When Inside Out confronts the shop in Stratford they say they hadn't sold us the plates. Paul visits a dealer he has been tipped off about in Stratford.įor £30, Paul buys a pair of plates that, in a fairly short space of time, could have saved him hundreds of pounds - if he had been that way inclined. His suspicions of the reasons why are confirmed. The team's reporter, Paul, finds that Tower Hamlets Council has been losing thousands of pounds in honestly earned (if that's not too far from the truth) parking fines. So, to hunt them out, the Inside Out team goes undercover. Stopping this practice would be easy - if those who supply them to the public would play the game. If anyone is offered a vehicle for sale accompanied by one of the stolen registration documents, you should contact the police immediately. The following companies provide this service for a fee - Carwatch UK Limited (Vehicle History Check) - 08*, Experian (Car Data Check) - 0870 6000 838* and HPI Limited - 01722 422 422. If you have limited knowledge of vehicles take an experienced person with you.īe wary of handing over cash to someone who has been contacted through a mobile number.Ĭheck if the vehicle has been seriously damaged, notified as stolen or is subject to outstanding finance. This number can usually be found on a metal plate under the bonnet. View the vehicle at the address shown on the registration document.Ĭheck the vehicle identification number (VIN) - sometimes called the chassis number - corresponds with the number on the registration document. How to avoid buying a cloned carĪdvice to anyone considering purchasing a used car privately:Īlways have sight of the registration document V5 prior to purchasing a used vehicle.īe satisfied that the seller owns the vehicle or is entitled to offer it for sale. The user of the dodgy plates, the supplier of the plates and the plate manufacturer - all equally as culpable in the dirty deed. They will provide number-plates over the counter for a few used notes without that vital documentation.Įssentially, there are three in the chain. In order to get a pair of plates, or even one for that matter, the law demands that you provide your registration document with proof of identity.īut with some dodgy dealers, law goes out the window. Pick a numberĬongestion charges could be landing on your door mat They now knew that another cloned car was out on the road and the perpetrators of the crime were ringers. He was released after five hours when police confirmed his alibi. With the house surrounded by armed officers, John was escorted to the police station. John's car had supposedly been used as a getaway vehicle in an armed robbery, making John the prime suspect. John Cahill was also a victim of car cloning, but it wasn't a parking fine that landed on his doorstep, it was an armed police squad. "I jumped out of bed, looked out of the window and there was someone pointing a gun at me." "He also got two speeding tickets on the M62 for speeding through roadworks that I got the benefit of," he says, with tongue firmly in cheek. "This guy went into the congestion charge zone, to my knowledge, no fewer than 28 different occasions," says Leon. He reckons that if he had paid all of them, it would have spiralled to £8,000.Īnd it wasn't just congestion charges that he was receiving. "But, by the end of the week, I had four of them." I had heard of this sort of thing happening. Leon says "I was quite amused with the first one that turned up. Meanwhile, his car, or should we say, a car with his number-plates, has been equally as regularly triggering the congestion charge cameras. Leon journeys regularly in and out of London, but he takes the leisurely train. Whilst Leon takes the train, his cloned plates clock up bills This is just the situation Leon Ruiz found himself in. Meanwhile, the unwitting motorist is watching fines and charges hit the "wipe your feet" mat at home. Sporting the new plates, they cruise the streets with impunity. They spot a hapless motorist, note the number-plate of the car, then get duplicate plates made. The world of the ringerĬar cloners or "ringers", as they are known, are motoring bandits. Inside Out enters the murky world of the ringer to find out. So who has been racking up these fines and charges how are they getting away with it? Hundreds of pounds worth of congestion charges, speeding and parking fines have been landing on the doormat of innocent motorists. And if you live in the capital, there's the largely despised congestion charge to contend with too.īut for some motorists, driving has become even more of an expensive luxury. High fuel prices, traffic jams, parking costs and fines - British motoring doesn't come cheap. Cloned plates fool congestion charge cameras
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