Car number plate scams putting road users at risk

ILLICIT number plates are putting road users at risk and threatening national security, a report has warned.

- BY NEIL LANCEFIELD

Ghost number plates cannot be read by cameras

One in 15 vehicles are thought to use car registration tags designed to evade detection by automatic number plate recognition cameras, researchers found.

Some “ghost plates” feature a reflective coating that prevents them being read by the traffic cameras.

Another technique used by criminals is plate cloning, where another vehicle’s identity is illegally copied.