Car Cloning

Different cars - matching number plates

Have you ever been sent a parking fine from somewhere you've never been to? Or how about a speeding ticket even though your car was off the road? If so you may have become the latest victim of car cloning.

Inside Out's Ashley Blake investigates this escalating crime which is proving extremely difficult to police.

To buy legal registration plates for your car you need your log book, driver's licence and proof of address.

Yet plates sold for show use can now be bought on the internet or over the phone and no documentation is required.

With no proof needed, any registration number can be ordered meaning any car can be cloned.

The car can then be used by criminals who rack up parking fines, speeding tickets and more importantly, use them to commit crimes.

Wake-up call with a difference

"I jumped out of bed, looked out of the window and there was someone pointing a gun at me - it puts the fear of God in you."

John Cahill

John Cahill became a victim of car cloning, but it wasn't a parking fine that landed on his doorstep, it was an armed police squad.

John's car had supposedly been used as a getaway vehicle in an armed robbery, making John the prime suspect.

With the house surrounded by armed officers, John was eventually escorted to the police station.

John was released after five hours when police confirmed his alibi.

They now knew that another cloned car was out on the road.

On the increase

Incidents of car cloning are reported daily and with 10,000 cloned cars already on the streets, operations run by the West Midlands police are vital in attempting to curb the problem.

The police use a system called automated number plate recognition (ANPR).

Cameras in the back of a van read film each car registration plate as it passes and run the details through the police computer.

The system identifies the driver's address, whether the car has been registered as stolen or identify if it is a clone.

Inside Out was invited to film with the police on one of their operations. It wasn't long before the ANPR van spotted a suspected clone.

The ANPR system processes information about each car

Close scrutiny

By examining various ID markers on the vehicle, PC Ian Rollason confirms that the van is genuine which means that there is another vehicle sporting an identical number plate.

"There's another vehicle on the road and sooner or later we're going to get the right car," promises Ian.

"It's listed and we'll keep going until we find it."

This is little consolation to the innocent van owner who could face being pulled over for inspection regularly until the cloned vehicle is caught.

Pick a number

Car cloning is based on getting hold of false number plates. Inside Out's investigation shows this is easier to do then you'd like to imagine.

A website based in Ireland is able to provide plates of any licence without documentation because it is outside of UK law.

Yet Inside Out found a company in England also selling plates without asking for the relevant documents. The company are selling the plates for show use only. But once the plates are bought, the owner can use them for whatever they want.

Inside Out reporter Ashley Blake purchases a licence plate from each company with the only information requested being the address to send the plates to, the registration number he would like and of course, his credit card number.

Since filming, the DVLA have been made aware of this story and are preparing to investigate.

West Midlands police admit that fighting this latest car crime menace is proving tough.

"Unscrupulous people will change number plates on cars for criminal activities to escape prosecution," explains PC Rollason.
 

Put to the test

Another victim of car cloning is a little closer to home as an Inside Out producer receives an £80 London parking fine. The only problem is he was filming in Birmingham on the day the fine was issued.

It quickly becomes clear that he's become the latest victim of car cloning.

The car in London was the same make, model, colour and of course had identical number plates.

By using a photocopy of his tax disk, Inside Out is able to prove that the car that was parked illegally was in fact a clone because the number on the tax disc was different.

PC Ian Rollason admits it is a problem Police are finding difficult to control

Inside Out's investigation wasn't finished here.

Using his colleague's car which he knows has been cloned, Ashley puts the police's ANPR system to the test.

Motorcycle police are dispatched almost as soon as Ashley drives past the camera and his vehicle is pulled over for inspection.

PC Ian Rollason is able to use the chassis number to confirm that Ashley's car has the correct licence plate.

So, the system works but somewhere out on the road, the cloned car is still undetected.

Unenforceable

Without legislation to prevent these plates being sold in the first place, the police are left to rely on the ANPR camera and the 50/50 chance that the car they pull over is the cloned vehicle rather than the genuine one.

"I'd like to say the problem is under control, but I'd be misleading you there," admits Ian.

With car cloning escalating and the police seemingly powerless to prevent the sale of false plates, could you be the next victim of cloning and be accused of a crime you didn't commit?

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