Alleged Bike thief in Maida Vale

[MarkC1]

Went to view a bike on Sunday. Was supposed to be a Specialized Allez, the vendor brings out a boardman hybrid. I walked away angry at the 2-3hrs I'd wasted, he denied knowledge of the Allez ad.
A simple bit of online detective work revealed he's had 3 different bikes for sale recently, and used 3 different names (Joseph, James and Terry). All from the same phone number. The ads are just copied/pasted spec lists. He doesn't know sizes. The ads say 'West London', he's actually Kilburn / Maida Vale is North London.
I've reported his activities to Gumtree - for what good that'll do.

 

[ianrauk]

Went to view a bike on Sunday. Was supposed to be a Specialized Allez, the vendor brings out a boardman hybrid. I walked away angry at the 2-3hrs I'd wasted, he denied knowledge of the Allez ad.
A simple bit of online detective work revealed he's had 3 different bikes for sale recently, and used 3 different names (Joseph, James and Terry). All from the same phone number. The ads are just copied/pasted spec lists. He doesn't know sizes. The ads say 'West London', he's actually Kilburn / Maida Vale is North London.
I've reported his activities to Gumtree - for what good that'll do.

None at all unfortunately.

 

[stephec]

Haven't the Met got a specialist unit set up for bike theft, might be worth giving them the details.

Failing that, post his address on here so a few people can pay him a visit and put him out of action for a while!

 

[e-rider]

worth investigating sellers before buying, otherwise you just fuel the stolen bike market



until the law gets tough with bike theives the problem is only going to get worse - I've seen cases where an individual has been linked to 20+ bike thefts and they get a £50 fine handed to them by the courts!!! A person caught selling ONE stolen bike will get a caution every single time, unless they are out on licence.

 

[yello]

Haven't the Met got a specialist unit set up for bike theft, might be worth giving them the details.

I seem to recall they have. And I believe they do look at places like ebay and gumtree. Might be worth passing details on to them. Though, that said, the chances of a desk officer at your local station knowing anything about such a unit, or indeed what to do with the info, is probably remote. Whilst the initiatives are there sometimes the 'joinedupness' isn't.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Cycle Chat Retrobution Squad - CCRS

Failing that, post his address on here so a few people can pay him a visit and put him out of action for a while!

 

[mightyquin]

A good way to catch out dodgy sellers (works for buying s/h cars privately too) is to call and ask 'about the bike/car' for sale. If they then ask you which one then you know there might possibly be something up!

 

[JohnHenry]

Exactly a year since this was set up





Met Police team to tackle bike thefts in London

Mr Ranger hopes the team will increase cycle security A new police team specifically intended to target the problem of bike theft in London has been launched.

The 30-strong task force will patrol by pedal power, investigating incidents of stolen or vandalised bikes.

It will also mark bikes with peoples' home address and teach cyclists how to lock their bike securely.

Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London's transport advisor, said greater cycle security was the prerequisite to London's "cycle revolution".

The team intend to:

• Disrupt the sale of second-hand bikes
• Target bike theft with covert operations
• Introduce CCTV at locations where bikes are parked

But still - a bike a minute is stolen across the UK - apparently a massive two thirds from at/near home totally unsecured




http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/251422/-80m-toll-of-bike-thefts

 

[Banjo]

It amazes me the number of people who dont even record their bikes frame numbers. I know it may still get nicked but we have to do as much as possible ourselves.The police are just chipping bits off the tip of the bike theft iceberg.

I would have reported my suspicions about the dodgy seller to the police.Wether anything would happen I dont know.