Vehicles are being "cloned" to avoid camera caught offences, to hide
their identity and to give a false history for sale. Because the police
have access to the vehicle database at DVLA, Swansea, there is little
point in the thief simply picking a registration number at random.
If he does, a police DVLA check would show immediately that the Mini
ahead is registered as a Volvo and something is wrong. As the whole
idea is not to be stopped and identified by the police, such an approach
is stupid. Instead they look for another Mini with the same specifications
and take over its number. A quick DVLA check now confirms it is indeed
a Mini apparently correctly registered. Now the problems start for the
true owner, who has no idea there is a problem, as his car was not stolen.
However when the unpaid parking tickets, speeding fines, London congestion
charge demands etc start flooding in, it is up to the unfortunate individual
to try to prove that he was not responsible.
Not surprisingly that is extremely difficult, stressful and time wasting
as the authorities concerned simply will not believe him just because
he says it isn't true. He may end up having to reregister his car with
a different number. There have been incidents where an innocent motorist
has been stopped by armed police because the car he is driving has the
number plate of the vehicle used in the robbery. In my case, both my
car and its personalised LAW number plate are well known, recognised
and observed so that hopefully I would be able to show where it was
at any time.
One hazard for the cloners is that the information available to the
police also includes whether or not the car is currently insured. Pick
a number from one that is uninsured and the cloner's vehicle could be
seized and crushed instead. Isn't life unfair?
Such cloning also is used to change the history of a car being sold.
A check with the various authorities will apparently show the vehicle
has not been stolen, written off in an accident, has a low mileage and
is not subject to hire purchase. Unfortunately that information does
not refer to the car you have just paid for but to the one that really
has that registered number. Check the VIN matches too. If you have paid
a private individual for a vehicle that is not genuine, there is little
chance of getting any money back.
Vehicles are being "cloned" to avoid camera caught offences, to hide
their identity and to give a false history for sale. Because the police
have access to the vehicle database at DVLA, Swansea, there is little
point in the thief simply picking a registration number at random.
