WMNow – BikeRegister / Immobilise.com

I would like to take a little bit of your time to explain the rationale around this.

1.  Setting up accounts on these sites is free and secure and is your email address and a password.   You can register anything at all on the Immobilise site (phones, cameras, lenses, computers, bikes, music systems, tablets, MP3 players, jewellery, etc., etc.), by selecting the item type from the drop down menu (if it doesn’t feature there, you have the ‘catch-all’ option of “Other”) , and only bikes on the Bike Register site.   Your bike frame number is underneath the bike and generally stamped on the crank where the pedals are.   However, some may have it on a label.
2. By registering items, you have stored the serial numbers.   Should you lose an item, or it is stolen, then you can change the status to reflect its state.   If the item is taken to a shop to be sold, when they check the serial number, they will be made aware of its status.   Some shops inform the police, but they won’t buy the item.
3. Jewellery generally doesn’t have serial numbers.   However, you can take detailed photos of items (the item itself, hall marks, engravings, blemishes, etc.) and they can be uploaded to the site with the description.   We suggest including a coin or ruler for scaling purposes.
4. Should anything be stolen, you have all the details for the police so they can be registered on the police national database and which will provide crime number details when checked.   You will also have good quality photos of jewellery which can be sent to us and distributed to jewellers and pawnshops for their information, and to assist police investigations.
5. If items are recovered by the police and serial numbers checked, registered items will provide details of the owner and so they can be returned to you.

From an Operation Magpie perspective, requests may be made for serial numbers of stolen items, if they have not been provided when the report was made.   While these are added to the reports, they are also registered on the police national database and have led to recovery of items and also arrests of suspects who have sold, or attempted to sell, the items.   Shops will not buy stolen items if they are aware and, should they have bought items before details are made known and registered, retrospective checks can identify where checks have been made and investigations will be made.   Unfortunately, many requests for serial number information go unanswered.   Please help us to help you.