Why hide the full serial number?

[mnit1965]

Sorry for the dumb question, but i'm just curious...

Why do some of you guys, when revealing a serial number, sometimes hide the full serial, like UO20xxxx? It's just not in here, but i see this all the time on other forums.

Is there any "problem" revealing the full serial number of your guitar that i'm not aware of?

[Devotee]

Because people are paranoid that somehow their personal information will be somehow be traced using a guitar's serial number.

[mjtripper]

I had somebody call the cops once stating I was selling a guitar that was stolen from them. They grabbed the serial from the ad, filed a theft report, then called the cops that they found it. Sadly for them I had purchased it new and had all the paperwork.

[neilli]

Yeah, that's the only reason I'd hide the serial..

[j2379]

+1

I dont know about jackson's but i do know there were a few guys faking BCRich's complete with fake serial #s. Thats a big reason why some of the BCR collectors won't post full serial#s. Luckily one of the idiots faking the #'s wasnt that smart and its not too hard to figure out they were faked.

Yeah, that's the only reason I'd hide the serial..

[Newc]

That was Ed Roman.

And yeah, aside from the cases like mj stated, it's paranoia. Then again, the claimant has to produce evidence it was stolen, such as a receipt. It's possible, though, since they can simply order some simple receipts local mom-n-pop shops use with the name of a defunct dealer and forge the sale info.

However, if they tried it on a guitar whose serial came after said shop closed, then they would have an uphill battle.

Then again, I see no reason to post any serial publicly. If it's for ID purposes (i.e. Japan vs India), that should be handled via PM by the informed experts.