Frequently asked questions

Yes, it's free, and you don't need an account. Anyone can check a phone, car or laptop by its IMEI, VIN or chassis number as often as they need to.

The item's status (for example Registered, Lost, Stolen or Disputed), its trust level, when it was first registered, how many previous owners it has had on TruOwn, and whether a dispute is open. It never shows the owner's name, phone number, email or location.

Not necessarily. It only means nobody has registered that identifier on TruOwn yet. Follow the buyer's checklist, and ask the seller to register the item and transfer it to you on TruOwn before you pay.

A phone's 15-digit IMEI (dial *#06# to see it), a car's 17-character VIN, or a car's chassis number. Laptops are registered by serial number, which isn't searchable on the public check yet.

It records your phone number or email so you can be told if the item's status changes during the next 7 days, for example while you're deciding whether to buy it. Alerts are only sent once SMS and email delivery are live; the status page shows whether they are.

Registered: an owner has registered it and nothing has been reported. Transfer pending: the owner has started a transfer to a buyer. Lost or Stolen: the owner has reported it missing — don't buy it. Disputed: two people have claimed it and TruOwn is reviewing evidence. Recovered: it was reported missing and the owner has since got it back. Delisted: the owner has removed it from active registration.

Self-declared means the owner registered it without uploading proof. Documented means they uploaded proof of purchase, such as a receipt. Verified by dealer means a dealer confirmed it. A higher trust level is a stronger signal, but none of them is a legal title.

Registering an item is free. A small transfer fee applies when ownership changes hands, and every transfer fee is waived during launch. The pricing page lists the current fee bands.

The seller starts the transfer to the buyer's TruOwn account. The buyer confirms it with a one-time code sent to their phone. Ownership only moves when both sides have confirmed. An unconfirmed transfer expires after 24 hours.

For 72 hours after you change your password, phone number, email or recovery details, you can't start a transfer. If someone takes over an account, this stops them from quickly moving the owner's items to themselves.

You can name up to 3 people you trust. If your phone is stolen and you can't log in, a trusted contact can flag your item as missing for you, and you confirm it when you're able to.

The first 500 accounts created on TruOwn are marked as founding members.

Use “Report stolen without logging in”. You'll need the phone number on your account and either your recovery PIN or one of the recovery codes you saved when you signed up. The item is flagged as stolen straight away.

Use “Found an item” to send the owner an anonymous message through TruOwn. The owner sees your message but not your contact details, and you never see who the owner is.

No. TruOwn records what was declared and confirmed on the platform. It is strong evidence, but it is not a legal title and does not replace the police, the courts or any other legal process.

Every registration, transfer and report is written to a log where each entry includes a fingerprint (hash) of the one before it, so changing any past entry breaks the chain. Each day's entries are also anchored so anyone can independently verify that a record hasn't been altered since.

Yes. From Account settings you can export a copy of your data or delete your account at any time, as the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 provides. The ownership history stays, because other people's records depend on it, but it is no longer linked to anything that identifies you.