Local forum threads

[John Potts]

Originally Posted by Simon Bentley

Because some people are paranoid about their vehicle identity being stolen - if you are that bothered then blank out your number plate when posting pictures - simples.

Or when driving it anywhere there might be a crook watching?

[Ross Dakers]

I've never understood that logic......

[Tony Ferrari]

I suppose it is easier for your average car thief (or cloner) to sit at the comfort of his/her computer to find a car of their choice to steal and then discover your address by paying some filthy lucre to the DVLA.

Certainly beats hanging around on street corners in all weathers and if by chance the right car comes along, having the bother of following you home.

Or of course they could just drive past and see it parked on your drive

[Teresa Nahajski]

I've been told it's more likely they steal a car, hide it, then look out for a registration number on the computer on the same type and colour of car so that they can duplicate the number. Then if they commit a crime with it the police would contact you not them. So it's virtual car identity theft rather than the theft of your vehicle itself.

[Tony Ferrari]

That was the reason for my comment about cloning.

Reminds me of when I worked for a local authority and we discovered an apparently abandoned, relatively new Audi A3 with light accident damage but otherwise OK.

So we made the effort to contact the owner, who happened to work for Northamptonshire Police. When I told her we had her car in Hatfield she was certain we didn't as she was looking out of her window at Police HQ and could still see it in the car park!

When Hertfordshire Police got to work, the two were absolutely identical even down to the same VIN number but it turned out ours was the clone much to her relief.

Seems the work was most probably done when she was trying to sell her car, perfect opportunity to come round, take a good look and record all the relevant numbers to be copied.

[John Potts]

I still think the answer is either;

1. Don't post your motor on the net.
2. Blank out the plate.

Surely, all the pictures of member's motors have been posted by the owner. I'm sure if someone else posted 'em they'd take 'em down on request?

[Tim Childe]

It doesn't really bother me, but I thought I'd mention it as we had such a long paranoia thread about Google Maps.

[Ross Dakers]

It doesn't bother me either.
If I really wanted to get a registration number for an identical car to the one I'd just nicked, ebay or autotrader would almost certainlty give me what I wanted without trawling through pages and pages of sites like this.

[John Potts]

Ah, but paranoia about the internet is such an easy malady to catch

[Stephen James Parker Drabble]

Originally Posted by Roz

It doesn't bother me either.
If I really wanted to get a registration number for an identical car to the one I'd just nicked, ebay or autotrader would almost certainlty give me what I wanted without trawling through pages and pages of sites like this.

Ive had my number used.. they done always match make and model...
mine was used in Kent on a ford festia..

police just looked at the T2, made a note in there little black book and walked away..