Where do all the stolen trailers go ??

Muddywellies said:
Have been a victim of trailer theft, I'm now aware of all the hundreds of trailers being stolen. It seems like an epidemic ! But I wonder where they all go ? How many people are buying second hand trailers from questionable dealers ??? If all (most) these trailers are registered with IW / TER (as mine was) why are so few recovered and the purpotraters brought to justice ?
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Police discovered a location where a number of stolen trailers were being stored in Birmingham that were going over to Ireland years ago.
 
Pippity said:
The idea is that any passing Apple device also picks up on the location. It doesn't have to be within 30 feet of your phone. Unfortunately, the Android versions aren't as good as the Apple one, and I'm not an iPhone user.

The recommendation for trailer security is to have something obvious, something subtle, and something downright invisible. Obvious - paintjob, graphics, similar. Subtle - Airtag/Chipolo, markings visible under UV light. Downright invisible - Datatag microdots. Basically, make the thieves think they've found and countered everything, but have one or two more markings on there.
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So if yiur trailer is 200 miles away , how is someone passing with a iPhone going to help you? These things were designed for lost keys and wallets in the house , hence the small range.
I'm probably going to get a dog GPS tracker.
 
I think they piggy back onto anyone’s iPhone or apple device and use it as a slingshot to ping you the location. I use one in my luggage when flying and they work well but you have to have someone with an apple device pass close enough by for it to work which isn’t an issue in an airport!
 
Sossigpoker said:
So if yiur trailer is 200 miles away , how is someone passing with a iPhone going to help you? These things were designed for lost keys and wallets in the house , hence the small range.
I'm probably going to get a dog GPS tracker.
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It shows up on a map if it's close to any iPhone. Considering how many people have iPhones that means that you stand a very good chance that it will give you a very good idea of where it is at all times. It's better than nothing and considering how cheap they are, does give a reasonable bang-for-buck.

There is one problem though. When they become separated from their owner's phone they warn iPhones which appear to be following them that there is an Air Tag which appears to be "tracking" them. The idea is to prevent Air Tags from being used to secretly track individuals (think domestic abuse etc). They also let out a chirp from the tag itself when this activates. So if the thieves have iPhones, they could be alerted to the tag and then use the chirping noise to locate it.

There is a tracker which looks good - they have a YouTube channel. It uses a combination of cellular, GPS and radio signals to provide tracking functionality and the company that you pay your subscription to will hunt the tracker down if stolen (with or without police help). The videos show how it works. I'd be tempted but there isn't much incentive for me to spend several hundred on a tracker to reduce the insurance companies risk.
 
ILuvCowparsely said:
But how many thiefs do you see standing on a bridge waiting for 1 in a million chance a trailer would pass on that motorway bridge at that time.
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Well I'm not a trailer thief, but if I was that way inclined I'd find a big show and stand on the nearest bridge for 20 minutes as everybody was leaving. Well worth the effort!
 
Cowpony said:
Well I'm not a trailer thief, but if I was that way inclined I'd find a big show and stand on the nearest bridge for 20 minutes as everybody was leaving. Well worth the effort!
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You could put any postcode on it though, it doesn't have to be the postcode of where the trailer is kept - as long as it's unique or noticeable and you can prove you did it.
You could draw a huge smiley face, or put your name.. or horses name
 
With Apple airtags you can remove the speaker to stop a potential thief being alerted by their bleeps, there are videos on youtube. My brother has done this with an airtag on his bike, I haven't bothered with the ones in my trailer.
 
Cowpony said:
Well I'm not a trailer thief, but if I was that way inclined I'd find a big show and stand on the nearest bridge for 20 minutes as everybody was leaving. Well worth the effort!
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Considering a lot of police sit on these bridges I would say it would be the last place travellers would park.

Down the road here is a holiday camp, the plucky travellers parked up the road walked in stole the white van that was parked, stole one trailer, came back for another, then another, then parked the van back walked out and disappeared out of the park. Knowing full well the only van stealing the trailers, recorded on cctv was the campsite own van.

3 ladies lots their trailers.🤬
 
Pippity said:
The idea is that any passing Apple device also picks up on the location. It doesn't have to be within 30 feet of your phone. Unfortunately, the Android versions aren't as good as the Apple one, and I'm not an iPhone user.

The recommendation for trailer security is to have something obvious, something subtle, and something downright invisible. Obvious - paintjob, graphics, similar. Subtle - Airtag/Chipolo, markings visible under UV light. Downright invisible - Datatag microdots. Basically, make the thieves think they've found and countered everything, but have one or two more markings on there.
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Android are better! Tile have 120m range and don't do the weird alerts. I have one on my bike.
 
Lexi 123 said:
horse box’s aren’t just used for horses they are used as coffee shops and bars. They are also used for farming and storage a lot of them are sold abroad. It’s the same with stolen horses most of them end up in the USA or Europe they are untreatable.
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Nobody steals horses these days, there are too many valuable things available that are easier to hide and don't need feeding.

Thefts are extremely rare and almost always for emotional or relationship issues.
.
 
Wouldnt they just respray a trailer a different colour then just sell through the likes of facebook / privately? I doubt any buyers check to see if its stolen when they go to view it. Thats awful OP, Id be devastated!
 
ycbm said:
Nobody steals horses these days, there are too many valuable things available that are easier to hide and don't need feeding.

Thefts are extremely rare and almost always for emotional or relationship issues.
.
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Agreed, most "stolen horse" posts you see are either sold whilst on loan/the subject of an ownership dispute or they've simply escaped. Theft of sheep seems to be on the up, though.
 
Someone locally had their trailer hitched up on the yard , ready to go out later. Apparently yard gate was locked. When they came back the gate was broken and the trailer unhitched from their car and stolen!!
In broad daylight too!

If you leave your trailer hitched up , makes sense to put the hitch lock back on after !
 
There are always a few dirt cheap for newish trailers on Facebook marketplace & always with same few people - there are adverts on eBay asking for info re their stolen trailers - I messaged one & told her about marketplace Jack Craven & she said yes that name is already on their radar !!
 
Sossigpoker said:
So if yiur trailer is 200 miles away , how is someone passing with a iPhone going to help you? These things were designed for lost keys and wallets in the house , hence the small range.
I'm probably going to get a dog GPS tracker.
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Because the tracker uses the passing iPhone to note its location. When you press the ”where’s my…” button on your phone 200 miles away it will show the location that the tracker last connected to an iPhone (Ie the one 200 miles from you)
My OH went on a cycling trip to the states and put a tracker on the bike he was taking in case it got lost in baggage handling.
We also paired it to my phone so I could keep tabs on him in case of emergency.
I could track the movements of his bike in the USA from the comfort of my sofa.
 
Back in the last century, IW trailers were stolen by South Walian gangs and sent to Ireland. By the time you noticed your trailer was gone, it was already on the ferry.
Nowadays it tends to be a different community but again, they'll be off on the Irish Sea or the Channel.

There're plenty of people who'd buy a trailer off a suburban drive which is for sale because the daughter's given up or some such story, where the paperwork has been lost in a move or they didn't get it when they bought it. Plenty of people don't register with IW either- they don't know or don't care.
Easy to sell a trailer like that.
 
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