time, telecoms – we worked with a large retailer to detect thousands of new shop-stock items being offered to second-hand traders, sometimes on the same high street! The evidence provided has been instrumental in identifying employee dishonesty and stock control process deficiencies.
To summarise, AssetWatch helps you to go above and beyond best practice in loss prevention, by:
If you feel your company could benefit from tracking and protecting its valuable assets, you can take the first step by emailing info@recipero.com to register your interest. We’ll get back to you with a very simple template for you to fill in, so that we can provide you with a free, no-obligation proof of concept.
Enquiries: info@recipero.com
UK Office: +44 (0) 333 880 6658
US Office: (+1) 888 551 1159
Visit our AssetWatch solution page to learn more.
During the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic, you may have seen more of your neighbours (from a safe distance of course!) than you did your own family. Clapping from your doorsteps and soaking in the view of another real-life human.
As time charges on and ‘normal’ daily life resumes, it’s important not to lose those neighbourly connections. Having a strong, close community gives us a sense of belonging. Everyone can also benefit from the added security that comes from living in a close community.
Letting your trusted neighbour(s) know when you’re away.
Leave a spare key with them so that they can check on the property and take in any post or deliveries. They may also be able to park their car on your drive while you’re away.
Set up a community Facebook page or WhatsApp group.
They’re great for sharing information about suspicious or anti-social behaviour, with the added benefit of getting to know your neighbours better.
Suspicious behaviour to watch out for might include:
Organise deterrents.
Window stickers and signage warning that your property is protected by CCTV, an alarm system, or even a dog, can help to deter thieves. You could also put up stickers or signs to show that you have marked and registered your belongings, making them more difficult to sell on and therefore less attractive to thieves.
You can mark your valuables by adding your postcode, phone number or any other number that’s meaningful to you. Various marking and labelling methods are available, but any mark will help. Keep a record of your belongings, making a note of any serial numbers or unique marks. Take photographs and consider sending them to a friend or relative so there is another copy, or record your items securely on the Immobilise National Property Register. Such registration not only helps Police return your property but may also prevent criminals from easily selling it.
You could club together with your neighbours to buy signage or share a property marking kit to help protect your belongings. If you have elderly or vulnerable neighbours who aren’t able to register their own items, you could help them to do it.
Join the local Neighbourhood Watch.
You can search the Neighbourhood Watch website to locate your nearest group, or start your own. Becoming a member gives you access to a whole host of crime prevention tips, ready-made campaigns and toolkits.
Do your bit.
The most important thing you can do is look out for one another. If you have elderly or vulnerable neighbours, those chats over the hedge, or offers of help – however small – become even more important. Discuss security measures with your neighbours and if someone isn’t able to organise signage or fit a security light, offer to do it for them.
Items registered (for free) on the Immobilise database are then visible to over 40,000 police officers who can check for matching records when they recover lost or potentially stolen goods.
The team at Recipero work closely with police forces up and down the country to help publicise the benefits of marking your property.
In Essex, burglaries have fallen by half in the last three years, but their police force are always looking at ways to help prevent and reduce the risk of crime even further. We were therefore delighted to help them launch their ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign.
There are simple things we can all do to make our homes and businesses even safer. Property marking deters thieves, can aid in prosecutions and help with any ownership disputes.
We would recommend marking any item that is of value to you either financially or sentimentally.
– Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett
(Essex Police Force Lead for Crime Prevention)
For more information on how property marking works, the different methods you can use, the recommended items to mark and how to register them for free on Immobilise, visit www.essex.police.uk/MakeYourMark
National Home Security Month takes place throughout October each year and we’re very proud to once again be supporting the campaign.
We also thought it was a great opportunity to crunch some numbers and look more closely at the impact of Immobilise and our wider Crime Reduction Ecosystem.
A big thank you to our 24 million + users, for registering over 35 million items so far on the UK’s national property register. It helps police to identify the rightful owners of recovered property, combats the sale of stolen valuables and simplifies insurance claims and police reports.
It may surprise you that according to the National Union of Students, as many as one in five students fall victim to property crime whilst at college or university.
Thieves know that student residences are full of expensive gear; laptops, tablets, phones, bikes and cameras provide rich pickings. In fact, the average break-in costs £900 to repair the damage and replace belongings.
A lot of theft is opportunistic – a few simple steps can be enough to make thieves think twice and move on.
Registering your property at Immobilise.com is FREE. You can register property irrespective of any 3rd party labelling used; it’s all accepted!
For 20% off all Immobilise marking products, including TV Simulators and Bike Security Tags at shop.immobilise.com, use code BACKTOSCHOOL22 at the checkout. Discount valid until 31st October 2022.
By Les Gray, COO of Recipero
Ok, so not everyone looking to part with valuable used consumer electronics is a ‘Geek’. The proverb shamelessly mangled for this post’s title does neatly sum up a note of caution though – not everyone trying to sell you an item is acting honestly.
Mobile phones are undergoing a massive increase in fraudulent sales, reflecting a wide-ranging change in the marketplace for how phones reach consumers. Many companies are now providing new or refurbished phones on rental agreements. These are attractive propositions, enabling the consumer to obtain a cheaper handset for a lower monthly cost than the traditional network-subsidised model and the ability to upgrade or cancel almost at will.
The problem for traders with this market shift is the number of phones being fraudulently sold or offered as collateral for pawn or buy-back transactions is increasing rapidly.
The seller of such devices does not have legal title, so the trader cannot acquire legal title. The trader’s perceived security in the device is worthless.
Many traders check whether a phone is blocked on mobile networks. This check identifies a small subset of stolen phones reported to the networks. However, it amounts to shutting their eyes to the presence of loss and theft reports from police, insurers, the public and corporate owners.
Only CheckMEND has access to Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem, a massive collection of devices (not just phones) that are stolen or will become so if sold. Millions of devices are rightfully in possession of consumers but not owned by them, and they have no right to sell. The shift in market conditions has recently grown this class of phones by 10% month-on-month during 2022 and is accelerating, widening the already significant gap between network-blocked phones and stolen phones.
An analysis of 30,000 phones from one recent month’s trade, found over 1,000 stolen items valued at almost £200,000. Not a single phone was network blocked when offered for sale. Pawn or buy-back transactions may feel more secure as the customer often redeems the phone. However, 40% become blocked up to eight weeks after the transaction; plenty of time for the careless trader to resell the phone, only to have a disgruntled customer return when it stops working. Perhaps worse, that customer tries to sell their phone only to fail because of the stolen record—double trouble and cost for the unfortunate trader.
CheckMEND is the only due diligence system compliant with the UK Recycler’s Code of Best Practice, and the above should clarify why. The world’s biggest companies that create markets for mobile phones trust us to track their property and detect and prevent its theft. Their trust in us is why CheckMEND’s due diligence service is both unrivalled and growing at an increasing rate.
Are you buying phones without running CheckMEND checks? Are you confident that you are doing enough? Contact us for a free, no-obligation analysis of historical transactions. Every stolen phone we identify that you’ve missed will have the corresponding information provided so you can take action on it to reduce the risk you’ve previously assumed.
Remember, network block checking is not the same as avoiding buying stolen property.
1. Lock all of your doors, not just the front! Including (if applicable) your garage door, side gate and shed, all of which can sometimes be overlooked.
2. Ensure all of your windows are secure. Be aware that some windows have winter and summer settings; the summer setting can be more vulnerable to tools such as crowbars. You can check for yourself by placing a piece of paper behind the seal, closing the window and pulling at the paper. If it’s difficult to remove and perhaps tears, the window is in winter mode. If it slides out gently, it’s in summer mode. There should be a screw mechanism on the side of the window that you can use an Allen key to adjust.
3. If you have a CCTV system or house alarm, test them to ensure they’re working properly. These are a great deterrent and could play a significant part in catching out any thieves. False alarms and cameras can also be bought to make burglars think twice.
4. Use automatic timers on lights, or other technology such as our TV Sim to make the house seem more lived-in from outside.
5. Ask trusted neighbours to check in or help out, collecting post or parking their car on the driveway every so often. If they’re very kind, they might also water your garden for you!
6. Don’t hide your spare key under your mat; use a key safe.
7. Ensure valuables are out of view from the windows.
8. Register your valuables on Immobilise – it helps police to identify the owners of recovered property, increasing your chances of your belongings being returned to you. It also simplifies insurance claims and police reports, with certificates of ownership available via your account.
9. Cancel all of your regular deliveries.
10. Don’t advertise your holiday on social media, as tempting as it may be!
