Tag Archives: Insurance Claims

CheckMEND, Crime, Fraud, Immobilise, Mobile Phones, Recipero

Don’t get hung up with fraud this New Year and check for warning signs when buying a second hand phone

Mobile phone fraud prevention specialist, Recipero, part of the Callcredit Information Group, is urging consumers and retailers to undertake device checks when buying a second hand phone to avoid becoming a victim of fraud during the January sales and beyond.

Recipero’s CheckMEND data* reveals, that the number of device checks made on second hand iPhones has almost doubled in the last four years, highlighting the growth in the size of the second hand phone market and the increased awareness amongst some consumers and retailers of ensuring the legitimacy of second hand phones.

Last January there was a spike in the number of iPhone checks performed via the Recipero CheckMEND service. More than 1.3 million checks took place (more than 400,000 up on the month before) and Callcredit’s analysts are expecting upwards of two million at the start of 2018.

Mark Harman, Managing Director of Recipero, said: “Even though our findings highlight that there has been an increase in second hand iPhone device checks, fraud is prevalent in what is a market for increasingly expensive devices. Latest ONS crime figures, compiled from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, show 401,000 mobile phones were reported as stolen in the 12 month period ending March 2017. It’s important that consumers and retailers take the necessary precautions and check the history of a device.”

The Recipero data also revealed a surge in the number of searches on the CheckMEND database following the introduction of new iPhone models – as it shows the number of device checks being performed increasing by over a third (36.6%)** in the period after a new release.

Mark concluded: “A check on a second hand phone includes a device life history that starts at the point of manufacture, through ownership changes, right up to it being recycled. The device is checked against IMEI, a phone’s unique reference number, loss and theft reports and police crime reports in the US and UK, insurers title information and settled claims.
These checks provide information which will flag up (red) in a CheckMEND report if the device is compromised, helping to protect those purchasing a second hand phone from acquiring a lost or stolen device.”

*Based on CheckMEND UK data of number of checks made on iPhones each month from Jan 2014- Dec 2017 inclusive. Taken from the Recipero database which is part of the Callcredit Information Group.

**Based on the average number of CheckMEND iPhone device checks two months prior to a new iPhone launch and the average for the two months following.

CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, Crime, Fraud, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, Police, Recipero

Recipero’s CheckMEND goes mobile to help protect mobile device traders!

CheckMEND Responsive WebsiteRecipero are pleased to announce the global launch their new CheckMEND website. The new mobile friendly design helps CheckMEND users run real-time reports to avoid trading stolen phones and mobile devices, regardless of location or access-device.

Launched simultaneously in the US, UK and EU the new responsive site has been well received by CheckMEND’s extensive footprint of users which include national consumer electronics retailers, international recyclers, traders and the public.

CheckMEND produces real-time history reports based on comprehensive data published into Recipero’s Device Service Bureau by numerous organizations covering mobile networks, retailers, police, insurers, lease providers and the public.

Reports are delivered instantly to aid buying/selling decisions, helping CheckMEND users avoid financial loss, legal implications and hassle that’s often associated with handling devices with questionable backgrounds!

The service doesn’t stop there either; CheckMEND Status Change Alerts are a powerful feature that helps mitigate issues that can occur when a smartphone or other mobile device is reported as lost or stolen after a check is performed!

For more information about CheckMEND’s features, how it creates savings for customers, helps Police provide Safe Trader Schemes, and aids compliance with the Recyclers Code of Practice please visit www.checkmend.com or www.recipero.com

Bicycles, CheckMEND, Crime, Immobilise, Immobilize, NMPR, Police

Christmas is a busy time…for thieves – 10 Crime prevention tips

Christmas brings the busiest shopping weeks of the year and for many retailers often accounts for 70% of their annual revenue. Stocking our homes with the latest electronic gadgets, jewellery and must-have accessories is commonplace, unfortunately though it provides thieves with an increased incentive to commit burglaries.

christmas-burglar-820x2

10 crime prevention tips you shouldn’t ignore…

TIP 1: Deterring would-be criminals is one of the most effective forms of crime prevention. Invest in a motion sensor flood-light or even some outdoor Christmas lights to highlight your home’s exterior. This will hopefully make approaching your home too conspicuous for a burglar. Also, highlighting the fact your possessions are security marked and registered on Immobilise using window decals provide a further warning that your goods are traceable and not worth the risk of stealing!

TIP 2: Festive lighting – be secure. A common mistake of many festive decorators is to feed extension cables through partially open windows, criminals know to look for this vulnerability. When it comes to outdoor lighting, opt for solar or battery operated lights or install outdoor electrical outlets.

TIP 3: Dispose of gift packaging carefully. Refuse collections over the Christmas and New Year period are normally at different times. If you can’t take packaging to a recycling point, make sure you only put your rubbish out just before the collection and do your best to break apart boxes so that they do not advertise your new contents of your home to thieves!

TIP 4: Be careful not to advertise your home to burglars on social media! According to one recent study, social media is a commonly used tool for scouting potential targets. Social media savvy families have a tendency to publish their whereabouts during the holiday season, including any vacation plans. This can let burglars know when your house is going to be empty. Uploaded photos of pricey Christmas gifts can also be a problem as if privacy settings aren’t tied down, it can allow burglars to go shopping just by viewing your Facebook profile.

TIP 5: Check doors and windows for weak spots. Government statistics show that 30% of burglaries happen through windows. Installing a few dead-bolts and new window hinges could increase the security of your home exponentially.

TIP 6: Keep your curtains, drapes and window blinds closed at night, making sure valuable items are out of sight. When going out for the evening make use of inexpensive timers to give the illusion of occupancy, you should also consider leaving a radio on or go further and invest in a Fake TV device to emulate the light given of by at television.

TIP 7: Away over Christmas – plan ahead! If you’re going away at Christmas be sure to cancel newspaper or milk subscriptions. Arrange for a neighbour to park on the driveway to help create the impression someone is home. Don’t leave overly descriptive telephone answering machine messages and again make use of light timers, radios and devices like Fake TV’s.

TIP 8: Secure garages and sheds. Make sure that garden tools or ladders that could be used to force entry into your home are not left lying around or accessible from an unlocked garden shed. Garages are often targets for burglars looking for tools, bikes and gardening equipment – make sure the garage is secure and your possessions are secured too in the case of bikes and tools. Naturally make sure anything portable / valuable is recorded on immobilise.

TIP 9: Don’t hide keys and use alarms if you have them. Burglars know to look for hidden door keys so don’t hide spare keys under rocks, in flowerpots, or above door ledges. Instead give the spare key to family or trusted neighbour. Many houses these days have alarms, many though are rarely set, make sure yours is on and protecting your home when you are away and overnight where possible.

TIP 10: And lastly, don’t forget to register your gifts on Immobilise (www.immobilise.com)! Most gadgets have a unique identification code such as a serial number or for mobile phones an IMEI number – This IMEI number can be found quickly and easily by pressing the following keys on your mobile handset: *#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 and so detect crime.

We hope that you find these tips useful and encourage you to share them with your family, friends and colleagues. As always please remain vigilant and report suspicious activity immediately to the police on 999 if a crime is in progress, 101 in a non-emergency or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

CheckMEND, ClaimsCheck, Crime, Immobilise, Immobilize, NMPR, Police, Recipero

SaferGems’ members to benefit from partnership with Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem

safergems-montage-w250Recipero is pleased to announce its partnership with SaferGems, a service provided by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA).

Focusing initially on jewellery and watch traders, the partnership is set to dramatically improve the benefits of the SaferGems Watch Register service which helps members report and be alerted to lost and stolen items.

The Watch Register is operated by SaferGems, a joint initiative established by the BSIA in partnership with a number of prominent organisations including TH March Insurance Brokers, the National Association of Goldsmiths (NAG) and the British Jewellers’ Association (BJA).

In 2014 alone, over £9m worth of watches was stolen from individuals and jewellery stores, often inadvertently being sold on through the UK’s wide network of pawnbrokers and second-hand jewellery traders. Intelligence gathered by SaferGems shows that watches are among the items of personal property most targeted by thieves, with jewellery shops also frequently targeted by ‘smash and grab’ opportunists and organised gangs.

SaferGems are now entering into partnership with Recipero to improve the operational capabilities of the Watch Register. SaferGems’ Intelligence Officer, Simon Gardner, comments:

Whilst reviewing the operational needs and costs of providing a fast and easily accessible checking service for Watch Register, it became clear that Recipero’s CheckMEND service already provided a very comprehensive service that is well proven in thousands of retail premises nationwide and with a little cooperation could incorporate the Watch Register data that we already hold.

Les Gray, Recipero’s COO said:

We’re delighted to be able to incorporate Watch Register into Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem. This represents real value to Safer Gems and their members and of course enhances existing cooperation with UK Police.

Steve Jupp Deputy Chief Constable with the Suffolk Police Force adds:

This collaboration is another positive step forward in assisting the Police service to work more effectively with the business industry, to identify and recover stolen property. The register is an easy to use and efficient way for officers to access information; I know it will assist in the conviction of many offenders to come.

SaferGems members will further benefit through discounted use of Recipero’s CheckMEND service. CheckMEND, which forms part of many Police “Safe Seller Scheme” initiatives, enables traders of second-hand items to perform history checks to help mitigate the inherent risks of handling second-hand property.

Simon Gardner concludes:

In the long-term, the Watch Register will help to reduce crimes against the jewellery industry by making it more difficult for thieves to resell stolen watches without getting caught.

Further information

Recipero is the leading data aggregator and innovator in personal possession fraud and theft prevention worldwide.  The “Recipero Crime Reduction Ecosystem” works to protect consumers and businesses through provision of intelligence services. Forming part of millions of decision-making processes and transactions every month, Recipero’s data and intelligence solutions are provided online, in real-time, and are used globally by law enforcement, insurers, recyclers, retailers and consumers. Learn more at: www.recipero.com

The British Security Industry Association is the trade association covering all aspects of the professional security industry in the UK. Its members provide over 70% of UK security products and services and adhere to strict quality standards. For more information see www.bsia.co.uk, email info@bsia.co.uk or telephone 0845 389 3889/020 7484 8728.

The SaferGems team, which has links to all the UK police forces; Co-ordinates data from the trade on incidents and suspicious events; Sends alerts to members of the NAG, the BJA and those insured via T H March; Co-ordinates data across police forces to improve identification and conviction of criminals. Learn more at:  www.safergems.org.uk

CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, Crime, Police

FCC issue clear, focused, actionable guidance to tackle phone crime

At the FCC’s Technical Advisory Committee meeting on December 4th (FCC video – view from 39 minutes) Chairman Wheeler shared what he will be asking industry to do to reduce levels of mobile device theft.

Ensure that the lock/erase/restore functionalities built into many phones today is enabled by default.

This is important progress for consumers, many of whom choose not to enable such mechanisms. In future it is hoped they will have to actively choose to disable them. Consumer choice will not be restricted – but they will be protected by default. In the area of theft from consumers, such functionality is having an effect already. Changing the default configuration will ensure more consumers are protected.

Secure the unique device identifiers by ensuring they cannot be changed.

This is absolutely crucial to both the good operation of cellular networks and in the fight against crime. The practice of reprogramming is already outlawed in several countries but enforcement is virtually impossible. Making identifiers immutable at a hardware level will make circumvention uneconomical for criminals. At the same time it will ensure that existing tools such as cross-operator blocking continue to effectively contribute to the fight against device crime.

Improve use of data to stop the resale of stolen devices.

This request has three components and is the most significant recommendation. Data sharing is already used to reduce wider crimes involving corporate theft and contract fraud that blocking or ‘kill switch’ functions do not address but  there are gaps that need to be addressed.

Some existing databases are slow and cumbersome

Industry needs to use the “best of breed” databases to share information.

Current systems have limitations at odds with the fast-paced world of wireless. It is clear that there is no technological barrier to having real-time data sharing between networks, law enforcement and traders. In Malaysia the Communications and Multimedia Commission has successfully implemented and will soon launch real-time blocking and information sharing between networks and other parties. The attentions of the FCC in this area should raise awareness with industry.

Industry must support law enforcement agencies in its actions

The Chairman sets the challenge “There must be an app for that!”  Well, there is, of course, and it can be accessed by law enforcement officers from any smartphone, tablet or web browser at www.nmpr.com. This web application brings together databases old and new in one place that officers can use very simply. The global NMPR is used by over 80,000 police officers and staff in the UK and 75 agencies in the US are currently trialing its use. We anticipate that the FCC’s attention in this area will encourage all law enforcement agencies to explore this powerful tool.

Industry must take steps to verify that a device is not stolen when it is offered to them in trade

Some industry leaders including Sprint, Gamestop and Gazelle adopted such practices up to two years ago. They recognized that simply checking whether a phone is blocked by another network is not enough. Less than 50% ¹ of phones that are not in the hands of the rightful owner are reported to networks. Those subject to insurance claims, corporate theft, supply chain leakage, contract and rental fraud account for a massive amount of thefts that do not result in network blocking or kill switch activation. These can only be addressed by both data sharing from industry and appropriate due-diligence at the point of trade.

The Chairman’s requests to industry are clear, focused and actionable. The solutions to each challenge are available and cost effective. The wireless industry and law enforcement would do well to look closely at those solutions.

 

¹ As at 8th Dec 2014 US blocked phones accounts for 48.9% of the total US stolen phones that Recipero holds records of.

Links:

ClaimsCheck, Immobilise, Lost Property, NMPR, Police, Report My Loss

ReportMyLoss service now available Nationally

RML-editorial-img-sml-180x110We are pleased to announce that reportMyloss has recently been expanded to encompass the whole of the UK. This will help the public and Police more effectively address the issue of recording and repatriating lost property.

The reportMyloss service was launched a few years ago to help Avon & Somerset Constabulary more effectively handle how lost property was dealt with. The service integrates directly and in real-time with the Police’s National Mobile Property Register (www.theNMPR.com) ensuring the owners of recovered property can be quickly be identified and repatriated with their possessions.

The service successfully replaces the often paper based recording processes that still exist in many property offices. The benefits of this are numerous and significant for all parties:

  • A paper based report will likely be sat in a book at the property office – reportMyloss is an online National system ensuring the items details can be searched by any UK Police force regardless of location.
  • Getting to a Police station to make a report, can be a time consuming and costly process – reportMyloss is based entirely online, allowing low cost reporting at your convenience day or night.
  • Many lost items need to be reported for insurance purposes – reportMyloss provides standardised and verifiable loss report numbers that insurers may accept and/or require to process a claim.
  • For the Police the benefits are significant and measurable. Forming part of the National NMPR system, use of reportMyloss makes it far more likely the owner can be identified. This not only helps clear property rooms and reduces storage costs. Also importantly it removes the burden of taking the loss report from the Police force. These savings free up Police resources that can then be targeted on more important Policing duties.

For more information please visit: www.reportmyloss.com
or
Email: support@reportmyloss.com

CheckMEND, CheckMEND USA, Crime, Mobile Phones

£5 billion stolen goods for sale online… watch out!

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Today we released a report stating ‘£5 billion worth of stolen goods are on sale online over the internet at any one time in the UK’. Even more shocking, every minute two items are identified as being stolen

We know this because we are the UK’s online stolen property checking service that identifies over 1 million stolen items every year.
Our CheckMEND blog will aim to keep you updated and up to speed on any online shopping crime, crime prevention topics and stolen goods statistics. We shall let you know what’s going on in the world of ‘hot goods’ and any relevant breaking news…
About us-

So that we are clear from the start, here are a few notes about us:

  • CheckMEND is a brand from Recipero Limited www.recipero.com, a company founded by entrepreneur Adrian Portlock and two other non-executive directors that had it’s official launch in July 2006
  • CheckMEND searches the UK’s largest database of stolen goods and blocked mobile phones with nearly 30 million records which can be checked by a perspective purchaser prior to purchasing an item. We can refer to it as a super database, but NOT a government run ‘stupid’ database
  • Since it’s launch CheckMEND has carried out over 10 million checks online
  • The majority of UK Police forces use the CheckMEND data to check the legitimacy of property many thousands of times a week.
  • In the UK CheckMEND is already recommended by ebay for the checking of mobile phones before purchase

To find out more about what we do watch our video online http://www.checkmend.com

Why are there so many stolen goods online?
The problem is being exacerbated by “faceless” selling on the growing range of online auction and classified sites and the new phenomenon of “Market Places” on social networks, like Facebook, eBay and specific online mobile phone shopping sites.

Plus with the backdrop of the credit crunch impacting on family purses, UK consumers are increasingly on the lookout for a bargain or are clearing out their clutter to sell online or at the local car boot sale.

For any of you bargain hunters out there always check with CheckMEND if what you are about to buy is stolen or you could find yourselves in a pickle!

The Bigger Picture
Not only can you protect yourself from the hassle of purchasing stolen goods and from the risk of prosecution for handling them… if we reduce the opportunities for thieves to sell stolen property, then surely the demand will reduce as well. Only last week the Design Council released a study that found that one in eight children aged 11 to 16 has been the victim of a “hot product” theft, in the past three years

Plus, think about it if you are selling your laptop on eBay and can prove, with a free to view certificate, that what you’re selling is legit then people would be more likely to buy from you, rather than the next person who can prove the background of the laptop they’re selling!

Stewert Mitchell from the Times wrote an interesting feature which named online auctions as ‘Unscrupulous thieves who con innocent buyers’ but authorities seem powerless. We agree but with help of checkMEND authorities are becoming increasingly powerful with more arrest being made each year.

Warning – what we have found:

We have found that on average one in ten items of second hand goods checked through CheckMEND is being identified as being reported as stolen. Since its launch in 2006, CheckMEND has recently carried out 10 million checks on items valuing over £1 billion.

The value of the goods identified as being stolen is around £100 million.
Here are some fast facts we have for you:

  • There are over £1 billion worth of insurance claims made in the UK every year from items being stolen
  • There are over 30 million items of stolen property listed on CheckMEND from the UK with an estimated value of £3 billion
  • 10% of all items of second hand goods checked through CheckMEND is identified as having been reported stolen
  • Over 10 million checks have been made through CheckMEND over the last 18 months
  • Over 600,000 checks are now made through CheckMEND every month
  • The total value of items checked over the last 18 months is over £1 billion
  • The value of the stolen goods identified as stolen is over £100 million