Warnings about Lithuania gangs placing GPS devices on motorcycles – Fact Check

A warning is spreading online that claims a gang from Lithuania are placing trackers on high end motorcycles in order to track them to the owners location where they can then be subsequently stolen during the night.

UNPROVEN

A popular example of the warning below that has been circulating since 2018, and claims it is happening in the UK.

LIKELY HERE IN IRELAND. Copied from another page
Attention all bikers. Yesterday a friend parked his bike at Rye East Sussex he went for a walk when he returned to his bike he noticed something taped under the bike. It was a small tracker. He took the tracker to his local police station in Eastbourne. The police said its a gang from Lithuania who find high valued bikes put trackers on them to find out where they are parked up at night. They steal the bike strip it and put it in a container then send it to Lithuania. If you leave your bike in a public area check it for a tracker when you come back. If you have saddlebags check them
This has also been done in Dublin and Belfast city Manchester Liverpool !

The warning is a classic example of social media scarelore passed from person to person through social media, whereas it purports to describe a type of crime that is certainly not outside the realms of possibility from occurring somewhere at some point in time, yet embellishes the alleged crime by implying that it is trending or prolific, and by adding unverified details without plausible explanation or without providing evidence to support those claims.

The warning claims a “gang from Lithuania” is carrying out the crime, by placing tracking devices on high-end motorcycles to find out where they are kept overnight, and that the police were aware of and actively warning against this crime. Yet we could locate no such warnings or statements – nor even any reputable coverage from the media – that describes or warns of this crime, not even from the police forces surrounding the area in the UK (East Sussex) where this crime is allegedly happening.

Sponsored Content. Continued below...

A similar warning could be found on the BikerAndBike website from 2017 which warns of crooks placing GPS devices on motorcycles in London, but this warning was based on another unverified social media post that purports the Metropolitan Police had warned of the crime – but again we could not locate such a warning from them.

The warning bears more than just a passing resemblance to another aged urban legend that claims petrol stations were passing out free key fobs that were actually GPS tracking devices used by criminals to locate your home.

Could such a crime occur where a criminal places a high tech tracking device in order to locate your bike at night? Of course it’s theoretically possible, but we remain skeptical; it involves a crook possessing a certain degree of technical know-how and equipment at the time they happen to stumble across a potential target. And this crime has a heightned risk factor associated with it since the crooks would need to approach a bike twice, once to install the tracker and once to steal the bike. Another risk factor is that obviously the victim may locate the tracker themselves and hand it into the police.

As such, a crime like this isn’t likely to be prolific. Bike and car thefts are largely opportunist crimes, so bike owners are probably better off following common sense advice concerning the safety of their vehicles. Of course this could involve a few moments to check for tracking devices, but the chances of finding one are almost certainly not as likely as the above warnings make it out to be.

We contacted the Eastbourne police force in the UK who have told us that they have “received no reports of such a crime of that description.”