Sent on behalf of Humberside Police
Immobilise
Buying and selling stolen and found mobile phones is big business for criminals; mostly because they are high value items, which are easy to steal and sell on.
Approximately 55% of people who report their phones as lost or stolen, cannot provide the phone’s unique reference number (IMEI).
To tackle thefts of small electrical products, Humberside Police is running a campaign to get people to register the details of their valuables, on to a free website, called immobilise.com.
Help us to help you!
Complete the attached form, which should take no more than a few minutes. You only need to provide your nominal details, make and model of your phone and your IMEI number.
Once you have done this, click on to the email address, which is immobilise@humberside.pnn.police.uk. The form will then be fired across to a dedicated SPOC box, which a member of Police staff will pick up and process the information. They will create a unique Immobilise account for you. You will later receive an email, which confirms your account details and password, so you can add your other property and valuables at a later date.
You can find out what your IMEI number is by typing *#06# into your handset
The e-form will also be sent out to other partner agencies in various stages. Organisations taking part include Hull University, Hull City Council, Humberside Fire and Rescue and Neighbourhood Network. We want as many people as possible to register, so that the Police have a better chance of finding the rightful owner of lost and stolen property.
If you want to tell your family and friends about the record keeping site, please ask them to go direct to www.immobilise.com.
Information about Immobilise
· The secure web based data storage facility has been used by members of the public to record details of their personal property since 2003.
· Each account is password protected.
· You can only upload property which is identifiable and bears a unique searchable number.
· Your own records remain private. When you update the site to say your items are lost or stolen, your information becomes searchable to all UK Police and registered second hand dealers.
· All mobile phones can be registered with the site.
· Every service provider can block a phone, preventing any unauthorised use, and they can also provide the IMEI numbers even after the mobile has been stolen.
· To enable meaningful investigations and a chance of recovering stolen property, victims must be able to provide accurate & unique descriptions, which is why we are encouraging record keeping.
· If you do not want to use this web site, keep a paper copy of a list of equipment, so you can still give identification details if your things are stolen or lost.
Tracking Apps
There is a multitude of free downloadable tracking apps available for your mobile phone, laptop and tablet devices, for example preyproject.com (or something similar). These work on android phones and standard laptops. All Apple products are downloadable via iTunes, for example Find My iPhone.