CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2020 29 PLANT THEFT: 2 Driving licences are a popular form of ID. The example belowwill help you identify if a driving licence is genuine or not. The driver’s age - if it were for the ‘real’ David John JONES born 12th March 1960 his licence number would be: JONES 603120 DJ9DD. The translation being that: • the first 5 letters (only) are those of the surname. • the numbers are then created from the DOB i.e. 6 0 at the start and end, 03 being March and 12 being the day in the month of the birth. • the DJ are his initials and the 9 being the third initial (if there is one) and the DD being two random letters or numbers. However, do note that for a female, say Denise Julie JONES born 12th March 1960 the licence number would be JONES 653120 DJ9DD. The second number being a 5, so you know it is a female driver. It is very useful if the depot’s hire desk personnel have examples of a genuine passport, driving licence, water bill, gas bill, etc. (while still being GDPR compliant), so that the hire desk employee has something to compare with, and may assist in identifying any obvious (or not so obvious) differences or errors to the ones presented. Another area which has been exploited by criminals is where plant and equipment has been pre-booked over the phone, and either arrangements made to collect from the depot, or delivered to a designated address. In these cases, persons should be asked for: • an order number • the address of the company • the company’s landline telephone number and • the authorising person. All of these can be verified by the hire desk personnel making a quick internet search of the company details and checking if they are genuine, by contacting the company directly using the landline number on their website. Genuine customers will be happy to confirm their details and it will be to the company’s benefit that such checks are being carried out. This will not only serve to enhance the company’s reputation and dissuade fraudsters from these methods; but will assist other companies nearby through a ‘warning ALL Members’ email of the attempted fraud with supporting details. This will give other companies the forewarning should the criminals attempt another firm nearby. When your driver arrives at the delivery address and is not satisfied that the location/site feels legitimate, then he should notify the depot of his intentions and return to the depot. Fraudsters will become quite aggressive in order to intimidate drivers to leave the plant at the delivery address or depots to hire them the plant. The moral of the story is always to check and verify before sending out your plant. Another popular scam is where the fraudsters attempt to hire the plant using a mobile phone, then has a courier collect it on their behalf. In our view hire firms should never allow the plant to leave the depot under these circumstances. Due to the current pandemic, fraudsters have used a number of ruses in order to get equipment to be delivered, such as ‘working on an urgent NHS contract’ or ‘carrying out vital repairs to key premises’. Weekends are often a preferred time in attempting this. A short visit and briefing of staff on security, is in our opinion always money well spent. However, it is difficult with all the various frauds attempted to know which frauds the company does prevent. Putting the right security checks and procedures in place, will always be well received with your insurance provider, and may help reduce your annual premiums. Although the Plant and Agricultural National Intelligence Unit (PANIU) has now disbanded, there are other police units which have or are being formed to help address this area. However private investigations can provide additional benefits in tackling criminal activities that are currently affecting you. This article was kindly written by John Bateman of P & D INVESTIGATIONS LIMITED, Investigators & Agents to the Legal Profession. Commercial, criminal, insurance, private surveillance specialists. Members of the Institute of Professional Investigators. Tel: 01707 37114 or 07774 868648 Driving Licences Collections and Deliveries