Drivers should avoid posting number plates on social media

Motoring experts at LeaseCar.uk are urging drivers to avoid posting videos or photos of their car number plates on social media following an increase in vehicle cloning.

Instead, if drivers want to post their vehicle to social media, the experts have said they should always pixelate or obscure their number plates before sharing images to platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or Facebook.

How do criminals use photos from social media to clone vehicle plates?

Criminals are thought to be scanning social media platforms for pictures of vehicles and stealing the number from the plate.

Criminals clone number plates and attach them to their own vehicles (Image: Getty)

They then attach it to their own vehicle to get away with breaking road laws such as speeding and parking offences as well as ULEZ compliance.

The experts explained that criminals look for cars that are the same model and colour to the one they drive.

When they find one which looks similar, they make a note or take a screenshot of the image with the number plate and simply have a new number plate printed with the stolen number to attach to their own car.

The owner of the car whose plates have been cloned will know nothing about it until they start receiving fines for vehicle offences, often in a completely different part of the country.

Motorists then have the headache of having to appeal for fines and they often have to try and prove that they aren’t responsible for the offence.

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The fines can stack up and it can be tricky to prove your innocence so it’s important to do anything possible to prevent cloning.

Some criminals also clone plates to sell stolen vehicles which can lead to innocent motorists being wrongly linked to offences as car cloning is hard to detect before receiving unexpected fines or penalty charges.

The rise in car cloning cases might be explained by the increased use of number plate reading ANPR cameras which law enforcement uses to detect crimes.

Tim Alcock from LeaseCar.uk said: “Many of us are proud of the car we drive and naturally enough many want to share photos or videos on their Insta or TikTok.

“But before doing so it’s important to pause and ask yourself if you could be unwittingly helping a criminal? Number plate cloning is a growing problem that puts drivers at risk of being falsely accused of crimes.

“Because of the increased use of ANPR cameras on the roads, we expect the car cloning cases to rise even more, as criminals want to avoid charges, such as the recent ULEZ charges in London.

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“No one is safe from cloning criminals, so it’s important to be vigilant and take measures to prevent falling victim to getting your car cloned.

“There are steps drivers can take to ensure they aren’t unwittingly helping the cloners to steal their car’s identity.

“It’s particularly important to be careful online. If sharing pictures or videos of your car on social media, always blur or obscure the number plate before posting.”