What a nightmare

On Monday when the first of the parking fines fell through the letterbox I discovered that my numberplate had been cloned in a country that say's one is innocent before being proven guilty goes out the window. Firstly the police don't want to know until you can tell them the differences between your car and the clone, secondly the onus if on you to prove that it was in fact the clone that was committing the offenses not always the easist thing to do for example the one ticket was for the 23rd Dec at 13.39 and I still have not got a clue what I was doing at that time. Fortunately one ticket was from my local council and they take 4 photos at the time of the ticket been issued these showed me the differences between the clone and my car. It's not over yet until the police catch the offender or I get so many more tickets as to persuade the DVLA to issue a new number plate.

The scum look for cars, similar to their recent thefts, on the internet. I know of someone who got more than just a speeding ticket (in excess of 70mph in a 30mph restricted zone). About 150 miles away (Liverpool) and about two o’clock in the morning.

Same car model, same colour, same numberplate. His had recently been advertised by an internet car seller who showed the registration plate in the pics.🙁

He was expected to prove his innocence, but I would think the ANPR records should sort out a problem, like that, quite quickly.

Your problem seems to be of a local nature. Just one more reason why dash cams are a good investment?

Happened to me... apparently I was doing 60 in a 20 zone at 1am in an estate 120 miles from here(!)

An email to the police force in question, pointing out I had my google maps history, followed up by a photo of my car to compare with the speed camera image had it sorted with minimal fuss.

But yes it was a bit scary at first!

Neil

And me, I had a speeding ticket through the post but because of the speed recorded (107 mph) it was a summons to attend court in Scotland. I was living in Kent and I had to provide evidence that my vintage motorcycle was under restoration and where I was on the day but they accepted my motorcycle was incapable of the speed involved. It transpires that the offending motorcycle was a foreign registration (Swedish) the same registration as my very old bike.

NDIY, how long does it take to fill a memory card on a dashcam, only ask because I am considering purchasing one. I thought the laws of this land were innocent until proven guilty, obviously not any longer. Because of the attention my property has received from local lowlife scum I have cameras monitoring every angle, I could prove where my car was overnight but only going back a couple of weeks.

That’s one reason you often see scrap cars on transporters going to a scrap yard have part of the number plate obscured do they can’t be cloned apparently

Baz you can set your dash cam on loop so that the newest over write oldest As for camera evidence one parking company rejected in the first instace CCTV footage on the car on my drive.

H

Rather depends on your mileage and the memory size. It is not foolproof in that it doesn’t do anything while parked and switched off, but every little helps. Mine is continuous when the ignition switch is turned on, so nothing is left out. And the rear camera imitates the front one, so they will tie in with each other. Both record GPS, etc.

I’ve only driven about six thousand miles in my car this year. I just let the dash cam roll around so it likely takes months. Memory use can easily be reduced - but with reduced picture quality - I don’t bother with that either. I sometimes change the memory card and that will keep me going for months before over-writing the old data.

NDIY, thanks for the info, I didn’t have a clue about how long it takes to fill a memory card, I like the idea of swapping between a couple of cards. I really must get myself a camera fitted but the long suffering wants the bathroom ripping out and redone so won’t be for a while yet! Also answered a question about scrap cars on transporters, I have wondered why number plates were taped over, never thought about cloning, I must live a very sheltered life.

I asked a police civilian investigating officer about this a bit back and he said that while a clip from a dashcam can be useful in the case of an accident, the ease with which videos can be edited today makes any video evidence without a timecode track to show where it has been edited (or not) of little use if a case comes to court.

Thinking about it, I think it would be perfectly possible to superimpose a time of your choice on the footage and say it was recorded then for example.

Just adding to the discussion as it now includes queries on dashcams. There is no doubt dashcams are great bits of technology but uploading for Police evidence does involve keeping the original card unedited. Decent sized cards are quite expensive and you'll need several if you want to show a few incidents.

To give comprehensive evidence either to the Police or your insurance company, you really need a camera that records your reg number, speed, location and high def. Mine also records audio which you might want to think about switching off as it will record all your expletives when that vehicle comes crashing into you. I have found I'm more conscious of my own driving since I've been using dashcams.

I use 22gb micro cards which when recording high def last about 2 hours before overwriting. I am about to upgrade to 128gb for longer journeys, but the cost does go up, particularly if you have to hand the card to the Police for a while.

Just to add to the original post. Private car parks use ANPR and cameras to record entry and exit from the car park. They issue parking charge 'tickets' if a vehicle overstays it's welcome. From experience, don't pay and always challenge it! These companies are foreign owned and are all about making money and they will rarely take any one to court because that's time and money. It's obviously a different matter if it's a Police investigation and can be quite intimidating when they come knocking. It happened to me when I'd supposedly legged it without paying for fuel at a station many miles from me!

Edited By RMA on 25/01/2020 10:02:59

Most of us do! One thing I learned the hard way is being expert in one field did not make me good at everything else. A relative served in the Royal Navy, travelled the world, did well in challenging situations and was regularly promoted. When his time was up, bursting with confidence and full of contempt for civvie ways, he left the Navy to make his fortune. 18 months and 3 jobs later he had a nervous breakdown : now he drinks, relies 110% on his wife, and is lucky not to be homeless. I blame military virtues - they put servicemen and women into a well-structured team, with clear leadership and short-term objectives, minimised individual responsibility, justified pride, and positive purpose. A lot of effort is put into training, obeying orders, building confidence, acting quickly, and managing work/rest to maintain peak performance. Unfortunately civilian life often inverts all this: unclear objectives, low status jobs, bad managers, high responsibility, unachievable targets, weak teaming, indifferent training and maybe the job is unpopular as well.

Similar in civilian life: brash confident Englishmen turn into whinging poms in Australia, city folk hate the country, redundant coal-miners don't do well in offices, etc etc etc. Truth is, most people are foolish outside their normal range of experience, hence jokes about Nerds not having Girlfriends!

Crime is the same; honest folk are unlikely to understand criminal techniques and are more likely to come into contact with petty rather than organised crime. We are Babe's in the Wood! It's impossible to protect oneself entirely against crime, but much of it is defeating by taking simple alert precautions. On the internet or when the phone rings, slow down, have a suspicious think, and double-check.

But no amount of clever precautions help when the crime is something like a cloned number plate. Though the effects are painful, Harry isn't the major victim - he's mere collateral damage, an accidental bystander! The car carrying his registration has been stolen from someone, and the thieves are uninsured, possibly disqualified and unlicensed. Likely the clone car is wanted for anti-social purposes, like drug-dealing or burglary. Maybe it will get torched to destroy forensics after the crime in a kiddies playground, costing public money putting the fire out, removing the remains, and fixing the damaged playdround. Harry only gets whacked with parking and speeding fines, everyone else's insurance goes up slightly, but the real pain surrounds the stolen car.

One of my colleagues was married to a senior policeman, second-in-command of a Regional Crime Squad. One evening while he was watching TV, a gang lifted his brand new BMW off his front drive, over a pair of locked gates, and on to a low-loader fitted with a crane. Probably stolen to order and shipped abroad. Maybe someone in the dealership notified the gang, maybe the gang were watching the garage and followed him home. Either way they got clean away with it...

Dave

I'd have thought that this cloning number plate business would only "work" if the cloned plate were fitted to the same make and model of vehicle. It should be relatively easy to verify that the plate is on the right type of vehicle. DVLA will supply the details to pretty much anyone on request (and suitable payment).

But it seems from the reports that such is not always checked by the Police or parking firms.

One wonders why.

Looks like thinking that the members of my vehicular stable being both relatively uncommon and of distinctive appearance (Range Rover P38, Norton Commander Krauser and Yamaha GTS) gives some protection against plate cloning may be a bit optimistic.

Clive

If they are logged by ANPR, no. Stationary traffic offences are often processed by ‘’them wot dunt ave a clue’’.

They only get caught out when the police actually eyeball them - and pull them over on suspicion of something. Then they likely abandon the vehicle and do a runner.

Quick update my car is leased and I was advised by the leasing company to inform the DVLA which I did in writing.

Today I received a letter from the DVLA thanking me for my letter and adding there was no evidence that there was another vehicle with my number . So I rang them telling them my letter contained a log number from the police was told that the police had not reported therefore it was just a number, i then added that I had photos of the other vehicle supplied by a local council did they want those NO was the reply to which I asked the evidence must come from a recognised body !!!

What a waste of time

H

Copy all you have to your MP and ask him/her to investigate fully and get back to you. I tend never to give up on these things, and I've had some interesting apology letters from a few chiefs in high places.

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Bill the one I had from Walsall MBC had the make and model on the ticket also they post 4 photos on the WMBC website. the two I received from private firms only had the reg No

RMA good advice I have in the past not only to my MP but also to the Minister for Work & Pensions and the Post Master General and as you point out you receive some interesting replies and actions

H

Only just come across this thread and, specifically, S O D's extraordinary views re. ex-Servicemen (and, presumably, women). I possibly missed somehing because I stopped reading after the first ludicrous assertions.

He appears to claim expertise in some undefined area but I would respectfully suggest that assessing ex-Servicemen is not one of them! Based, apparently, on one anonymous 'experience' he damns a cohort of exceptionally well qualified people as being somehow unable to operate without guidance and lacking motivation.

Having left the 'cosy protected world of Service life' after some 34+ years, much spent dangling on a wire attached to a helicopter (and waitng for 'higher orders' as to how to rescue the unfortunate victim!!) I tentatively ventured into an area of expertise only marginally related to previous experience and only managed to cope for a further 12 years!

On a personal basis. my user name is based on my working experience of having operated in every aircraft crew function apart, from gunner, plus Air Traffic Control, and technical and handling expertise on 3 and 4 engined aircraft with both major airlines ... and, yes, I do understand the concomitant dictum!!

S O D's 'drected supervision' must have been light indeed, 'cos it didn't impinge noticeably on the majority of my working life - Service or civilian! What on earth possessed him?

rgds

Bill

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