A new website hopes to curb the sale of stolen goods by making it easy for people to check the history of second-hand goods.
Called Checkmend, the site is linked to the databases of the Police, mobile phone companies and content insurers, and contains information on 3.8 million stolen items worth more than £570m.
Buyers or sellers can access the information via the website by entering the serial number of goods or the IMEI identification number of a phone.
The service costs £2.99 for a single search, or £1 per search if a user pre-pays for ten or more searches. A text message service is available for £1.50.
Adrian Portlock, managing director of the Checkmend, defended the cost, saying that people who buy a £500 laptop could lose it if it was discovered it was stolen.
He also said that it is important that the public help police stem the tide of stolen goods being sold online.
Mobile phones are the top problem area, followed by MP3 players, sat nav systems, laptops, games consoles and cameras.
Portlock said he believes the service, a first of its kind in teh world, will appeal to the public, the second hand trade, auction houses and repairers, who can all print out a certificate of authenticity for any goods they buy or sell.
He said: ?Due to the growing popularity of online auction sites, more and more people are now buying and selling goods 'second-hand'. It has created a world where the buyer rarely sees the sellers face. This has been an ideal scenario for criminals, who can sell stolen goods without being identified.?
Commander Steve Allen, head of the Violent Crime Directorate within the Metropolitan Police welcomed the launch: ?In the eyes of the law, ignorance has never been bliss. It is conceivable that should the seller, auction house, buyer or repairer be found in possession of a stolen item, then at the very least the item could be confiscated but at worst, they could potentially be charged with handling stolen goods. The information to check and perform due diligence on these types of items is now available via Checkmend.?
People can register the serial numbers of their belongings for free at Checkmend's sister site immobilise.com, and then alert the system if and when a good is stolen.
http://www.checkmend.org http://immobilise.com
Topic: Check whether goods are stolen via new website (Read 723 times)