CPA Bulletin

20 CPA Bulletin > August 2021 www.cpa.uk.net PLANT THEFT PLANT THEFT: 1 The 2021 CITS Conference entitled ‘2022, will you be a victim?’ will be held at JCB Headquarters in Rocester on 25th November 2021. The keynote address will be given by the Home Office Minister for Policing and Crime, Mr Kit Malthouse. Other key speakers will be a representative from Operation Opal’s Serious Organised Acquisitive Crime unit - ACE (Agricultural and Construction Equipment) based in West Mercia; as well as Superintendent Andy Huddleston of Northumbria Police, who is the police lead on agricultural crime. Other topics CITS is looking to focus on include protecting white diesel after construction must cease using red diesel from 1st April 2022, as well as the police’s efforts in identifying and recovering stolen plant and equipment from Europe. Further details can be found on the CITS website at www.cits.uk.com . CITS Conference 2021 Walk-In Fraud and Fake Identification This continues to be a problem for the hire industry and in fact is very much on the rise. A particular issue is with phone cloning apps being readily available to criminals who can enable the app to ‘imitate’ any chosen landline or mobile number, so as to make the call look genuine and mislead the plant owner’s employee. This type of ‘false number calling’ can show the ‘caller identity’ of a selected landline number, so that it appears that the call is perhaps from the customer’s Head Office. To check if the order is authentic, the following points should be asked when the ‘customer’ is making the order: • Obtain the name of the caller and his/her company position. If they suggest that they are a director of the company, then these details can be checked online with Companies House at https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company . • Ask the caller to provide an Account or Order Number. • If you are uncertain whether they are genuine, you may wish to ask when they last ordered equipment from you. • Review the list of items being ordered. Is it a ‘typical’ order for that customer, or more of a shopping list? • Check the delivery address. Is this an area where the customer has had previous deliveries sent to? If you decide to supply the customer, but the delivery driver has reservations about dropping off the equipment, then they should contact the office. • Especially for a new customer, ask the caller to attend the depot ‘in person’ with various forms of ID, and perhaps a credit card payment/deposit (which may be stipulated by your insurance policy), so as to verify their identity. • Finally, if you have CCTV installed within your premises and behind your Hire Desk, then you should try and get a picture or video of your customer (and their vehicle). If there are warning signs that CCTV is in place, then this may deter criminals from targeting your business. However, some criminals will send an innocent driver to collect the items if they are being collected. The easiest way to help mitigate these potential losses is to call the customer back on a known mainline number and verify whether the individual has made the order. If the customer handles any documents, then try to retain these and keep them in some sort of clear plastic file, so that they can be looked at but not handled further. Surprisingly and often good fingerprints can be found on paper, by using a treatment and forensic technique called ninhydrin. If you are unfortunately a victim, then any physical evidence - imagery and/or possible fingerprints - you can provide to help apprehend the criminals would be welcomed by the police. Written by John Bateman (MIPI) of P&D Investigations Limited 01707 371 144, 07774 868 648, www.johnbateman.co.uk