Beware of cloners when selling car

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Fri 1 Jul 2005 17:00
Beware of cloners when selling car - chuck
I have received 2 parking tickets today for a car that I was selling around a month and a half ago. I was nowhere near Westminster when these violations took place (both within an hour and by the same warden! Suspicious).

I can only assume that:

1) My car was cloned from the selling details (Autotrader/E-bay) or
2) A crooked traffic warden saw the details and wants to up his stats.

Further, before I sold it I was sent a letter by the milage verification people! They said it was a mistake, but there are too many coincidences!

I also had a very keen viewer who wanted all sorts of details including the V5 document number for a HPI check. I thought this was suspiscious, but checked with HPI and they said that they can sometimes ask for it! Anyway, the buyer never called again after the supposed check (I bought the car new and never crashed it etc)

Any advice?

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Sat 2 Jul 2005 00:54
Beware of cloners when selling car - Stuartli
Providing you informed the DVLA as required then you will presumably not be responsible for the parking fines.

However, the other points you mention are indeed worrying and could be worth taking up at a higher level.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Sat 2 Jul 2005 08:30
Beware of cloners when selling car - Cardew
Why does selling a car make it any more vunerable for the VRN to be used for cloning?

All the 'cloner' needs is to see a similar car and note the VRN.

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Sat 2 Jul 2005 09:09
Beware of cloners when selling car - chuck
1) The car was still registered in my name on the date of these penalities.

2) Selling a car is more vulnerable because your car is open to inspection and so details can be taken and the whole point is that you are advertising the car to other people.

I would guess that it's a cloner or crooked traffic warden who saw the details on the interent.
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Sat 2 Jul 2005 09:41
Beware of cloners when selling car - trancer
Cover the number plates when taking pics for ads...won't stop someone jotting down your reg number while you are parked at the local shops though.

The best way around this cloned number plate business is to change the system where number plates are made by any old parts counter jockey using sticky backed characters on a bit of plastic. Make the move to a stamped metal plate with holographic backgrounds, manufactured by one government licensed agency, issued by the DVLA (I can hear the groans already) and the only way someone can use your reg number is to steal your plate, which would become immediately apparent to you at which point the proper authorities could be notified etc.

As it is now, someone could be driving around on your reg number for years and you or the authorities would never be any wiser.
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Mon 4 Jul 2005 00:55
Beware of cloners when selling car - Pete M
Trancer: I quite agree about the government issued plates. The issue of cloning doesn't arise here in New Zealand, where the plates are organised as you suggest. The government has also sold the rights to manage the personalised plates scheme to a private company. The manufacturer of the plates themselves is another company. So when you agree to buy your personalised plate (a real one with six letters and/or numbers in any arrangement as long as it's not naughty), the database knows whether it's available or not. The personalised plates people take your money and send a message to the plate manufacturer. They send you out your nice new ones and a jiffy bag and form to return the old ones. The registration is automatically transferred to the new number on the computer. Is that so hard?
For just ordinary plates, front up at a number of different outlets, and for a small fee, turn in your damaged plates for new ones (with new number). If a personalised plate is stolen, report it to the police and get a crime number. Send this to the personalised plates people, and they will send you a new set for a nominal fee. If the plate is used for any nefarious purpose, your crime number will give you immunity, as you reported it stolen.
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Mon 4 Jul 2005 09:00
Beware of cloners when selling car - IanJohnson
We had a grey Sierra cloned about 15 years ago - first we knew was when we saw the police examining the car on the drive - turns out a grey sierra with our number had been used in a robbery about 200 miles away.

Car had never been advertised for sale so you cannot avoid it!
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