Stolen bike recovered after two failed attempts to sell the bike to Cash Converters.

James’s near new Specialized Tarmac was stolen from his apartment garage bike cage in Woolloongabba, Qld on 18 October 2020. 

Devastated to find his bike taken from what he believed was a secure bike cage, he reported his theft to his local police and then shared his bike on social media, where he was referred to BikeVAULT - part of the PropertyVAULT suite of asset registers to combat theft.

Buoyed by prior recovery stories and the message we tell all victims not to give up, James’s reported his bike stolen.  As with all stolen reports on PropertyVAULT, they are reviewed and approved by one of our experienced former police admins, who are experts in bike identification and assisting victims and police in finding and recovering stolen bikes.  Once approved, James received our email with our proven tips and tools to aid in recovering stolen bikes, which includes a national list of secondhand dealers and pawn shops.

Following our recovery blueprint – James emailed all the secondhand dealers in Queensland and visited the shops nearby.  Rewarded by his efforts, within a day of the theft a female tried to sell James’s bike to the Cash Converter store in Runaway bay.  Runaway was fitting – as the staff quickly identified the bike to be James’s bike reported stolen on BikeVAULT.  Realising there was no quick earn to be had the female left the store with the bike and the staff at Cash Converters Runaway Bay contacted James and the police.

Clearly desperate and somewhat not so smart, the female then went to the Cash Converters store in Ashmore, where she tried to offload the bike.  The jig was up this time, as the staff at Ashmore who have helped to recover stolen bikes prior, were ready and called the police as she entered the store with James’s bike.  Whilst waiting for the police to arrive, the female who had become suspicious decamped the store, leaving behind James’s bike.  

We understand the police now have a solid lead on the female who is suspected to have either been in involved in the theft or a 'knowing handler' (black market trader), hoping to profit from selling the stolen bike.

From James…..

Big thanks to Cash Converters for not buying the bike and helping to recover it and thanks to BikeVAULT for the free service and the tools and the list that led to my bike being recovered.

Why bike identification is key to combatting profit-driven bike thieves and black market traders!

Targeted bike theft is fuelled by the ease that thieves and black-market traders (knowing handlers of stolen bikes) can profit from selling stolen bikes to unsuspecting purchasers, with little to no fear of the stolen bike being identified and them being caught and prosecuted by the police.

Rapid advancements in bike technology and the growth of the ‘E’ bike segment has led to ever-increasing bike values. This means greater profits for thieves and black-market traders and fuels an even stronger motivation for theft.

The cure to stopping the recidivist bike thieves and black-market traders is to make bikes too hot to handle.

Identification is the key and BikeVAULT in partnership with DataDot Technology has the ultimate solution.

Protect your bike ID and ownership with FREE registration on BikeVAULT!

Much more than just a simple database to store your bike details, BikeVAULT (part of PropertyVAULT) provides a secure free portal to comprehensively register your bikes details and ownership history, benefitting from:

• Full lifecycle digital bike identification with provenance tracking and block-chain encryption.
• When selling your registered bike, utilise BikeVAULT’s registered bike sale report that can be linked to online selling platforms.  Like a VIN check for a car, the sale report enables a buyer to conduct due diligence, and can potentially lead to higher sale price, when competing against bikes with no discernible history in the crowded second-hand market, littered with stolen bikes.
• When a registered bike is sold, the registration and logbook can be transferred to the new owner, providing peace of mind to the new owner and ensuring the bike's provenance remains intact.

In the unfortunate event of theft, BikeVAULT comes to the fore providing:

• A tailored public and police accessible stolen report designed to maximise the odds of recovery;
• Proven to work - tips, tools, and resources, to aid recovery;
• A custom stolen bike search portal for the public and police, enabling anyone in Australia to search and identify a stolen bike, regardless of where and when it was stolen and is later found;
• Social media connectivity and support from BikeVAULT’s large online community, who actively search for and report stolen bikes that are advertised for sale;
• Support from BikeVAULT's police trained admins, who are experts in bike identification and skilled in asset tracing techniques.

Advanced bike ID to combat cunning thieves

The manufacturer's bike identification frame number, whilst adequate for warranty purposes is not designed to defeat thieves and with many bikes being only a label is susceptible to manipulation. 

The photo below shows a bike seized by police that had the original frame number label removed from underneath the clearcoat and replaced with a crude fake label.  

The thieves were more brazen with this bike below, recently sold at a police auction in Victoria.  In this case, the label was painted over and the stamped in frame number was ground down, which makes it very obvious that the bike is stolen but doesn’t help to identify the bike and trace it back to the owner.

To address lacking bike identification, BikeVAULT has partnered with DataDot Technology, the world leader in advanced anti-theft asset identification solutions to develop the VAULT range of BIKE ID KIT's.

The premium BIKE ID KIT+ (RRP $34.95) sold separately and supplied complimentary with every VAULT premium lock, includes DataDotDNA micro identification, which is used globally by major car manufacturers, including Subaru in Australia and Toyota in Europe as an effective means to combat theft.

The BIKE ID KIT+ when applied and locked to a bike registered on BikeVAULT, provides OVERT, COVERT, STEALTH, INVISIBLE and DIGITAL identification to the whole bike, making it near impossible to be de-identified and easily traced by police if stolen and later found.

Take action - start protecting your bike and ownership today!

Join BikeVAULT and Register your bike for free now and consider protecting your bike further by purchasing a VAULT lock and BIKE ID KIT from one of our growing number of bike shop dealers, or from our online store.