Birmingham and the West Midlands have been in the grip of a car theft epidemic.
Carjackings and car key burglaries have become widespread, despite police efforts to tackle organised crime gangs involved.
But as well as alerting police many targeted drivers are also sending their details to the Stolen Cars Midlands Facebook page - hoping details will be shared so the crooks can be caught.
The page has been going since 2013 and the man behind claims to have helped reunite around 200 vehicles worth nearly £1.5million with their grateful owners. It currently has 33,000 followers.
The page has been highly praised by the police who've track down some stolen cars after public sightings.
Last month cops tracked down three four series BMWs - worth nearly £100,000- following a tip off from the Stolen Cars community.
In an exclusive chat, the 28-year-old Birmingham founder behind the page told how he combines a full time job with his passion for doing his bit to reduce crime.
He said the project started back in March 2013, when his friend had his car stolen.
He said: "He was gutted. I had watched him spend thousands on this car, he cleaned it every weekend and made it look in showroom condition.
“When it was stolen he had all the CCTV showing how it happened. He made a post on his Facebook page and I shared it on my personal Facebook but added how much time and effort he had put into the car. It received approximately 50 odd shares.
“So I started to do the numbers and realised it had been seen by a lot of people and I thought I’d start a page to assist people who have had their cars stolen. That’s basically how the group started.”
Numbers of followers have rocketed and are growing fast with car crime rocketing.
He said: “It became an obsession to hit the milestones. As members grew, more posts were being shared and the more cars could be seen.
“Stolen Cars Midlands came about probably at the right time because it started growing as we were hit by the car crimewave.”
So what happens when someone who has had their car stolen gets in touch?
He said: “First of all, they will receive a generated message asking for the car make, car model, colour, registration, pictures and where it was stolen from.
“The more information given, the better chance there is of people noticing the car.
“I make it into a post upload it and away it goes straight away, it will get shared and comments.”
He classes himself as a middleman receiving the messages from the public and passing them on to the police.
“A member of the public will notice a car by their house, work, or even out driving," he said.
“They will send me the vital information. I will do the checks and then forward it over to West Midlands Police, Warwickshire Police, West Mercia Police, Leicestershire Police, depending on the location.
“I can’t explain the buzz I get from the time I get a ‘on-route’ message to the time I get a recovered message - I’m usually pacing the house.
Two recent successes include recovering a missing Mr Christmas decorations van and a brand new Landrover Discover - which he went out and secured himself until the owner got back.
He said: “My end goal for the group is for me to do this full time. There is a lot of stuff that goes on in the background that nobody ever sees. It is hard juggling a full time job, family life and the page all day, everyday.
"There have been times when I’ve been up till gone 2am answering messages and checking cars.
“ I can’t seem to leave anything till the morning as I know tomorrow will bring it’s own posts.”
Carjackings 2018/2019
In the meantime, he warns thieves there is a community online waiting to stop them in their tracks.
“ Stolen Cars Midlands will be here because we want to return cars to their owners.”
