Turning the screw in car clone scam
The Scotsman
ALAN MCEWEN CRIME REPORTER
amcewen@edinburghnews.com
POLICE are hunting dozens of cars "cloned" by criminals which are being driven on the streets of the Capital.
The car cloners steal licence plates to attach to stolen cars leaving unsuspecting city motorists wrongly landed with speeding and parking fines.
Other cloned vehicles are being used in crimes such as housebreakings and robberies.
A special police squad has been tasked with tracking down the stolen cars as the scam becomes increasingly popular in Edinburgh.
Police estimate that 30 such vehicles are on the roads on any given day. Now officers are leading a crackdown by providing motorists with tamper-proof screws which make the plates impossible to steal.
They plan to hand out hundreds of the screws to drivers at shopping centres over this weekend in a bid to combat the crooks.
More than 40 licence plates have been stolen every month since the start of this year with the majority being used to commit offences. Criminals avoid paying parking and speeding fines and drive off from petrol stations without paying for fuel.
Sergeant Mark Patterson, of the force's road policing branch, said:
"The DVLA produce licence plates which are designed to snap into pieces if they are removed but they cost £50 instead of the £14 for ordinary plates. We are offering to replace ordinary screws with tamper-proof clutch screws which cannot be removed again. They will foil the thieves who go around with Phillips screwdrivers looking to steal plates."
Officers fitted new screws to 80 vehicles at the Fort Kinnaird and Gyle shopping complexes last weekend.
Sgt Patterson wants hundreds of motorists to take advantage of the free offer this weekend to help protect their cars. The team of officers will be Cameron Toll shopping centre on Saturday between noon and 6pm, and at the Craigleith complex at the same times on Sunday.
Sgt Patterson added: "These screws are a simple and cost-effective way to frustrate opportunist thieves. Car cloning is on the rise and drivers should be looking to frustrate these criminals."
The screws usually sell for only 40p each but the police hope their offer to fit them will encourage drivers to take up the offer.
AA policy chief Neil Greig said: "This [car cloning] is a growing issue for motorists. We recommend that if ever you see that your registration plate is missing you should not assume that it is has just fallen off - you should assume it is stolen and contact the police.
"They'll then have a record of the plate being stolen and it will be easier to prove it is not you."
In 2004, a total of 256 registration plates were reported stolen in Lothian and Borders. However, that rose to 406 last year, and had already topped 400 by the start of October.
The rise in licence-plate thefts has been blamed on suppliers tightening their procedures and making it more difficult for criminals to obtain duplicates.
Last updated: 08-Dec-06
ALAN MCEWEN CRIME REPORTER
amcewen@edinburghnews.com
POLICE are hunting dozens of cars "cloned" by criminals which are being driven on the streets of the Capital.
The car cloners steal licence plates to attach to stolen cars leaving unsuspecting city motorists wrongly landed with speeding and parking fines.
Other cloned vehicles are being used in crimes such as housebreakings and robberies.
A special police squad has been tasked with tracking down the stolen cars as the scam becomes increasingly popular in Edinburgh.
Police estimate that 30 such vehicles are on the roads on any given day. Now officers are leading a crackdown by providing motorists with tamper-proof screws which make the plates impossible to steal.
They plan to hand out hundreds of the screws to drivers at shopping centres over this weekend in a bid to combat the crooks.
More than 40 licence plates have been stolen every month since the start of this year with the majority being used to commit offences. Criminals avoid paying parking and speeding fines and drive off from petrol stations without paying for fuel.
Sergeant Mark Patterson, of the force's road policing branch, said:
"The DVLA produce licence plates which are designed to snap into pieces if they are removed but they cost £50 instead of the £14 for ordinary plates. We are offering to replace ordinary screws with tamper-proof clutch screws which cannot be removed again. They will foil the thieves who go around with Phillips screwdrivers looking to steal plates."
Officers fitted new screws to 80 vehicles at the Fort Kinnaird and Gyle shopping complexes last weekend.
Sgt Patterson wants hundreds of motorists to take advantage of the free offer this weekend to help protect their cars. The team of officers will be Cameron Toll shopping centre on Saturday between noon and 6pm, and at the Craigleith complex at the same times on Sunday.
Sgt Patterson added: "These screws are a simple and cost-effective way to frustrate opportunist thieves. Car cloning is on the rise and drivers should be looking to frustrate these criminals."
The screws usually sell for only 40p each but the police hope their offer to fit them will encourage drivers to take up the offer.
AA policy chief Neil Greig said: "This [car cloning] is a growing issue for motorists. We recommend that if ever you see that your registration plate is missing you should not assume that it is has just fallen off - you should assume it is stolen and contact the police.
"They'll then have a record of the plate being stolen and it will be easier to prove it is not you."
In 2004, a total of 256 registration plates were reported stolen in Lothian and Borders. However, that rose to 406 last year, and had already topped 400 by the start of October.
The rise in licence-plate thefts has been blamed on suppliers tightening their procedures and making it more difficult for criminals to obtain duplicates.
Last updated: 08-Dec-06
posted by Neil Herron at 1:37 PM
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