Stolen bike parts in the classifieds sections?

[M L]

The other day I was browsing Facebook's marketplace and came across an add for a wheelset. The seller is in Mitchells Plain and he's selling quite a lot of bike parts (XX1 12 speed cassette, Shimano Brakes, etc).

I enquired and asked whether he bought the items new. I was told that he bought it from someone 2nd hand. Now I know this game - you buy things at a bargain and sell it for a profit. But to be able to sell bike parts at a profit at these prices you have to buy it for next to nothing.

Thing is, I then got suspicious, looked int he stolen bikes section and found a Giant stolen a few years back with the same wheelset. It's a relatively unique wheelset and might be a total coincidence..I asked to meet up and didn't hear a word back from the guy which was then also very weird. I also noticed the same seller selling on our Classifieds but here the wheelset was marked as sold and he explicitly told me that it's still available.

We know the drill - bikes get stolen and it has become increasingly difficult to then sell said bike. It seems the new thing is to strip it for spares and sell it to a chain of people with those same parts then ending up here.

There are similar sellers/adds here on our classifieds and I suspect a lot of these items must be stolen:

- Lots of spelling mistakes on adds for very expensive/scarce bike parts.

- Seller locations in Cape Town's dodgy neighbourhoods (for expensive bike parts this is very unusual).

- Relatively new profiles that are selling a range of bike parts.

A combination of the above is highly unlikely and raises questions. Question is, how the heck do we keep the classifieds free from parts that could have been stolen from its members in the first place.

[Dexter-morgan]

I think it happens world wide and very difficult to track and control.

[shaper]

Report the ads 

[Matt]

28 minutes ago, M L said:

The other day I was browsing Facebook's marketplace and came across an add for a wheelset. The seller is in Mitchells Plain and he's selling quite a lot of bike parts (XX1 12 speed cassette, Shimano Brakes, etc).

I enquired and asked whether he bought the items new. I was told that he bought it from someone 2nd hand. Now I know this game - you buy things at a bargain and sell it for a profit. But to be able to sell bike parts at a profit at these prices you have to buy it for next to nothing.

Thing is, I then got suspicious, looked int he stolen bikes section and found a Giant stolen a few years back with the same wheelset. It's a relatively unique wheelset and might be a total coincidence..I asked to meet up and didn't hear a word back from the guy which was then also very weird. I also noticed the same seller selling on our Classifieds but here the wheelset was marked as sold and he explicitly told me that it's still available.

We know the drill - bikes get stolen and it has become increasingly difficult to then sell said bike. It seems the new thing is to strip it for spares and sell it to a chain of people with those same parts then ending up here.

There are similar sellers/adds here on our classifieds and I suspect a lot of these items must be stolen:

- Lots of spelling mistakes on adds for very expensive/scarce bike parts.

- Seller locations in Cape Town's dodgy neighbourhoods (for expensive bike parts this is very unusual).

- Relatively new profiles that are selling a range of bike parts.

A combination of the above is highly unlikely and raises questions. Question is, how the heck do we keep the classifieds free from parts that could have been stolen from its members in the first place.

Please report the profile to us via help@bikehub.co.za with any other info you have, e.g. links to reported stolen bikes with matching parts.

 



 

[JDC]

Apart from stolen bike parts , I want to add a warning to persons through 2 experiences I have had buying used through Bikehub: 1. Bought a used Momsen MTB several years ago for R11k. Not a bad bike at all I may add. HOWEVER when the seller told me the lockout cable had been disconnected because "he did not like it" and actually gave me the cable , I should have known the lockout system was in fact faulty - he would have simply not engaged lockout if "he did not like it" But I was in somewhat of a hurry (so try to also never be in a rush when buying) and got caught. Later on noticed the front wheel was a DT Swiss , but the rear a no-name brand . And also found some cheaper components on the bike. Comparing to others feel I should have paid max of R 8k for the bike. Recently I saw a DT Swiss rim for sale on Bikehub , bought it (to match above) for R 1 000 (seller wanted R 1 500 but thankfully I offered R 1 000) turns out was a missing titanium part which affected the working of the freewheel hub. The kit would have cost me around R 2 500 , luckily was able through a contact to source part for R 350 . (The seller played me along a few days until I gave up on chasing them). SO THE REAL POINT I AM MAKING IS BE EXTRA CAREFUL I HAVE BOUGHT TWICE AND CAUGHT TWICE admit now I think back and should have been more careful , so please anyone buying used THERE IS A VERY REAL CHANCE THE SELLER HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE USUALLY THE REASON WHY THEY SELL IN THE FIRST PLACE or they simply WILL CHARGE YOU MUCH MORE THAN YOU SHOULD PAY IF THEY CAN GET AWAY.

[Edge_Design]

I have previously seen the parts from a bike reported stolen on here for sale a few days later (frame presumably disposed of). The detective on the case was happy to join me to meet the person and took the parts back. Not sure if the guy was arrested or charges were laid but the police were very willing to assist.

[Tomik]

Easy. Don't buy the stuff. It's usually fairly obvious who the skelms are. Usually. 

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

Unfortunately there is essentially zero control on Facebook marketplace. Have a look at the phones section. Filled with sellers who are very clearly fences. Nothing gets done about it. 

[Shebeen]

57 minutes ago, JDC said:

Apart from stolen bike parts , I want to add a warning to persons through 2 experiences I have had buying used through Bikehub: 1. Bought a used Momsen MTB several years ago for R11k. Not a bad bike at all I may add. HOWEVER when the seller told me the lockout cable had been disconnected because "he did not like it" and actually gave me the cable , I should have known the lockout system was in fact faulty - he would have simply not engaged lockout if "he did not like it" But I was in somewhat of a hurry (so try to also never be in a rush when buying) and got caught. Later on noticed the front wheel was a DT Swiss , but the rear a no-name brand . And also found some cheaper components on the bike. Comparing to others feel I should have paid max of R 8k for the bike. Recently I saw a DT Swiss rim for sale on Bikehub , bought it (to match above) for R 1 000 (seller wanted R 1 500 but thankfully I offered R 1 000) turns out was a missing titanium part which affected the working of the freewheel hub. The kit would have cost me around R 2 500 , luckily was able through a contact to source part for R 350 . (The seller played me along a few days until I gave up on chasing them). SO THE REAL POINT I AM MAKING IS BE EXTRA CAREFUL I HAVE BOUGHT TWICE AND CAUGHT TWICE admit now I think back and should have been more careful , so please anyone buying used THERE IS A VERY REAL CHANCE THE SELLER HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE USUALLY THE REASON WHY THEY SELL IN THE FIRST PLACE or they simply WILL CHARGE YOU MUCH MORE THAN YOU SHOULD PAY IF THEY CAN GET AWAY.

please rate those people

[MudLark]

2 hours ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Unfortunately there is essentially zero control on Facebook marketplace. Have a look at the phones section. Filled with sellers who are very clearly fences. Nothing gets done about it. 

I understand that cell phone companies can block the IMEI of stolen phones but choose not to. (?)

[Shebeen]

6 minutes ago, MudLark said:

I understand that cell phone companies can block the IMEI of stolen phones but choose not to. (?)

an iphone is basically useless without connecting to apple systems. they could shut off the market for stolen iphones overnight, but stolen items are good business for them.

and facebook, twitter et al have the EXIF data from every picture uploaded. so any stolen DSLR should be available to them.

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

This is all very depressing. Looking for a used iPad and it's just 'this is icloud locked' all over the place. Anyway let's not derail the conversation. 

[Scott roy]

4 hours ago, M L said:

The other day I was browsing Facebook's marketplace and came across an add for a wheelset. The seller is in Mitchells Plain and he's selling quite a lot of bike parts (XX1 12 speed cassette, Shimano Brakes, etc).

I enquired and asked whether he bought the items new. I was told that he bought it from someone 2nd hand. Now I know this game - you buy things at a bargain and sell it for a profit. But to be able to sell bike parts at a profit at these prices you have to buy it for next to nothing.

Thing is, I then got suspicious, looked int he stolen bikes section and found a Giant stolen a few years back with the same wheelset. It's a relatively unique wheelset and might be a total coincidence..I asked to meet up and didn't hear a word back from the guy which was then also very weird. I also noticed the same seller selling on our Classifieds but here the wheelset was marked as sold and he explicitly told me that it's still available.

We know the drill - bikes get stolen and it has become increasingly difficult to then sell said bike. It seems the new thing is to strip it for spares and sell it to a chain of people with those same parts then ending up here.

There are similar sellers/adds here on our classifieds and I suspect a lot of these items must be stolen:

- Lots of spelling mistakes on adds for very expensive/scarce bike parts.

- Seller locations in Cape Town's dodgy neighbourhoods (for expensive bike parts this is very unusual).

- Relatively new profiles that are selling a range of bike parts.

A combination of the above is highly unlikely and raises questions. Question is, how the heck do we keep the classifieds free from parts that could have been stolen from its members in the first place.

I have seen this guy. Was a bit suspicious but still enquired about a frame he had up for sale. I told him that I wanted to pay through bikehub pay and he immediately refused and then went dark… 

[M L]

22 hours ago, Matt said:

Please report the profile to us via help@bikehub.co.za with any other info you have, e.g. links to reported stolen bikes with matching parts.

 



 

Will try and find it. Found the add via google but the seller has deleted all his adds and I can't remember the profile name.

[AllTerrain]

20 hours ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

This is all very depressing. Looking for a used iPad and it's just 'this is icloud locked' all over the place. Anyway let's not derail the conversation. 

I have also often seen this, and have simply passed on these ads. The seller normally has some or other very valid reason why it is locked, but I’m not buying it.

 

however, I chatted to an owner of a pawn shop some time back. He says they often buy electronics like cameras and cellphones/laptops etc from bank and insurance auctions, when the items are normally out of home repos or insured items that have been stolen and then recovered, but the owners have been paid out, so the insurance sells it on, and often these are still iCloud locked. So it is possible that some of these iCloud locked devices are in fact not illegally acquired. But I still don’t know why one would buy one… as it’s essentially useless, and to the best of my knowledge this cannot be bypassed. 

[AccidentalGenius]

1 hour ago, AllTerrain said:

I have also often seen this, and have simply passed on these ads. The seller normally has some or other very valid reason why it is locked, but I’m not buying it.

 

however, I chatted to an owner of a pawn shop some time back. He says they often buy electronics like cameras and cellphones/laptops etc from bank and insurance auctions, when the items are normally out of home repos or insured items that have been stolen and then recovered, but the owners have been paid out, so the insurance sells it on, and often these are still iCloud locked. So it is possible that some of these iCloud locked devices are in fact not illegally acquired. But I still don’t know why one would buy one… as it’s essentially useless, and to the best of my knowledge this cannot be bypassed. 

It can be unlocked, after a 1000 e-mails between you and Apple support. But they want proof of purchase with the IMEI of the phone displayed on said proof of purchase. I had to unlock an old iPhone of mine as I had forgotten the passcode. It took close to 3 weeks. 
So yes, you’re stuffed if you’re not the original owner. I almost can’t believe that there’s a market for these, unless it’s being bought for spare parts.