advertisement


My car number plate has been cloned

A

Amormusic

pfm Member
I've just received a penalty charge in London for a road contravention for some fecker who is driving a car falsely and illegally using my number plate.

I do not live in London and it is not even the right type of car.

I spoke to 101 who advise I need to challenge the fine, which I've done, but that's it. Then the council will cancel it and report the car to the police. But this just seems not enough... Someone is clearly doing dodgy stuff in this car!

Has anyone else experienced this? Should I now expect to be pulled over regularly as my car will be marked as illegal every time I go past AMPR? What were your experiences if this has happened to you?

Thanks.
 
Sorry to hear this, it isn't good. If the police put a marker on the VRM then you may well get pulled too :( I'd certainly expect more PCNs and/or speeding fines. :mad:

One suggestion is to get a 'personal' plate as these are less likely to be cloned, you don't need anything fancy just a non age-related plate.
 
I had my number plates physically stolen. I notified the police, didn't hear from them again. I don't know whether they went on a stolen car or were used in a crime. It used to be a favourite means of running around without tax or insurance.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
I’d inform the police myself, too, if it happened to me.
Click to expand...
I did. I rang 101, but the advice they gave me was to challenge the fine with the council.

I guess this is not high level crime and therefore uninteresting for them. But for me it's a pain in the ass as I'm now expecting multiple fines and issues and potentially being pulled over regularly.

I can't help but think it's a drug car or something.

EDIT: to add to the above. Apparently, I am not the victim of crime at the moment. That's the council who have been defrauded and hence why they need to report to the police, not me (even though I did and rang 101).
 
Happened to me once and the local council where my cloned car made me send photos of my car or the fine stood. Tossers. Luckily the wheels were different, but what if they had been the same?
 
richardg said:
Happened to me once and the local council where my cloned car made me send photos of my car or the fine stood. Tossers. Luckily the wheels were different, but what if they had been the same?
Click to expand...
Oh no. Luckily, this is not even the same type of car. In my challenge to Council I've included photo of my car showing its different brand to the one in the picture.
 
Bob McC said:
So the council cancel fine challenges on a word only?
I doubt it.
Click to expand...
See comment above. I've included pic showing mine is different type of car. But yes, there's no option for me to get a crime ref number. The whole process seems ridiculous.
 
Happened to my mother-in-law recently. She, who does not drive and does not have a car, got a fine for a driving offence in February 2023 by a car which was scrapped in 2014 and belonged to her husband who died in 2022. It turned out the local police had written wrongly one numeral of the plate of the car that actually committed the offence. And, incredibly, the computer system that gives an address for a number plate did not turn on a "red light" saying the car had been scrapped. But, of course, this is Italy.
 
I had this.

write to the council and challenge it. I was in the same situation and was ready for a barrage of future fines.

Give them your colour, make and model of car.

Mine turned out to be a mid-read plate, and I think yours will be too.

Cloners tend to put plates on cars that match all their cars details, age, colour, model etc.
 
Bob McC said:
So the council cancel fine challenges on a word only?
I doubt it.
Click to expand...
I've challenged a county council by email. I provided photographs and a full explanation and never heard anything again. The information I provided clearly made sense. The sum of money involved made a PCN look like some loose change you dropped and couldn't be arsed to pick up.
 
Rug Doc said:
I had this.

write to the council and challenge it. I was in the same situation and was ready for a barrage of future fines.

Give them your colour, make and model of car.

Mine turned out to be a mid-read plate, and I think yours will be too.

Cloners tend to put plates on cars that match all their cars details, age, colour, model etc.
Click to expand...
The pic clearly shows the plate and its the same as mine :(

The car is a similar size and shape and same colour, but different make.
 
By do you mean it’s a different make, model and colour? If it’s similar I take a pic of the plates on your mobile the add a “think bike” of GB sticker then take a pic again. Stick it on the bumper next to the plate?
I saw a police show once where they stopped a legit driver who’s car had been cloned, they offered to put a “think bike” sticker in his rear window and added that to the pnc so any future officers could easily identify he was in the correct car for the plate should a ANPR camera flag it up.
 
wow&flutter said:
By do you mean it’s a different make, model and colour? If it’s similar I take a pic of the plates on your mobile the add a “think bike” of GB sticker then take a pic again. Stick it on the bumper next to the plate?
I saw a police show once where they stopped a legit driver who’s car had been cloned, they offered to put a “think bike” sticker in his rear window and added that to the pnc so any future officers could easily identify he was in the correct car for the plate should a ANPR camera flag it up.
Click to expand...
I have a Silver Fiat Panda. The car in the picture is A Silver Vauxhall Astra. So it's a similar size/shape and is exactly the same colour.

So it's clearly a different car if you look. But it has my plate on it!!
 
Amormusic said:
I have a Silver Fiat Panda. The car in the picture is A Silver Vauxhall Astra. So it's a similar size/shape and is exactly the same colour.

So it's clearly a different car if you look. But it has my plate on it!!
Click to expand...
I’d have thought who ever was using the non matching model- registration car would be taking a risk of getting caught with an ANPR camera sooner or later? Also struck me that those irritating dealer rear screen stickers might serve a purpose. I got a ticket from Bristol when I could prove I was in Glasgow and they immediately admitted it as their error. I was also rear ended in Edinburgh by a hit and run guy who then fled by running city centre junctions at 50mph. Certain I’d got his registration but the cops said the owner ( an older man than the driver I saw) could prove he was elsewhere.
 
Also, as the make and model differs from what’s on the V5 against that license plate, there should be much less hassle than if it was a similar vehicle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top