Am I right to be suspicious?

[wdsfy]

I am concerned by some adverts selling second hand bikes that have gone up in my work place over the last 6 months or so.

I work in a hospital, however the floor on which the adverts are placed sees very little in the way of public footfall as it houses only the student library and the security-locked research labs where I am based. It's not unusual to find adverts for rooms to let or electrical equipment for sale, given the presence of the students, but the bicycle adverts have caught my eye.

Two bicycle adverts went up in quick succession about 6 months ago and I noticed that the pictures accompanying each advert had been taken in similar locations in a nearby park but didn't think much of it at the time. A month or so afterwards another advert appeared with a similar photo and my attention was spiked by the repetition of the phrase "A reliable commuter that I am only selling because I am moving flats" which had been used in one of the earlier adverts. I decided to note down the phone number on the advert just in case. A short while later a fourth advert appeared, again with a photo taken in the local park and similar description. However, the number on this advert did not match the previous one. This afternoon, a fifth advert has appeared with photo taken at the same spot and this time the mobile number does match that of the third advert

Do you think I am right to be suspicious here? Is it likely that one person would be selling second hand bikes in such quick succession? Does the advertiser have multiple mobile numbers which are used in rotation? Or am I just being paranoid?

The bikes in each case are well-used and have asking prices of ~£50-80 appealing to the students. My concern is that this could be part of a larger theft operation where, when selling on the stolen bikes, these cheaper models are advertised directly to students and the more high-end bikes elsewhere.

If I was to report this, how/where would I do it?

Thanks

[thirdcrank]

... If I was to report this, how/where would I do it? ...

The name of the post may vary but your local police division should have a local intelligence officer whose job includes looking at information like this. How easy it is to track down a way of contacting them depends on your local force www. Beyond that, there's no reason not to use the way that's most convenient for you. It sounds as though you have a certain amount of detail apart from what you have put in your post, so writing may be the best way to explain it all. If you can't track down the location of the local postholder, a letter to your local divisional police station, which will be shown on the www addressed to "The Local Intelligence Officer" should get there.

In anticipation of the usual quips about intelligence, the LIO at the last place I worked just before I retired was one of the best people I have ever worked with.