Do not pay an unsolicited "recovery agent" or share banking details to unlock a supposed location for your stolen e-bike. Verify the claimed organization using contact details you find independently. Someone knowing your bike's color, name, or public listing details does not prove they have found it.
Separate a Lead From Proof
After posting a theft notice, you may be especially eager for news. Read what a message actually establishes. "I know where it is" followed by a payment demand is not the same as an independently verifiable lead. The urgency you feel is not evidence that the claim is true.
Check whether the details could have been copied from your own post. Public photographs of electric bikes do not demonstrate possession of your particular bike. Publicly available information can make a stranger sound informed without establishing identity or access.
Verify Outside the Conversation
If the person claims to represent police, a registration service, or another organization, independently find that organization's official contact route. Ask whether the contact and case are genuine. Calling a number supplied in the same suspicious message is not independent verification.
Do not use an unexpected login link to "confirm ownership," share a sign-in code, or provide financial details to receive a location. If you already use a registration platform, open your usual account directly rather than following the stranger's link.
A legitimate identity check should happen through the verified organization, not through an unknown account that pressures you to act before you can ask questions.
Treat an Upfront Release Fee as a Warning
The FTC warns about recovery scams that target people who have already suffered a loss and demand fees or financial information. Applying that warning here, a request for a "location release" or "recovery processing" payment deserves a stop, not a hurried transfer.
This does not establish that a particular named person committed a crime, or that every professional recovery service is illegitimate. It means you should not pay an unsolicited contact on the strength of their own claims. Verify the organization and the proposed service first.
Keep the Lead Without Following the Payment Demand
Save the messages, account details, and payment request. Give a potentially useful location lead to the police handling the theft; do not arrange a confrontation yourself. The stolen e-bike guide covers the broader reporting steps.
Report suspicious contact to the platform involved and appropriate fraud-reporting channels. If you already paid, contact the relevant payment provider promptly and explain what happened. A reversal is not guaranteed, and another fee to "release the refund" is not a reason to send more money.
