Criminals looking to sophisticated methods to steal plant

"Plant theft now is about where car crime was in the early '90s," according to Detective Constable Ian Elliott from the Met police stolen vehicle squad and champion of Cesar registration. "At that time the fitting of immobilisers by the manufacturer became mandatory and car crime halved. Some of those criminals moved on to easier targets (such as plant) but others have persevered with cars by changing their tactics. And that's what I expect to happen with plant theft.

"It is likely that there will be a growth in 'bogus' customers - illusionary companies that want to hire plant and have it delivered to a field or other nondescript location. Any machine delivered to the site is likely to disappear and as the criminals would have a week (or even a month) head start, it is unlikely to be seen again."

Such scams are already happening but are likely to increase if the thieves can no longer pick up a machine from their local site during the hours of darkness. To protect themselves, plant hire companies must religiously undertake due diligence checks on customers before they send machines out on hire.

Inside jobs

Elliott also expects there to be more 'inside jobs' where an employee works with the criminals to help them steal plant. This could be by sending machines to a normal customer and telling the criminals where the plant can be found and giving them the PIN code or a copied key. Alternatively, plant can be knowingly sent to bogus customers who then disappear along with the machines.

While the thieves will increasingly require keys to steal the plant, Elliott feels they are unlikely to resort to 'car-jacking' tactics. "Hijacked plant requires a great deal of moving and is not its own 'getaway' vehicle like a car," he says.

There are several tactics thieves could employ to get round the new obstacles appearing in their way. One is to target smaller plant which can either be towed from site or picked up by a Hiab, allowing the thieves time to work on the immobiliser and other systems once the item is hidden elsewhere. If the machine is fitted with a tracking system, that time may be limited.

"As security levels improve on new plant, I expect thieves will target older machines as they did with cars," Elliott says. Such machines still have a good market both in the UK and abroad, albeit their lower value makes it less attractive to ship them great distances. Police on the Continent are becoming more aware of plant theft, meaning these areas could become a less attractive destination for stolen plant.

Fake companies

Be alert, too, for fake collection companies where criminals pose as third party collection companies contracted by the machine owner and are handed the keys by the customer.

Criminals have also started making fake VIN plates to disguise the true identity of stolen plant, in the same way they do with cars, and this is likely to increase as port authorities become more aware of the thieves' methods of getting stolen machinery out of the country. The thieves can sell re-identified machines back on to the UK market for minimum cost and maximum profit from unsuspecting purchasers.

"Anti-counterfeiting features have been designed into the Cesar decal and it has a transponder to ensure authenticity. It is vital that any potential buyer concerned about the legitimacy of a Cesar registered machine checks the register before purchasing," says Elliott.

The bottom line is that plant owners and contractors will have to remain diligent and be aware that as the anti-theft measures become more widespread, the criminals' operations are set to evolve - we just don't know how.