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Marking your property makes it easier to track It is an all too common occurrence for a police officer to receive a report of a stolen bicycle where the complainant can only describe the bicycle as "a red mountain bike", no serial number, tire and frame size, speeds... and so on. Did you know we have access to a Canada-wide database that can house lost or stolen property information... but only property with unique or distinguishing features, such as a serial numbers or property marked with operation identification? You can borrow an electric engraver from your local police station for free, and with this tool you can engrave your Ontario Driver's Licence number into your electronics, bicycles, and so on. This marking of property makes it easy for your police service to track, recover, and return stolen or lost property. It also makes the thieving of your property less desirable to crooks. To assist your police service, you can also make a list of marked property, along with any serial numbers already on the property. If your bicycle is stolen, please report it! It is more common than not for even very expensive bikes to be taken for a `joy ride' to get from one side of town to another, then abandoned. We do get good Police issue warning about mail scams Halton Police are issuing a warning to residents about international mail and e-mail scams. Police say the most prevalent of these scams is the West African/Nigerian letter scheme (also known as advanced fee fraud) that has been in operation since the mid80s. Despite many warnings the scam continues to draw in many victims. The victim receives a letter by fax, e-mail or mail concerning Nigeria or another African nation. Although there have been many creative variations of these letters, traditionally the letter claims to come from a person to transfer large sums of money out of the country requiring the assistance of the victim, or offers to share in a fortune in return for an advanced fee. The goal of the scam artist is to deceive the victims into thinking that they have been chosen to participate in a profitable opportunity, and in each case, the victim will be required to pay money up front in order to complete the transaction. It is believed the scam grosses hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Halton Police ask anyone who receives one of these letters not to respond to it or send money up front for any reason. Phonebusters, operated by the OPP and RCMP, is interested in receiving new versions of the letters. They can be forwarded to wafl@phonebusters.com. Const. Chris Borak quality bicycles turned over to us, with little to no damage but without a police report of having the bike stolen, or a known serial number or operation identification marking(s), these bikes won't get returned to their rightful owners. You can contact your local police station to borrow the electric engraver, and to see if your lost or stolen bicycle has been recently found and/or turned over to police. If you don't mark your property, or report the loss or theft of your property to police, it will likely be auctioned. Contact me personally for crime prevention tips at 905-878-5511 extension 2470, or by e-mailing chris.borak@hrps.on.ca. Please reserve the 911 system for emergency calls only. --Const. Chris Borak is the community support officer for District 1