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Today at Cannock, I was undergoing my usual post ride 'which one of these bastards is out to steal my bike' paranoia. When I remembered a post on here, making my vigilant paranoia seem futile.
The post was from a cyclist who'd been hit by a motorbike and the biker didn't get in touch with his insurance company. So the cyclist goes online and from the bike reg plate he easily finds out where the biker lives (I think it cost about £4).
So if I was a bike thief, I'd be quietly sat in the car park at Cannock, recording reg plates and the bike likely to be connected to it. No need to follow anyone home.
So anyway, my solution to this problem, false plates. I suggest we all get them.
not possible
oh good
I have found a website that will give all the dvla vehicle data, 5 cars for £9.99.
I imagine the dvla data includes the address, but perhaps not?
I've heard of these sites, but if somebody other than DVLA has access to the DVLA data they should be reported to police or Data Protection. The link below describes the situations when the data[i] should[/i] be available
http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/data/relinfo.aspx
Most car check sites ask for a VIN anyway.
All very good if you are a thief but paying over t'internet leaves a trail no?
Stolen credit card and laptop to avoid the electronic trail.
The stw criminal masterminds know no bounds...
Most vin numbers are now visible through the front screen, reg number is printed on tax, sorry, "road fund license", and it is an offence to obscure your reg number.
If you play by the rules in the UK you get shafted by someone, more often than not.
Any site that divulges keeper details from DVLA records for a 'no questions asked' fee is certainly criminal. Anyone can request information from DVLA for a fee, but the purpose of it is queries like filling stations locating persons who have made off without payment, or parking enforcement companies seeking civil compensation. Checks are done before the info is released. An individual request is very unlikely to obtain keeper details. Imagine such scenarios as a victim of domestic violence who gets their details released to the person they're fleeing from. DVLA wouldn't take that risk. HPI/Experian checks etc will give you a lot of info but not keeper details.
VIN number is easy to get hold of. I had to apply for a duplicate reg doc for a company car at work, the car itself was miles away in an airport car park and we had to buy it a tax, long story. Anyway, the form for applying for a duplicate reg doc requires a VIN number, we couldn't get it off the doc (or we wouldn't have needed another) or off the car itself (see above) so I just rang the local Ford dealer who were very helpfula and gave it to me.
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Reminds me of a fraud I read about. Theif goes to a long-stay airport car park and finds a car he likes. Writes to DVLA to say that he has moved house and lost the reg doc in the move, this is the new address, can I have a new form please (as above I have just found out how easy this would be to do) Gets new certificate and then phones locksmith 'I've lost my keys while on holiday, can you open the car and make me a new set, here's my proof of ownership' (locksmith opened my Mondeo when I had lost my keys and made some new ones, took about an hour and cost me £200 so I know that is possible too) Theif then has car, keys and reg doc, easy to sell car to unsuspecting person.
Anyone can apply for a log book for any vehicle for a fee. The DVLA will not issue a logbook before writing out to the current registered keeper. They are then allowed 2 weeks to respond, before one is issued if nothing is heard. The whole process therefore will take 4-6 weeks. Also, the logbook has to be sent to a genuine UK address, leaving a paper trail to track a thief. If such a scam ever occurred, the fault is with the locksmith. A logbook is not proof of ownership anyway, just keepership, so thea DVLA's hands would be clean 🙂
Hence using the long-stay car park for victim finding.
I don't think a temporary address will be a problem. When my bank account got hacked the theif had stuff delivered to an address (which I found and gave to the police who did sod all with it) It wasn't local to me, but for all they knew I was going to go round and set fire to it. Anyway, the bank were far more helpful and I got the money back.
I've rented rooms for cash, no ID checks, no nothing. Not for nefarious purposes, but just because I needed somewhere to live. Theif above just needs to move often.
The newpaper article jus said he had applied for log books and then used these to have keys made, the rest is my speculation.
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Anyway, back to the OP...
Stolen credit card and laptop to avoid the electronic trail. The stw criminal masterminds know no bounds...
This was my point. Different 'quality' of criminal. If you have the tech to steal via internet, then why would you ever risk actual theft of an item from someone's home? Increased risk IMO.
Isn't the normal line that most theft is opportunist rather than researched and planed?
You do hear of these late night raids where several properties within a small area with high value bikes are all targeted and cleaned out before anyone wakes up...
I think bike theft operates on two tiers; the opportunist and the planner the planner is the one who'll watch woodland car parks, trace owners and spend time planning that one night worth £20k the opportunist can't tell a BSO from a cannondale and is probably just funding a habit of some sort...
When a group of us went to cannock after we had finished we locked the bikes on the roof rack an went for a look around the shop when we came back one of the lads bikes had been tampered with ... the wheel clips were undone an the clips holding the rack In place on the aero bar had been undone as the bike was locked in place this was as far as who ever had taken a look at the bike had got. It made us all realise we need to be more careful but made me think it's fairly easy to turn up in a empty transit van in biking gear a few minutes people watching an oh Fred an his 3 mates have popped into the shop/toilet/cafe an bam some ones got 8grand worth of bike in the back of his van he's not bothered if you get his reg the vans probably got false plates/stolen anyway ..... if some one wants your bike they'll be able to get it you just have to make it difficult for them an hope it's too much effort for them ... I carnt imagine thiefs going to the effort of turning up at your house to get one bike when there's hundreds of them kicking about at these trail centers
[i]"Today at Cannock"[/i]
There's your problem.
made me think it's fairly easy to turn up in a empty transit van in biking gear a few minutes people watching an oh Fred an his 3 mates have popped into the shop/toilet/cafe an bam
There was a gang caught a few years ago at XC races doing exactly this. Drive to a race in empty van (looks just like one of the many camper/transit van type things that many bikers have), wait until the racers had wandered off for sign on or whatever, just cut the straps on the bike rack and pop the whole lot into the Transit. 30 second job.
They got caught at an XC NPS in Thetford when someone realised what was happening and boxed them in.