MAASTRICHT, The Netherlands, October 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Over 5000 Companies Encode Assets to Prevent Them From Being Stolen

The Dutch company Permanentmark Security Systems Europe recently sold its 1 millionth anti-theft set. This set enables companies and private individuals to encode all their assets with professional identification marks, for instance cars, caravans, computers, bicycles or televisions. This waterproof and indelible ownership data prevents goods from being stolen and helps international investigative authorities to recover stolen property.

Annually, in the European Union over 100 million goods are stolen, of which 1,4 million are cars. Most of the stolen goods end up on the black market and are never returned to their rightful owner. Properties encoded with Permanentmark however become risky objects for thieves. Goods that say 'owned by...' you'll leave behind. You can't sell them on the free market and indelibly encoded assets are not accepted by receivers or fences. We know a lot of cases where thieves only stole the non-marked items, Permanentmark managing director John Conemans says.

Up till now over 5000 companies and institutions, including many schools, had their office and other properties encoded by Permanentmark. Still it is not common used all around Europe, Conemans states. Especially in Germany and Belgium people are not used to doing this and often point at their insurance company when something gets stolen. Therefore it is important that insurance companies offer their clients these sets for free, he says. In Holland a lot of insurance companies already do this. Also the police recommend the public to use the identification sets.

Permanentmark distributes the sets since the early '80's. Their simplicity explains their success. The identification numbers are clearly visible, but unobtrusive and indelible. Each set contains very clear instructions for use, even for clumsy people. Computers or televisions are marked with the personal data of the owner, cars are marked with frame number and/or license plate number. This turns out to be an effective weapon against international car theft.

Permanentmark is distributed in Europe, North America and Africa by affiliated and licensed agencies. The Dutch head-office is located in Bunde near Maastricht.

For further information: http://www.permanentmark.com

Note for the press: For further information please contact Permanent Mark Security Systems Europe managing director John Conemans, Tel: +31-43-3644957 or e-mail: info@permanentmark.nl