[Chris.F]

Don't know if been posted elsewhere BUT on TV in North west tonight story of couple who paid £11k for a R53 mini via Autotrader.

By chance rang Mini dealer for copy of some paperwork, salesman took details, and recognised the car as one sat in showroom next to him.

It appears someone had been into showroon obtained VIN numbers etc, then cloned a car.

Unfortunately the couple hadn't HPI or done other checks. Lost money.

Thought it was worth a general warning.

[Chris.F]

Just posted on general forum re story on tonights news. Couple lost £11k buying a cloned mini. (R53) VIN etc, Reg Number obtained in dealership. Only found out after contacting dealer for something.

With a LOT of pics being posted on here some showing plates, perhaps its a timely reminder to blank out number, identifiers, to prevent such goings on. Obviously the VINs aren't on here but the plates are very visible.

[naruto16]

Can't the police do something about this? Obviously this is an internet scam...

I hope someone can help the couples...

[scone]

The couple had done an HPI check, but that would not show anything as it was a perfect copy of a car for sale at Williams Liverpool. Autotrader did'nt want to speak to BBC at first, but just before the show they had been in touch to say they would start carrying out security checks on people selling cars just for cash. Pity they had'nt started checks earlier, maybe some sort of gesture to the couple is in order.

[DrBeast]

thanks - sorted!

beast

[Ryephile]

Once again proving you should only buy used cars in person, IMO.

[Scrogg]

This is one of the fastest growing types of car crime, and goes to show there are still people stupid enough to buy cars without all the documents!

"Have you got the Registration Document?"
"Yes, I'll send it off to the DVLA for you, give me your details."
"Oh, O.K, thanks very much!"

They almost deserve to get ripped off!

[Restyle]

Quote: Originally Posted by naruto16 (original)

... Obviously this is an internet scam

Cant blame T`internet this time, Just a plain ordinary everyday type Scam

[Martin F]

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris.F (original)

With a LOT of pics being posted on here some showing plates, perhaps its a timely reminder to blank out number, identifiers, to prevent such goings on. Obviously the VINs aren't on here but the plates are very visible.

Sorry but i am not convinced.

If I had a Mini I wanted to clone I would go onto the Mini Uk website and surf through photos of dealer stock which mostly show reg plates until I found a match. This is much easier as I can sort by model etc.

Looking through here would be much harder work.

And if I was worried about my own car being cloned I would not want to take it on the public roads or worse still park it in a public place.

I don't deny the risk of cloning exists, I am just not convinced that it is worth bothering to obscure reg numbers on this site particularly as many cars are personalised and therefore less likely to match the cloners vehicle.

[KPKalle]

Merged duplicate threads.

[Chris.F]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

Sorry but i am not convinced.

If I had a Mini I wanted to clone I would go onto the Mini Uk website and surf through photos of dealer stock which mostly show reg plates until I found a match. This is much easier as I can sort by model etc.

Looking through here would be much harder work.

And if I was worried about my own car being cloned I would not want to take it on the public roads or worse still park it in a public place.

I don't deny the risk of cloning exists, I am just not convinced that it is worth bothering to obscure reg numbers on this site particularly as many cars are personalised and therefore less likely to match the cloners vehicle.

Respect your opinion BUT aren't you an accountant? Thought an accountant would be more carefull with figures? It adds up if you lived in Gtr Manchester. Cloning is widespread. Sadly.

[:: Jon ::]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

Sorry but i am not convinced.

If I had a Mini I wanted to clone I would go onto the Mini Uk website and surf through photos of dealer stock which mostly show reg plates until I found a match. This is much easier as I can sort by model etc.

Looking through here would be much harder work.

And if I was worried about my own car being cloned I would not want to take it on the public roads or worse still park it in a public place.

I don't deny the risk of cloning exists, I am just not convinced that it is worth bothering to obscure reg numbers on this site particularly as many cars are personalised and therefore less likely to match the cloners vehicle.

I quite agree..

If i wanted to clone a car i would just have a wonder round the car park and you could spot a similar make/colour quite easily so blocking numberplates on a forum may have a little effect to this cause but at the end of the day worthless.. IMO..

Quote: Originally Posted by Chris.F (original)

Respect your opinion BUT aren't you an accountant? Thought an accountant would be more carefull with figures? It adds up if you lived in Gtr Manchester. Cloning is widespread. Sadly.

[Jamesr022]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

Sorry but i am not convinced.

If I had a Mini I wanted to clone I would go onto the Mini Uk website and surf through photos of dealer stock which mostly show reg plates until I found a match. This is much easier as I can sort by model etc.

Looking through here would be much harder work.

And if I was worried about my own car being cloned I would not want to take it on the public roads or worse still park it in a public place.

I don't deny the risk of cloning exists, I am just not convinced that it is worth bothering to obscure reg numbers on this site particularly as many cars are personalised and therefore less likely to match the cloners vehicle.

your missing the point here i think, there was one other thread about another vehicle having its reg cloned, the cloners will normally only take the VIN number if they wanted to sell the vehicle,
they can still use just the reg and stick it on a similar vehicle and use it in crime etc, why make things easy for people by posting a photo with a reg on it, having a photo of a car with a blanked reg does not make it look any worse!! esp with the pics on here, whats to stop cloners taking the pics and adding items to the cloned vehicle making it more difficult to identify on things like speeding offences..!

and with regards to personalised vehicles the police national computer lists car index, the engine size , make, model and colour and some other bits. it does not list vehicle modifications!! so it will not matter to the police if a MINI is personalised or not!

i'm sure you would start being more careful posting items on the internet, epsically with the ammount of information people can gain from it. if your vehicle got cloned and you started to be pulled over by the police and received speeding tickets in the post which you would have to prove you did not commit the offence.

[Jamesr022]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

If I had a Mini I wanted to clone I would go onto the Mini Uk website and surf through photos of dealer stock which mostly show reg plates until I found a match. This is much easier as I can sort by model etc.

slight problem for a cloner then , as the vehicle index would probably come back as being in trade and then the vehicle would require trade plates and have more chance of being stopped by the police!

I know it might be easier to go to the MINI web site but the cloners are not stupid and will have probably been stopped enough times by the police to know the system, and where to get reg numbers which won't cause them hassel! i.e sites like this!

[Martin F]

I simply note that this thread started with a story about a cloned car where the original car was sitting in a dealers showroom (and therefore almost certainly on the Mini cherished website).

[Lucky Dave]

One simple thing would be to cover our Vin numbers in the windscreen?
So when the cars parked it would reduce the chance of identy theft.

I thought visable VIn numbers were introduced to cut crime!!

With camera phones and the like its so easy to walk past a car and collect all the info!!

[ALD0]

If you do your homework when buying a car you shouldn't have any problem with cloning, any car that you buy should have all relevant paperwork with it and complete a HPi if necessary. If there is no paperwork or discrepancies, simply walk away.

I always use to cover my plates when posting pics on net, but I don't anymore as if you park your car in a car park they can get the plates from there, also the VIN number if they wanted...

[Martin F]

I agree.

I think my other point about personalisation of some of the Mini's on here may have been misunderstood. That point is that if you get sent a speeding ticket for a clone of your car, the photo may well demonstrate it is a diiferent car because of an aero kit or maybe some stripes or a transfer on the roof etc. Mini's differ from one another in many more ways than the average car.

[Jamesr022]

Quote: Originally Posted by Martin F (original)

I agree.

I think my other point about personalisation of some of the Mini's on here may have been misunderstood. That point is that if you get sent a speeding ticket for a clone of your car, the photo may well demonstrate it is a diiferent car because of an aero kit or maybe some stripes or a transfer on the roof etc. Mini's differ from one another in many more ways than the average car.

That maybe so but the fact is that your having to prove it was not your car in the first place, which is a hassel if your getting tickets all the time, the only time having a personalised MINI will be useful in this case would be for speeding tickets!

but then whats to stop them looking on here picking a matching index and then changing a few bits on the car to make it look more like the photo, you then have a harder time of proving its not your car!!!

[Matts Mini Adventure]

surely though to get a number plate done you need to show your v5/logbook