How car owners can win the clone war
Motorists are finding themselves in the midst of car wars on the streets of Britain. On one side, criminals are stealing the identity of legitimately owned cars to mask stolen vehicles. On the other, owners are being urged to be vigilant or risk becoming the victim of car cloning.
This increasingly popular scam sees the criminal stealing the registration of a legitimate car that’s the same make, model and colour of a stolen vehicle. This is either done physically, by removing the plates or by ordering a duplicate set over the internet.
Once the plates are on the stolen car, it can be used in any manner of crimes – from leaving a petrol forecourt without payment to speeding or much worse. The first the owner knows about it are either missing plates on the car or unexpected fines flooding through the letterbox. Proving you’re not the perpetrator can be difficult, with many victims actually paying the fines rather than face the hassle.
“That’s not the way to deal with things” says Mike Walsh, Sales Director of used car hypermarket, Carcraft. With over a decade of experience in the car industry, the team at Carcraft has some useful words of advice for car owners who want to prevent car cloning or are already victims.
“The first thing to do if your plates go walk-about from you car is call the police and get a crime number. This will help prove your innocence if a subsequent crime takes place. Better yet, invest in a set of anti-theft plates. These shatter when someone unscrews them, making them useless to the thief. If the fines start coming through the letter box, don’t just pay up. Make a fuss and point the police in the direction of a car cloning scam. Don’t let the criminals get away with it.”
Carcraft protects buyers from car cloning by ensuring every vehicle in stock undergoes an HPI check before sale. This not only establishes the true identity of the car but also protects the buyer against unpaid finance and insurance write offs.
“It’s important for all our customers to know we take car cloning seriously” added Walsh. “If we can get owners to be vigilant as well, we could well come out on top in the clone wars.”