Number Plate - To hide or not to hide?

[Teejay]

Hi All,
I note that many people who post photos of their van/car obscure the registration plate.
While other's don't and some add the information below the avatar/profile.

I know that this is for privacy but has anyone really ever had any issues or is it simple paranoia or habit?

I've always don't it in the past and will probably continue but not really sure why.

 

[Hotel California]

I never bother hiding my licence plate when posting a picture( that would be IF the plate is fully in the picture)
Think the fear of one copy your plate and put it on theire likewise looking verhicle and then speedtickets,...will come to you instead them.
How big are the odds?

What i do hide is the VIN number on the left bottom of the front windshield as one with acces can make spare keys...

 

[GrannyJen]

I only hide mine because I am a single woman, often camping on my own and often being gobby enough to publicly broadcast on an internet forum the broad location as to where I am going to be camping.

 

[calimera]

We hide the number plate , just being cautious ,concerned about reducing the chance of theft . Probably makes no difference but makes us happier.

 

[MattBW]

From my experience in the older van scene, some of the thieves that have been caught in recent years, have been from within the industry and often have access to the DVLA (isnt hard to get these days). We have also had a van stolen so I am more careful now. Anyone with DVLA access could access your address and something like a Cali certainly would be something that might be stolen to order.

Removing (or disabling) GPS tags from your photos taken with phones is probably more important to be fair.

 

[Loz]

Do you also hide them whilst you are driving around incase anyone sees it?
Do you cover your vins whilst parked up?

The main reason is to stop cloning and fines dropping on your doorstep. I had this once and the perpetrator jumped a red light in glasgow whilst I was on a platform in London, returned the ticket saying I could have been there as I live in x and they said it was probably a clone. Nothing more heard..

 

[Jabberwocky]

The visible VIN and potential key cloning is more worrying for me as this cloning would be a prelude to the vehicle being stolen. The registration number is clear for all to see when you are driving and will be seen by far more people than will see it on this forum and anyway if they already have a Cali.........(they are generally owned/driven by decent folk, yes?)

 

[Velma's Dad]

Like Loz, I have nothing to hide. And like him, I use a real pic of myself as my avatar.

 

[Hotel California]

Do you also hide them whilst you are driving around incase anyone sees it?
Do you cover your vins whilst parked up?
..

first answer NO
Second answer YES

 

[GrannyJen]

Do you also hide them whilst you are driving around incase anyone sees it?
Do you cover your vins whilst parked up?

The main reason is to stop cloning and fines dropping on your doorstep. I had this once and the perpetrator jumped a red light in glasgow whilst I was on a platform in London, returned the ticket saying I could have been there as I live in x and they said it was probably a clone. Nothing more heard..

Oh I never drive anywhere with my number plate showing That would be silly, anyone could see it

 

[calimera]

Do you also hide them whilst you are driving around incase anyone sees it?
Do you cover your vins whilst parked up?

The main reason is to stop cloning and fines dropping on your doorstep. I had this once and the perpetrator jumped a red light in glasgow whilst I was on a platform in London, returned the ticket saying I could have been there as I live in x and they said it was probably a clone. Nothing more heard..

No I use a cloned plate instead

 

[Loz]

Like Loz, I have nothing to hide. And like him, I use a real pic of myself as my avatar.

Me too

 

[MattBW]

We can never stop someone seeing our van and copying it out on the road but the internet is a bit different, why advertise what you have and where it is for anyone to look for at their convenience? You only have to search for pics of T5 or T6 to get page after page of peoples vans, often with GPS tags from the phone still live and the number plate in. There are places on the net full of photos with GPS tags on them, specialised websites, utterly weird and creepy but real.

In fact I physically caught someone taking photos of my number plate at Busfest for example, I collared the guy and made him delete it. He said it was just a pic of the vans but it clearly wasn't when he showed me the close up of my plate (and it was the non public side of a trade area).

It all boils down to your view of risk, for me not putting it on my photos is reducing risk of someone finding me through an internet search same as removing my gps location from them.

Wouldn't be hard to track me down if someone was determined but why make it easier than it needs to be? Unscrupulous types will go for the easy target.

Maybe Ill photoshop the plate from a robin reliant onto my van in future lol

 

[briwy]

So, no more pictures of vans at meets then. Or are we all going to cover up the plates or ask everyone there if they object to a picture ot their Cali with the number plate showing. Sorry, just think it's a bit paranoid. If the scallys have acces to the DVLA then all they have to do is search for Calis. No need to go hunting on the web.

 

[MattBW]

I would hope only the DVLA themselves can do a search based on makes and models, I think third party access is to get user data based on a provided plate for parking or similar matters.

Each to their own, I probably am being over the top but we already had one stolen, no intention of another going if I can help it. If you aren't worried post whatever you want, simple as that.

 

[BikerGran]

Wow, I'd better change my habits then - if I see an 'interesting' number plate I like to get a close-up of it! But then maybe those of us with custom plates actually WANT people to see them - but there are lots of people as odd as me!

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

Like Loz, I have nothing to hide. And like him, I use a real pic of myself as my avatar.

Me too...on the internet nobody knows you're a Giraffe....unless you post your picture!

 

[GrannyJen]

Me too...on the internet nobody knows you're a Giraffe....unless you post your picture!

There's always someone that sticks their neck out

 

[VW Cali]

There's always someone that sticks their neck out

Ostriches? Unless they stick their necks into the sand.

 

[Wrinkly Ninja]

There's always someone that sticks their neck out

It's all part of my cunning disguise...nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition...or a Giraffe!

 

[Grumpy Mike]

Very interesting. Just returned from Sp[ain. Letter from Avon & Somerset Constabulary. My vehicle which is amazing was with me in Spain and also speeding in Avon & Somerset.

Interesting? I can only think the number came from this site and my photos? But I thought scroats only cloned cheap cars????? Doesnt make sense???? Who would pay £50K ++ and clone???? Or is it a transporter?? Still not cheap???

Never go to Avon & Somerset, but if it had been somewhere where I do and I was in the UK might have been a different story.

Police say contact DVLA and get a new registration??

But also they are putting a marker on the registration and will pull it every time/when they see it.. So if your reading this and you cloned my baby beware...

Interesting...

 

[MattBW]

Sorry to hear that Mike, I am assuming they have dropped the charges. Did the letter include any pictures, often they do if it was from a camera.

If you want any photos deleting Mike then please just report them and I can get them deleted for you.

 

[Grumpy Mike]

Sorry to hear that Mike, I am assuming they have dropped the charges. Did the letter include any pictures, often they do if it was from a camera.

If you want any photos deleting Mike then please just report them and I can get them deleted for you.

Matt, thanks for that. No charges. Police were brilliant to be fair. No I dont need photos deleted thanks. I always wondered why people did that on their numberplate... Just cant understand why it would happen on such a high value vehicle. Once you know its happening, if the police are always this good then best thing is let them put a marker on the vehicle and pull the ar** Ho** over and catch them in the act...

I am now intrigued and wonder if they let me know when they pull them over?? Just dont get it...
Thanks

 

[Loz]

Yes, a pain in @rse, but they could have got your registration number from anywhere you have driven it so just a sad fact of life I'm afraid. There is probably a black market for them, but they also risk a stop now.

 

[MattBW]

Its common for criminals to use another plate from another vehicle to hide the identify of the real one. It's actually harder to get a plate made these days as you are supposed to produce the V5 to get it done. I guess the online vendors don't always obey that rule? We had a spate of it around our area recently, the cars were all caught on CCTV but were all running plates physically taken from other cars, usually slightly different cars or a couple of times not even close. They were burgling houses and stealing cars.

I they went to the trouble of cloning the plate rather than pinching one from a van, its probably someone just avoiding tickets then if its the first one they may indeed get pulled, we can only have our fingers crossed. Hopefully they aren't reading this and will get caught

They usually just take them off a vehicle to use for nefarious acts and it's rarely an exact match of vehicle, probably just a transporter. Was it even a t6 one?