Hands up if you or someone you know has been a victim of number plate cloning?
Chances are that you’re not alone.
Number plate cloning is a crime that has exploded in number.
In essence, the crime involves falsifying a genuine number plate and attaching it to another vehicle which is often the same make, model and colour. The criminal may then use the car with false plates to drive on tollways without consequences, drive dangerously or conduct other criminal activity, with the genuine vehicle owner often sought to pay fines or tolls.
For the genuine vehicle owner; signs that their number plate has been cloned will likely be a string of unexpected and unexplainable tollway, parking or speeding fines. Worse might involve a knock on the door from a police officer explaining that the vehicle has been involved in a crime.
Rife in the UK – with estimates that more than 1 in 12 cars are affected – number plate cloning has fast become an Australian problem too. For victims, it is a particularly distressing situation. They must continually prove their innocence to law enforcement and toll road operators – difficult to do when the vehicles involved are in most cases identical. That can translate into daily trips to the local police station and hours on the phone to tollway operators for a victim.
And the problem is not limited to everyday Australians trying to sell their cars either. It’s a big issue for dealers which is also exacerbated by vehicles sitting still in public yards.
Delivering a safer experience
Some time ago, carsales was approached by representatives from Victoria Police’s Vehicle Crime Squad about increasing incidents of number plate cloning, seeking carsales’ assistance to help remedy the issue as Australia’s #1 automotive site.
That journey to help Australian car owners with this issue accelerated at carsales’ annual ‘Hackathon’ innovation festival in May 2018. Amongst a showcase of innovations developed by talented carsales staff, the festival’s winning idea proposed using carsales’ proprietary image recognition technology to detect where the number plate was located on a photo and automatically – and neatly – blur out number plates as photos were uploaded to carsales.com.au.
carsales management and technology leaders present at the festival were wowed by the application of the technology and its potential to deliver a safer customer experience. After the event, the wheels were in motion to produce this solution, deliver it to carsales.com.au and have it comply with legalisation that differed across various states and territories – no small feat.
Now, in just over a year, concept became reality with the first number plates blurred on carsales this week. As part of the selling process for both Australian car dealer and private sellers, cars now uploaded for sale on carsales will have their number plates automatically blurred from listing photos, saving dealers and private sellers from image editing hack jobs and helping to mitigate instances of this crime.
All in all, it delivers sellers – both dealers and privates – and buyers a safer and more trustworthy experience.
The vehicle’s registration number will still be present in the listing details of dealer cars to ensure compliance with legislation. Despite the registration number being present, key number plate details that differentiate a car – such as state taglines, colours and other symbols will be harder for criminals to discover, and make it easier for you to prove your innocence if your car’s number plates are cloned.
carsales recommends that private sellers provide their vehicle VIN number on their advertisement and not registration details, when uploading their vehicle for sale. This still allows potential buyers to perform history and finance checks on the vehicle.
“Number plate cloning has quickly become a societal issue and we’re excited to see our A.I technology play a role in delivering a safer experience for Australian car buyers and sellers,” said Jason Blackman, Chief Information Officer at carsales.
Tips if you are a victim of number plate cloning
1. Do not pay the fine
2. Visit your local police station, report the issue and obtain a Police report number
3. Contact the organisation that issued the fine and provide them with a Police report number
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