Report vehicle cloning
Vehicle cloning involves criminals copying another vehicle’s registration plates, often choosing plates from a vehicle that looks like theirs.
The scam can result in the driver of the cloned vehicle accumulating fines while the innocent owner of the original vehicle receives the financial penalties.
Victims usually do not realise their vehicles have been cloned until fines start arriving in the post, typically for speeding tickets, parking fines, bus-gate or bus-lane penalties, or congestion charges.
You may suspect your vehicle has been cloned if you receive an unexpected:
- Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) from a council relating to a parking, bus-lane or bus-gate fine
- Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) from the police for speeding or another road-related offence
- letter or PCN from a private parking enforcement company
Evidence required
To report vehicle cloning, you will need:
- to upload a copy of either a PCN, a fine from a council, or a private parking enforcement company. This must show images of the offending vehicle.
And either:
- one image with evidence proving your vehicle could not have been in the location at the alleged offence, such as a timed and dated image from a Ring doorbell camera, or
- up to five images, clearly showing the front, back and side of your car, and any visual differences between your car and the offending car
If the evidence provided is not significant, your report will not be progressed.
We can only accept reports of vehicle cloning where the evidence shows the cloned vehicle is located in the Avon and Somerset force area. If you are unsure, you can check which police force is responsible for a particular location.
Report vehicle cloning
If you have evidence your vehicle’s number plate has been cloned, you can report it:
- online – fill in the report vehicle cloning form
- in person – visit a police station
Be aware…
A marker may be added to your number plate
After you report vehicle cloning and upload your evidence to us, we may update the Police National Database to show the vehicle registration has potentially been cloned.
A marker may be added to your registration number. This means you can be stopped at any time anywhere in the UK until we are confident the cloned vehicle is off the road.
Cloned vehicles are only ever used for criminality. Officers will not know which vehicle they are stopping until they have completed thorough checks, so be patient when you are stopped.
Fraudulent claims
If it is subsequently discovered that a fraudulent claim of cloning has been made, you may be subject to police action which might include charges of perverting the course of justice.