Fighting the fake plates
Then use of cloned cars is becoming ever more sophisticated
Whether it is the use of counterfeit and stolen Blue Badges or scams circumventing airport parking charges, the ingenuity some people put into avoiding paying parking fees never ceases to amaze, or more properly, depress me. One fraud that appears to be on the rise is the use of cloned number plates, which break the connection between a vehicle and any penalties issued for its misuse. Cloned plates have been around for many years. Back in the early ’90s one of my brothers was contacted by his insurer to alert him to the fact that a vehicle with the same plates as his first car – a smart, little red Volkswagen Polo – has been used in a robbery on Merseyside. The felons’ vehicle was not a Polo being driven around Hertfordshire, so the police and insurers were content that my brother was not involved.
