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Think my plate has been cloned?


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Shocked to receive a letter today from greater Manchester Police alleging a car with my reg number was involved in a fail to stop after a collision a month ago in an area I have never been. They are asking me to provide the name and address of the driver. On that day my car was on my drive all day and I have the CCTV to prove it never moved off the drive. I can only assume it is a mistake or someone has cloned my reg plate. Has anybody any experience of this happening to them and what is the best thing to do next? Tried to phone them today but straight to answerphone as they only work during the week. There can't be many GTI Clubsports driving round the Manchester area? The options on the form are me saying I was the driver or name the driver who was, there is no section to say it wasn't my car involved. I am worried that if someone has got a set of plates made of my reg this will just be the start of a lot of pain.

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I would expect that you will have to prove your innocence.

The police tend to hear a lot of 'stories'.........have you seen the picture?.

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Not unknown for a Dealership employee to make an error with making registration plates and have a front and rear with a number wrong on 1 plate.

There have been members here that had cars that were collected then the wrong plate spotted.

So maybe a check with the supplying dealership on the GTI Clubsports they first registered on a certain day and do you similar numbers.

 

Anyway, for the Police to check out.

Could be lots of pain as your are flagged up, remember and wear a bullet proof vest, and just be happy you have a Golf and not an Audi S3.

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I had something similar a couple of years ago with my WHITE Citigo Sport. Turned out that my reg was wrongly interpreted from an eye witness to an incident (the car involved was actually a BLACK Fiat Punto over 100 miles away. This didn't stop the police and insurers sending me letter after letter for several months.

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Many years ago my dad had a call from the Police asking him to move his car as it was causing an obstruction...   turn out it was the same colour and model with cloned plates as his was at the local Ford garage with no wheels and the engine out after someone had driven into him.  The thought process was that someone either at the garage or the insurers was selling off reg numbers of potentially written-off cars!

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I think the best ANPR story is where a Briskoda members private reg YET 1 was mistaken with a Dealers vehicle from a forecourt out on the road with a YETI plate still attached.

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On 24/06/2017 at 14:34, petehiggins said:

No picture just the reg number quoted. But the car is fitted with a tracking device which will prove the car was not involved?

 

I'd secure the tracking data if you can (I don't know how that works with your system). You could give your local plod a call or drop in.

 

The tracking data will mean you will be fine in the end but it doesn't mean you won't have a load of hassle in the meanwhile.

Edited by Aspman
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20 hours ago, Awayoffski said:

I think the best ANPR story is where a Briskoda members private reg YET 1 was mistaken with a Dealers vehicle from a forecourt out on the road with a YETI plate still attached.

 

Quality!

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Problem now resolved after sending the investigation unit a letter enclosing screenshots of the CCTV of my car on the drive at the time of the alleged offence. They phoned me today to tell me they were happy my car wasn't involved and would be sending me a letter to confirm this. Apparently a witness had given them only the first four digits of the offending reg plate and as my car had the same first four digits and was the closest registered vehicle to the offence was thought to be involved? They didn't even have the make and model of the vehicle involved just the partial plate. Thanks for the comments and advice on this one.

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4 hours ago, petehiggins said:

Problem now resolved after sending the investigation unit a letter enclosing screenshots of the CCTV of my car on the drive at the time of the alleged offence. They phoned me today to tell me they were happy my car wasn't involved and would be sending me a letter to confirm this. Apparently a witness had given them only the first four digits of the offending reg plate and as my car had the same first four digits and was the closest registered vehicle to the offence was thought to be involved? They didn't even have the make and model of the vehicle involved just the partial plate. Thanks for the comments and advice on this one.

So they were simply fishing it seems.........looking for someone to self incriminate.

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I am just glad it is now sorted. I wonder how many other people with the same first four digits got the same letter from them as me in a vain attempt to get a result. Just glad I had the proof my car was stationary at home and the CCTV had not been overwritten. Doesn't inspire confidence in the police powers of investigation maybe that part of the system is farmed out to a third party? I am sure whoever was involved in the accident and was prepared to drive away wouldn't bother to respond to a letter from them anyway.

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  • 4 years later...
On 29/06/2017 at 10:27, bspman said:

Glad that's sorted but WTF!? Glad you've got  proof of where your vehicle is.. I'd be stuffed!

 

Or simply reply "not my car" and forget all about it, which now the whole truth is known would have been the best thing to do, had it been an identical vehicle with a cloned plate they would have got back to you sharpish enough asking for proof.

 

I never invest any more than the minimum amount of time on an initial rebuttal in any matter, giving any more can make you look vulnerable to a scammer or possibly incriminate yourself.

I usually only take notice of recorded delivery letters, in a case like this I would respond initially with the briefest rebuttal and then say all further correspondence will go straight in the bin unless it is sent recorded delivery, it usually achieves the result.

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I live in Dorset, and I one received a letter from the police informing me that my car had been caught speeding in Deptford, SE London, an area which I don't ever recall driving in. The car was one which appeared to have been part of a large lease fleet with similar registration numbers. My car was XXX701X and was shown on the letter as white, but the correct type of car. Problem was that mine was blue. I went to the local police station and a very helpful man checked my car on the computer, the entry was correct. I replied to the letter pointing out the discrepancy, and they replied that it had been a typo on their part, the car in question was XXX710X

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