Tag Archives: Lost Property

CheckMEND

Are you getting the full picture?

CheckMEND is the most comprehensive device history check available; the ‘gold standard’ in due diligence.

So how does it differ from other device history reports and the basic IMEI checks you can find online?

Firstly, it’s important to note that IMEI checks are just for mobile phones. CheckMEND can search not just on IMEIs, but on serial numbers too, so it will check up on the history of tablets, laptops and a whole host of other items, as well as phones.

Most device checks – including CheckMEND – will give you the following information, when you provide them with the IMEI or serial number:

  1. Verification of the manufacturer and model of the item.
  2. Whether the device is blocked (or has ever been blocked); this usually happens after it has been reported to the mobile phone network as being lost or stolen.

Whilst this basic level of information is useful, there is so much more you need to know before buying a device second-hand, whether you’re a retailer, recycler or an individual.

View a Sample CheckMEND Report >

CheckMEND, through its links with the rest of the Recipero crime reduction ecosystem, is in a unique position to paint you a much more detailed picture of a device’s history:

Whether the item has been reported lost or stolen to us

A loss could have been reported to us directly through Immobilise (the national property register) or Report My Loss. Stolen items show up in official police records via the NMPR.

Outcome: Handling of lost or stolen goods. Even if the device isn’t currently blocked, it doesn’t mean it won’t be in the near future.

Whether the item is the subject of a settled insurance claim

A red result would indicate that the item has been shared with us as the subject of a settled insurance claim, via ClaimsCheck.

Outcome: Legal title of the item belongs to the insurer, so you cannot legally own the device.

Whether the device is a suspected clone

Phone cloning is the illegal practice of copying the identification credentials a phone uses in order to connect to a network.

An amber result indicates that the serial checked appears in multiple devices. This is usually restricted to phones. Genuine phones will never share an IMEI. It is amber rather than red because there is no way to determine which of many devices with the same IMEI is the genuine one.

Outcome: Clones are fraudulent handsets with stolen credentials, often sold by criminals to generate revenue. Text messages and calls can also be intercepted.

Whether the device is a reported counterfeit

An amber result indicates that the serial being checked is reported to us as being used in counterfeit devices. It is amber rather than red because there is no way to determine which of many devices with the same IMEI is the genuine one. 

Outcome: Typically, counterfeit goods are of inferior quality to the genuine article. They may not be fit for purpose and fake electrical goods can even be a safety risk. Buying counterfeit goods can be damaging to the economy and the sale proceeds are often used to fund more sinister organised crime.

Whether there are one or more previous owners registered

An amber result indicates that the item has been registered under at least one other previous owner, via Immobilise (the national property register).

Outcome: This would only be a concern if the item is being sold as new.

Whether the device belongs to – and is being monitored by – a corporation

A red result indicates that the device being checked is being monitored by Recipero’s AssetWatch service.

Outcome: The device is owned by a corporation, so while an individual may possess it, they may not have the right to legally sell it.

With any of these additional datasets that are checked against, if a red flag is returned then the item poses a risk to any potential buyer.

In most cases, the item cannot legally be sold on. And if you can’t legally own the item, this could pose real issues for you in the future, either during your use of the device or later down the line, if you try to sell it.

If you are selling an item and a CheckMEND search flags an issue with it that you believe to be incorrect, we are here to help. We are happy to look into records that are disputed and where possible resolve the issue, or advise on the source of a record and what action needs to be taken in order to resolve it. Please contact support@checkmend.com with the details of your search and we will investigate the issue. 

Please note: Specific traders in niche markets or geographies may be configured to include more or fewer data sources. Data sources may also vary with the class of items being checked. For enquiries please contact support.

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!

CheckMEND, Crime, eBay, Fraud, Immobilise, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Recipero

Beware of the Mobile Phone Moped Muggers!

Thieves who steal mobile phones straight out of people’s hands as they zoom by on their, often stolen, mopeds are becoming an increasing problem for the public and police.

It’s completely shocking to the person being attacked. Martin Lewis, the money saving expert, who was one of the latest victims can confirm this from his recent attack near Oxford Circus. He tweets about his incident: ‘About 40 minutes ago two men on a moped just rode up on the pavement and snatched my mobile out of my hands. The speed and accuracy was frightening.’ To read more on this attack click here.

Scotland Yard claims that moped muggers are snatching 20 phones an hour and that thieves mainly go for iPhones. If the phone is still switched on then they reset it and sell it on, if not then they will trade it for parts.

If the owner has been astute enough to register their phone on immobilise.com, the National Property Register, they would immediately be able to change the status of the device flagging it as stolen to traders, as well as report it to the Police*. UK Police officers are the ONLY people with authorisation to access the Immobilise database to check the status and ownership of a mobile phone and repatriate it if it is recovered. The Metropolitan Police advise mobile users to activate their phone’s security features when they receive it and to register valuable possessions with immobilise.com for free, pre-loss or theft.

In this increasingly common crime the phone’s owner is often not the only victim. If you are buying a second hand mobile phone, whether that be an iPhone, Samsung, HTC or any other smartphone, then CheckMEND can help you avoid stolen property. An online check costs as little as £1 and will highlight if a phone is blocked, stolen or compromised in someway.  CheckMEND is the most comprehensive device check available helping consumers, traders, recyclers and retailers buy and sell second-hand goods with confidence.

The moral, however of this post is not to give thieves opportunities to steal your possessions or profit from your loss. Try to avoid using your smart phone in public, be cautious, and to be on the safe side always register new phones or mobile devices on immobilise.com.

* Flagging an item as stolen on Immobilise means that information is immediately available to the Police when they conduct searches for it on the Police only NMPR system. In the event of a crime, a report should also be made directly to Police so they are able to investigate it appropriately and request additional details when relevant.

Bicycles, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, NMPR, Uncategorized

The first Immobilise ‘Registration Station’ is here to prevent bicycle crime

South Wales Police and ‘The bike Shed’ in Pontacanna have teamed up for a new initiative to reduce crime in the Cardiff area using The UK National Property Register ‘Immobilise’ to its full potential.

The very first ‘Registration Station’ is now in operation for anyone who purchases a bike or takes it in for repairs or servicing. There is a conveniently set up station in the store where you can register your bike there and then. It’s quick and easy and a perfect solution to encourage people to protect their property.

Registering your bike on immobilise means you are more likely to get your stolen property returned to you. The Police have a direct link via the NMPR to be able to quickly and easily trace the rightful owner of the property and if found stolen can make convictions much faster. According to Cycling UK, a bike is stolen every 90 seconds in Britain. Despite this, only two percent of bike owners bother to register their bike to aid its recovery.

Richard Landsdown, from The Bike Shed, said:

We are delighted and very keen to be kick-starting the initiative in Cardiff and truly believe that this is the most positive anti-bike theft initiative that we have found. Thousands of bikes will be registered with us this year and the Immobilise station is accessible to everybody in store. The more people who register, the harder it will be for bike thieves.

Les Gray, Commercial Director for Immobilise, said:

We are pleased to support this initiative that benefits bike owners and reduces crime. It’s a great example of responsible retailing and pro-active policing – ownership registration within the shop will ensure the quick and easy process is made even more convenient and captured at point of sale or service.

To update your account or register on Immobilise now please go to: www.immobilise.com

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, Police, Students

Back to school… With £3.2 billion worth of tech

Schoolimage1When the school gates opened for the new term, its estimated that under 16s’ bags contained over £3.2 billion worth of tech – a staggering average in excess of £270 per school bag*. Such high values intensify issues associated with loss and theft requiring students to be ever more cautious.

To stay safe and secure we recommend …

  • Students shouldn’t leave their smartphones, cameras, iPods and tablets unattended, and when not in use they should be kept secure in a locked bag or locker.
  • Don’t show off expensive devices, especially in public spaces. Children and young teenagers make easy targets for unscrupulous thieves.
  • Ensure gadgets are registered on Immobilise,  recording the make, model,  and any serial codes but most importantly for smartphones the IMEI number – for mobiles just key in *#06#  on the handset to display the IMEI.
  • Bicycles should be kept in the school’s designated areas and secured with a D-lock to an immovable object such as ground mounted loop. Don’t forget to register the bike on Immobilise and consider enhancing the registration with an ImmobiTag RFID tag.

* Statistics sourced from USwitch Survey: USwitch

This post is an extract from our regular email updates that contain other crime prevention tips and topical news along side special offers and discounts on items in our Immobilise property marking and security products. (Go to: https://shop.immobilise.com/)

To subscribe please update the preferences in your Immobilise account: https://www.immobilise.com/login 

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

Crime, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, Police, Recipero

Recipero’s 2014 Mobile Device Crime Facts and Figures

2014 was a busy year for Recipero with our customers checking over $4 Billion worth of devices using our solutions. 

We have pulled a few more more facts and figures from our Crime Reduction Ecosystem that are summarised in the attached infographic “2014 Mobile Device Crime Facts and Figures”.

To learn more about Recipero’s Crime Reduction Ecosystem and our solutions that contribute to it, please visit our main website at www.recipero.com. 

Recipero 2014 Mobile Device Crime Facts and Figures

Bicycles, CheckMEND, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, Mobile Phones, NMPR, Police, Report My Loss

Over 650 bicycles now registered onto Immobilise by cycle shops in Hull

Humberside Police and cycle shops across Hull are continuing to work together with more than 650 new cycles registered onto www.immobilise.com by stores since the end of May 2014.

Cycle shops across Hull assist customers with registering their newly purchased or repaired cycles for free onto the property registration site at point of purchase. Once they have completed the registration forms with customers in store, Humberside Police Community Safety Volunteers then set up the on-line accounts.
Once registered with an account the owners are then encouraged to add further property onto their personal immobilise account.
www.immobilise.com is a FREE web based property recording system, endorsed and searchable by all UK Police Forces. This is a fantastic tool, used by police across the UK. It allows members of the public to register property details of cycles, mobile phones and other electricals on-line for FREE, which then assists police in returning items to their rightful owners and helps bring offenders to justice.
In addition to Police searching for stolen property, registered second hand dealers and mobile phone recyclers frequently access the data and are assisting in the fight against the market in stolen goods.
If a member of the public was to buy a secondhand item they could also check it for a small cost on www.checkmend.com/uk/, prior to purchase.
To date the following thirteen stores have completed this service for their customers in Hull:
  • Bob’s Bikes, Beverley Road.
  • Cliff Pratt Cycles, Spring Bank.
  • Doug Scott Cycles, Beverley Road.
  • East Coast Bicycles, Princess Avenue.
  • Freetown Sports, Prospect Street.
  • Halfords, St Andrews Quay.
  • Ken Ellerker Cycles, Chanterlands Avenue.
  • Jobes Cycles, Anlaby Road.
  • Jobes Cycles, Holderness Road.
  • Motor World, Hessle Road.
  • Richardson’s Cycles, Marfleet Lane.
  • Star Bikes, Willerby Road.
  • Steve’s Cycles, Chanterlands Avenue.
As part of continued support for tackling cycle crime, East Coast Cycles on Princes Avenue, Hull are holding a cycle marking event for bike owners on Saturday 19 July 2014 between 1000hrs and 1700hrs.
The local Neighbourhood Policing Team will be assisting in cycle marking cycles in a gazebo at the front of the store and with refreshments provided by the store.
Chris Hardy, Hull’s Second Hand Dealers Officer said: “Cycle stores have been quick to embrace the opportunity to support the police in tackling cycle crime. The fact over 650 new cycles have been registered in just over six weeks is an excellent up take. I hope by increasing cycles registered on-line we can reduce cycle thefts in the city, with thieves reluctant to take property which is identifiable and thus can lead to prosecution for stealing or even handling stolen property.
“People really should consider using the website “CheckMEND” to check any second-hand cycle, or indeed any item with a unique serial number, they are looking to purchase. Humberside Police are uploading the serial / frame number of all items reported to us as stolen, onto the database and the use of CheckMEND checks protects members of the public from inadvertently buying stolen goods”.

For more information please visit:

Read the source store in full: www.humberside.police.uk/newsmedia/hull-over-650-cycles-registered-onto-wwwimmobilisecom-by-cycle-shops

The Immobilise Property Register: www.immoblise.com

Consumer electronics background history reports: www.checkMEND.com/uk/

The Humberside Police website: www.humberside.police.uk

 

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

Bicycles, Crime, Immobilise, ImmobiTag, Lost Property, Police

Police to reunite owners with lost and stolen bikes in Gloucester

bike-theft-415The Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard have reported that Police officers are hoping to get cyclists back on their bikes by reuniting owners with lost and stolen bicycles.

It is an opportunity for anyone who has had their bike stolen recently to come and view the ones that have been recovered at the Police station on Lansdown Road, Gloucester this Saturday, July 13 between 9am and 2pm.

Police Community Support Officer Kim Graham who organised the event said:

We run these viewings on a regular basis and often have some really good results. It is worth popping along as there is a chance you could get your stolen bicycle back.

Anyone wanting to attend must bring their crime letter with them. All those who have reported their bike stolen will have received a letter with a unique crime number on it. Officers will be offering security marking and crime prevention advice as well as encouraging cyclists to register their bikes on immobilise.

We’re also encouraging other cyclists to come along to the station with their bike and we’ll mark it for them and help show them how to register it – this will make it a lot easier for us to return it to you if it does get lots or is stolen

added PCSO Graham.

At www.immobilise.com you can create a free, private and secure portfolio of all of your personal property and adds the items to the National Mobile Property Register (NMPR).

If the bike, or registered item, is then lost or stolen the website can be used to tell the police, your insurer and the second-hand trade to assist in recovering your property and catch the thief.

For further information on NMPR or other crime reduction advice please visit the constabulary website at www.gloucestershire.police.uk and go to the Crime Reduction pages.

To read the source article go to: Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard