√Criminals using 3D printers to make fake registration plates

Criminals are using the internet to find and ‘clone’ car registration plates using 3D printers – leaving victims to prove their innocence while the crooks rack-up thousands in fines and fees.

The public is being warned to blur their number plates before posting images of their vehicles on the internet.

In Victoria, one in three thefts from a motor vehicle are registration plates being stolen.

But now criminals are cloning number plates – using 3D printer technology – from similar makes and models of vehicles posted online and spotted parked on streets.

After making the falsified plates, offenders attach them to their cars to help hide from police in plain sight – in the process racking-up thousands in fines and toll fees, leaving the original owner with the burden of protesting their innocence.

Reports suggest 3D printers are being used to manufacture fake number plates, which are then fitted to vehicles being used to steal petrol and commit other crimes.

The legitimate owners of the number plates are then left to prove their innocence when police come knocking.

MORE: Man allegedly caught driving with hand-painted number plates in SA

With traditional registration plate thefts, owners can report the crime to police once they realise something’s missing from their car.

Police are then able to identify stolen number plates using vehicle-mounted Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems.

However, by cloning the number plates when the owner of the vehicle is unaware, victims typically aren’t alerted to the fraud for weeks or even months after it has happened – and criminals don’t have to worry about dealing with new measures such as anti-theft screws.

A report from ABC News has detailed how some motorists have been victims even when images of their car haven’t been published online – suggesting offenders are also targeting cars parked on residential streets.

It’s believed criminals are driving through neighbourhoods looking for the same makes and models of cars they use – which are often stolen – to aid their deception.

One Brisbane woman reportedly received $5000 in speeding fines, with police eventually identifying the plates as being falsified.

“It was not as though it was obvious though, like the letters were clearly thicker or thinner or a different style or anything, for the average person it looked the same,” the woman told ABC News.

MORE: Victorian number plates to adopt hologram technology from today

As reported by Drive at the end of 2022, discreet holograms are now being printed on all official number plates being made by the Victorian Government, in an effort to make cloning more difficult – and the legitimate items easier for authorities to recognise.

“We have been working closely with relevant departments on a solution to address number plate theft and it is fantastic that we can now begin delivering this new technology,” Victorian Minister for Roads and Road Safety Melissa Horne said in a media statement at the time.

Queensland number plates and the federally-registered heavy-vehicle number plates have used holographic technology since 2020.

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