Number plate theft

Yes - that's right - there are people out there who will actually steal the number plates straight from your bumper! As crazy as it may sound many hundreds of people each year find themselves falling victim to numberplate theft.

So why steal number plates?

Criminals steal number plates to mask the identity of vehicles for us in illegal activity- anything from bank robbery getaway cars to speeding on the motorway.

A car which has stolen number plates will be quite difficult to trace so it aids the criminal in attempting to stay ahead of the law.

Stolen number plates are also used in forecourt "drive offs" when criminals fill up on fuel but drive off without paying - something which costs around £14M annually in the UK.

Some numberplates are stolen and then fitted to identical vehicles - this is known as "number plate cloning"

Cloning cars makes it even harder for the police to investigate and prosecute criminals as any official paperwork and issues will go directly to the registered keeper of the vehicle which has been cloned.

How can I prevent number plate theft?

At this moment in time the only way to prevent number plate theft is via products such as SecurePlate. SecurePlate is a special type of number plate which can only be removed from a vehicle by destroying it- thus making it useless to criminals.

How bad is number plate theft?

Number plate theft is on the rise and has come to the fore in the last couple of years as the Congestion Charge zone issue numerous penalty charge notices to innocent motorists who have been the victim of number plate theft.

"As many as one in 250 vehicles entering the London congestion charge zone may be using false number plates"
The AA Motoring Trust.

What Next?

There is technology in the pipeline to help prevent number plate theft- as well as tightening of regulations as to who can actually supply number plates. Strictly speaking only an RNPS (registered Number Plate Supplier) can sell you a set of number plates once they have seen specific documents- the reality is you can buy number plates on EBay with no documentation at all.

See also: Numberplate security

Baffled by Jargon? Try our number plate glossary

© 2008 Smashing Plates | Number plate theft.